Bizarre: In 2024, a Hamburg company staged a celebrity visit to a Rolex Replica concessionaire with the help of a professional double. The man disguised as Hollywood actor Johnny Depp was able to take a Rolex Submariner “Hulk” and a Rolex GMT Master II “Batman” with him (allegedly) without any waiting list. Opinions differ as to whether the video is real or not. Either way, it shows that the issues of availability and waiting list horror surrounding Rolex are on people’s minds. I recently received another reader email on this topic:
Dear Chrononautix team, I wanted to ask where in Germany, Switzerland and Austria you can get a Rolex GMT Master II Pepsi at the list price or where you can put yourself on a seller’s list?
I know these are heavily out of stock, but maybe you have an idea!
PS: I’m an enthusiastic Chrononautix reader and Mario, the tests and contributions are great, it couldn’t be better!
LG from Austria
Rolex consultants know exactly how often they will be supplied with which model. If, for example, only 1 (in words: one) Rolex Daytona arrives at the concierge’s house every year, you don’t need to get a slide rule out of the basement to calculate the waiting time for, for example, 10th place on the list. Of course, there are clear differences when it comes to supplying the concessionaires: a large chain like Wempe with branches in big cities like Stuttgart will certainly be allocated more Rolex watches than a “single” concessionaire in regions far away from the metropolises (see also tip #1 below ).
Better: You should make sure that you can find a concessionaire in the immediate vicinity of your place of residence – and you can also include this information in the conversation with the concessionaire. I have already heard from various concessionaires that they have set a rule for themselves that only customers from the immediate geographical area are served. Quote from a concierge: “When a customer from location x comes in, we kindly refer them to the Rolex concessionaire in location y.” (whereby location x and location y are just 40 kilometers apart in this specific example). In my opinion, this is a fair and understandable rule for all watch enthusiasts.
Tip #3: Money, money, money!?
There is another way to be in the favor of a jeweler and have a chance of getting a (good) place on the waiting list: spend money. And a lot of it. Because – it’s hard to believe – jewelers usually not only have Rolex on offer, but also jewelry and other watch brands that (unlike Rolex) not only have to be “assigned” but actually have to be sold. And of course a jeweler from whom you also buy a diamond necklace for your wife or a few Breitlings will be more inclined to have a Rolex made. Finally, the Konzi also has the sales goals for other brands and products in mind.
Bonus tip: Just don’t go along with all that nonsense
Rolex builds great watches that are more than worth their price (currently in the truest sense). But I also understand anyone who doesn’t want to take part or support the waiting list madness and the preparatory work at the Konzi (especially with regard to tip #3). It’s pretty absurd that as an Otto Normalo you have to act as a “supplicant” at the Konzi, while the Konzi actually only takes on a distribution role and doesn’t sell in the true sense.