Is the Apple Watch a threat to Rolex?
Hey you fancy people who love shiny expensive watches. There is a new player in the market. Meet the Apple Watch, the tech firm’s first push into the luxury market. The wearable device starts at $349 in the US or £299 in the UK for the entry-level Apple Watch Sport. And if you want a little more bling, you can try the gold Apple Watch Edition, which costs between $10,000 and $12,000.
Yes, you heard right. This 18-carat gold watch is Apple’s bold attempt to compete with Rolex and Cartier. Over the past couple of years, Apple has made key recruits from the high fashion world, including former Yves Saint Laurent head Paul Deneve and ex-Burberry boss Angela Ahrendts. Notably, Apple showcased the three collections of its wearable last week in the “Wonder Room” at Selfridges, steps away from all the top luxury Swiss brands.
If you had $10,000, which one would you buy, an Apple Watch or a Rolex? I posed that question at the Apple Watch opening day and most customers sided with the Rolex.
Keep in mind, though, that the Swiss watch industry has had a difficult time, and is said to have exported fewer watches in 2014 than in 2011. And the future looks even more challenging, with tech innovators bringing devices to the market that offer consumers the ability to check email, make calls and view photos.
Apple is hoping its watch will act as a powerful tool for consumers. But don’t expect the Swiss to just sit on their hands. Lots of these players are already starting to get more tech savvy.
Cartier has launched a tech-inspired sports watch and Montblanc has unveiled the TimeWalker Urban Speed e-Strap. Tag Heuer, meanwhile, partnered with Google and Intel to unveil a smartwatch at the Baselworld watch and jewellery show in March.
Analysts at Credit Suisse don’t see the Apple Watch as a threat to the luxury watch industry just yet, saying customers buy the traditional names for their brand equity. A fashion editor at Selfridges told CNBC that “it’s the young entrepreneurs that are part of the digital revolution that will choose the Apple Watch over a Rolex.”
Nevertheless, many financial professionals forecast that the Apple Watch will be well received, especially by those already invested in the Apple ecosystem. Asset manager Piper Jaffray expects $4.4bn in sales in 2015, rising to about $8bn in 2016. This number could dramatically rise as Apple finds ways to enhance the functionality of the watch. And the key may be health care.
“Once I’m able to measure my glucose levels and keep a check on my health, that’s when the Apple and other smartwatches will really take off,” said a former tech executive.
Does A Rolex Watch Lure in The Gals?
An expensive wrist bling is the “must-have” accessory when you’re looking for love. Women want to see a man as being successful and, along with upscale clothes and shoes, a good watch is an established symbol of success. Women want a man who can give them security and it highlights the fact you’re that type of guy.
The luxury-watch business has ticked upward in recent years. Remarkably, between November 2010 and November 2011, LGI Network, a market research company that tracks consumer retail trends in the US, recorded a 50 percent jump in sales of men’s watches priced over $10,000.The growth in the 12 months to November 2012 was more modest, at 6 percent, but the boom has got the industry buzzing.
Now that we’re emerging from the Great Recession — and financial-sector bonuses are returning — men are splurging on luxury watches, especially Swiss gold watches.
It sounds really shallow, but younger women really fall for all that stuff,” says Wall Street trader Mike, 27, the owner of a dozen high-end watches priced between $3,000 and $12,000 each. A member of the sugar-daddy-dating-service seekingarrangement.com, which matches wealthy men with women who want to be “kept,” Mike wears an $8,000 Rolex Submariner II to the office.
But his customized Bling Rolex watch is definitely more effective when he’s negotiating a deal in the dating game. “A Maserati only goes as far as the parking lot, but a watch you have with you all the time.”
Mike recalls a recent night out in Atlantic City when an admiring guest at the roulette table zeroed in on his bling: “I have a pretty small frame so, when I wear this watch, it takes up most of my arm,” says the 5-foot-7 banker. “I hit a spin, and this woman said: ‘Oh my gosh, that thing must be half your weight!’
“Then she was asking me what I did for a living, and where I was staying.”
One thing led to another. “Let’s just say it was a lucky night,” he demurs.
Meanwhile, Bill Hobbs, 33, a former financier-turned-actor and author of “The Work Book: How To Build Your Personal Brand,” is convinced that his Rolex watch collection played a part in his wife, Stephanie Wu, agreeing to marry him two years ago.
“Most guys aren’t going to tell you that they bought an expensive watch because they want to impress women,” he says. “They say it’s for their status with clients or because of their love of watches, but an overriding factor of buying anything grossly overpriced is to attract the opposite sex.”
Wu agrees. She says Hobbs’ gold GMT Master Rolex was one of the first things she noticed about him when they started dating.
“What struck me about his collection was that he was really rather passionate about it,” she says. In fact, luxury timepieces played such an important part in their romance, the couple was given $14,000 worth of matching Cartier watches by Wu’s parents before their marriage in Taiwan. Their wedding rings were made to match the pattern of the Cartier pieces, linked and flexible like watch bands.
As for Huang, he’s willing to take his chances on whether a woman is more interested in his watch than him.
“Yes, you’re always going to get gold diggers,” he shrugs, adjusting the strap on his Rolex. “But that’s the risk you take.”
What Does Your Watch Say About You?
Like it or not, more than those fancy Italian shoes on your feet or that big German coupe in your garage, your wristwatch says the most about who you are as man. Shoes are temporal, the value of a car drops as soon as you drive it from the showroom, but a good watch is eternal. It is the only item that a man keeps with him always, and an instant identifier of a man’s station in life.
A expensive watch has long been regarded as a rite of passage for the adult male, with a certain school of thought asserting that possession of a weighty Rolex is a way of announcing to all and sundry that you've truly "made it".
And if you've gone to the trouble of forking out a small fortune for one, you can be forgiven for wanting to make sure everyone can see it, whatever outfit you happen to be wearing. Certain shirting brands even crop the left sleeve a touch shorter so that your watch can be subtlely on display throughout that board meeting or client lunch.
As a result, one's choice of watch is as important as the quality of the handbag, the cut of one's suit, the appropriateness of a tie's pattern, the height of the heel. If such things matter, you might consider watches fitting both your personality and the occasion. The Italians advise three timepieces at the very least: One that suits your occupation, a dress watch for sober, formal or evening wear, and a robust watch for sport or holiday.
Watches have been a status symbol ever since they were invented. It once took a king’s purse to afford even a modest timekeeper. If you pulled a pocket watch out of your coat in 1750 you were one hell of a big deal. Fast forward to today and things are different, but in some ways surprisingly the same.
In social contexts people look at your watch to determine things like your social position, level of education, taste, and of course wealth. A man in Switzerland once told me with grave seriousness that “you aren’t taken seriously in business in Europe if you don’t have a good mechanical watch.” That might also hold true for Asia, and other parts of the world. Probably less so in the United States. Assuming you are in the type of meeting where your watch will be noticed, you must play a delicate balancing act of trying to show people you’ve done well and have good taste, while at the same time indicating that you aren’t irresponsible with your money. Because that might mean you are irresponsible with their money too. Thus, business friendly watches should be conservative and classy, as well as a signal of success.
Hip-Hop's First Billionaire
Dr. Dre recently signed a deal to sell his namesake brand to Apple for $3 Billion, which make him a Billionaire, and in his own words, Dre referred to himself as "Hip-Hop's First Billionaire." Dr. Dre is pictured below wearing his Rolex Masterpiece Day-Date.
Gold Rolex given to D-Day hero President Eisenhower expected to fetch $1MILLION
The gold Rolex given to President Dwight Eisenhower for his heroic role in D-Day is being auctioned for the first time in its history - for an estimated $1million.
Experts say the wristwatch is among the most important made by the Swiss firm, which is now one of the watchmaking world's most prestigious names.
The 18-carat timepiece, the firm's 150,000th, was presented to the five-star general in 1951 for his service in the Second World War after the 100,000th was given to Winston Churchill.
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Think you found the EXACT same watches cheaper? Think again!
What is considered a Lower Quality Swiss Replica?
There are many qualities of Swiss-made replicas out there. Most of them aren't even made in Switzerland, and don't even have a Swiss-made movement. How do you know? You don't - that's why you rely on the warranty!
Most so-called Swiss Replicas out there are either high quality Japan-made replicas, or simply Japan-made replicas. If you were to pay money to a company that does not accept credit cards, and doesn't even have a phone number for you to reach them, you will probably receive junk.
Assuming you send them a money order for a Swiss Replica, and they ship you a Japan-made replica (retail value $150) and tells you there is a 1 year warranty on it. You don't like the watch, or it breaks down 6 months down the road what can you do? Nothing! And that company's website is probably long gone by then.
These cheaper Swiss Replicas (if they should even be called that) have the following poor qualities:
- The gold is not 18k. Again, there is no way for you to tell until 6 months down the road when the gold starts to wear off and the company has disappeared.
- The stainless steel also is not solid. And once again, there is no way for you to tell until it starts to wear off.
- The weight of the watch is nowhere near exact to the real thing. This also cannot be told until you have received the watch.
- The watch has a generic replica of the Swiss-made ETA movement, or a lower quality (perhaps 21-jewel) ETA movement. This is another aspect that cannot be judge until you have received the watch.
- Poor quality markings and engravings which are impossible to see in photographs. By the time you notice it, you have already handed over your money and it's too late.
Why be Cautious?
- There are many companies offering Swiss-made replicas. Whether they are genuinely Swiss- made or not remains a mystery. The reason you have to be cautious is because you cannot see the product before you buy. Unlike a physical store, you can't touch and feel the product. All you see is a computer-generated website, which can disappear as fast as it appeared.
You only have one way to judge the quality of the product by pictures.
- But can you see quality in a photo?
- Can you see Swiss-made craftsmanship from the pictures alone?
- Is it possible to judge solid gold from a picture?
- How about the finest markings and engravings?
- Or better yet, what about a genuine Swiss-made movement?
- Are you able to feel genuine sapphire crystal, or be sure that this company is going to be around (or even obligated to) honor their warranty and return policies?
Mistake #1: Low prices TOO low to make sense
18k Gold, Swiss-Made Watch, Sapphire Crystal all for under $1000? Ask your jeweler if that's possible!
There is no way a genuine Swiss-made replica can be sold for under $1000. Some are even foolish enough to price their so-called solid 18k gold Swiss-made watches the same price as their solid stainless steel watches! So are they claiming that solid gold is the same price as stainless steel?
Mistake #2: Money Orders ONLY
There are many sites out there that accept money orders only. Is that a bad sign? Absolutely.
Money orders are basically cash, but with the name of the intended recipient. That means once the money order has been cashed, there is nothing you can do to get your money back even if you don't like the product (or receive anything at all).
You can tell yourself that you can get the money back from the police or cancel the money order, but that's not going to happen. Money orders are as good as cash. It is not within the police's jurisdiction; it is a civil matter and you have to file a lawsuit against the company.
Any company which accepts money orders only has no credibility. Which means no money back guarantee. No warranty. And a safe bet that you will be receive a very poor quality watch. Ask any of the thousands of people who've been ripped off on eBay and that should be
more than enough proof for you. Don't just listen to what people promise you. Talk is cheap. Think about what you can do if they don't honor their promise. With a money order, there is absolutely nothing you can do, because no one cares.
Mistake #3: Major Credit Cards NOT Accepted
Accepting credit cards is a time-consuming task. Rigorous background and credit checks are conducted on the companies, because the credit card companies want to make sure that their customers will be happy.
This means that the company accepting credit cards must honor their warranty and guarantee policies, or the merchant will risk having their credit card accounts terminated and pay heavy penalty fees.
So you can see that only an established, credible business with a history of delivering quality products can get their own merchant account to accept credit cards.
Mistake #4: Lack of Smooth Communication
The Golden Rule of Retail Communication: if you cannot reach them before you make a purchase, how can you expect to reach them if you have a problem after you've paid?
That means if they do not have a toll-free phone number for you to get a hold of them any time, do not give them your money. If you can't talk to a live person during regular business hours and get nothing but a voicemail, they aren't even running a credible business. What credible store in your area doesn't have a salesperson ready to serve you?
There are countless tales on the Internet about people who have handed over their money, only to receive junk or nothing at all. Any Internet consumer advocate will tell you always to create a smooth and consistent channel of communication before making a purchase, and always use a credit card.
Mistake #6: Poor Website
A poor website does not necessarily mean that the company is a scam. Their website does not have to be dazzling, or look like they've spent a million dollars building it. But if it looks like your dog's breakfast, what would you come to expect from the quality of their products? Especially for such a high-end product.
The worst thing a company can do is copy another company's website. There are obvious signs of that when you see certain areas blurred out, that usually means that the website belonged to another company, but this company duplicated it and simply blurred out certain
parts of it to hide certain information.
Any company that can't make their own website and has to steal others probably can't deliver a quality product and will steal your money too.
Remember the old aged saying: If it sounds too good to be true it probably is! Sometimes saving a few cents just costs too much
Replica Review Sites - Should Your Believe Them?
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The Truth Behind Replica Review Sites
Have you ever wondered why there are so many replica review sites on the net all paying SOE specialists to be in poll position on google or yahoo? Well I will tell you..
These review sites are a cleaver method of sites promotion. For example there are many replica dealers that operate two or more site on the net. Now in order to promote them all in one hit, the “Replica Review” site was born.
The unaware public naturally view these review sites as independent non-profit organizations and take their advice as gospel. True there are in fact some good articles to be found that are informative. But these are place there to help “legitimize” their image but are generally mixed in amongst false claims.
You will notice that all these sites have a “site review” section, well who do you think they put at the top of they recommended sites – themselves of course!....and who do they call a scam?....Their competition of course!
These review sites are not only used to promote but also they are an effective tool to slander the competition. Articles and headers are viciously put together to try to kill off their competition with bold headers shouting “SCAM” “FRAUD” etc branding other replica sites as frauds or scam artists in an effective attempt to stop people buying from them and hopefully swinging punters around into buying from one of their own sites instead.
As long as people carry on to believe these sites and they will, these misleading replica review sites will remain online and keep on misinforming people. I personally think that this from of marketing has done a lot of damage to the business and its reputation. Most of these articles are grossly exaggerated and are also aimed heartlessly to destroy honest-dealers. It all creates more confusion and fear for the buyer, which can’t be a good thing.
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Rolex Daytona takes pole position
As Rolex’s Cosmograph clocks up 50 years at the top, we follow its journey from the wrists of gentleman drivers to Grand Prix stars.
It won’t have escaped the notice of Grand Prix fans that Rolex is now the global partner of Formula One, but the brand’s association with speed on four wheels dates back to 1935, when Sir Malcolm Campbell ripped along Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats at an astonishing 301 mph in Bluebird to establish the final record of his long and illustrious career as “the fastest man on earth”. Strapped to his wrist that day was a modest Rolex Oyster which, he reported after climbing from the cockpit, had continued to run “splendidly” throughout.
The world had to wait until 1963, however, before Rolex brought precision timing from the grandstand to the pit lane, with its all-new watch – the Cosmograph.
This year celebrates the 50th anniversary of that iconic timepiece, marking a journey in automotive and horological history as possibly the greatest driver’s watch of them all.
Like existing Rolex professional watches such as the Submariner and Sea-Dweller, it was rugged and easy to read, but the added feature of a chronograph (stopwatch function) meant it could record elapsed times down to one-fifth of a second.
The chronograph gave the watch appeal to anyone involved in against-the-clock competition, but sports-car drivers in particular embraced it because of the functionality of the three subdials. These provided 60-second, 30-minute and 12-hour read-outs, making the Cosmograph ideal for timing everything from sprints to short track racing, as well as longer-distance events.
Resistant to the jarring and vibration typical of an uncompromising competition car, and sealed from dust, water, sweat and grime, the Cosmograph came to be regarded as the perfect watch for everyone from the gentleman driver to the Grand Prix star. The icing on the cake was that it was equipped with a bezel accurately engraved with tachymeter markings, thus enabling the calculation of speeds, units per hour, lap times and distances.
These features proved invaluable, for example, to rally navigators, who could activate the Cosmograph’s second hand and then stop it after a precise unit of distance was registered on the car’s odometer. The reading on the outer ring corresponding to where the hand was stopped would give the average speed per hour.
Indeed, so strong and immediate was the watch’s link with motorsport that two years after the Cosmograph first appeared, Rolex USA requested the name Daytona be inscribed on the dial of American market models in tribute to the celebrated Daytona 500 race, with which Rolex had been associated since Florida’s Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959.
The Daytona marking was subsequently extended to the entire line of Cosmograph models and, since the mid-1960s, the winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance event (renamed the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 1992) has been presented with a Cosmograph Daytona as part of the prize.
As the years went by and the Cosmograph came to be regarded as the default driver’s timepiece (for those rich enough to afford one), Rolex became the official sponsor of other leading races, notably the 24 Heures du Mans, the Le Mans series, the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races and the UK’s Goodwood Revival.
The brand also backs the Rolex Vintage Festival at Lime Rock, the American Historic Sports Car Racing Series and high-end shows such as the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance.
Celebrated drivers, too, are associated with the watch, including triple Formula One world champion Sir Jackie Stewart and Denmark’s Tom Kristensen, the only person to have won the 24 Heures du Mans eight times. Both are Rolex ambassadors, but neither are as closely linked with the Cosmograph as the late Hollywood star Paul Newman, after whom a rare version of the watch is unofficially named.
Newman’s link with the Cosmograph Daytona dates back to 1969 and the film Winning, in which he starred opposite his wife, Joanne Woodward, as racing driver Frank Capua. Part of his preparation for the film involved high-performance training for the race sequences – leaving him so hooked on motorsport that he took it up as a serious hobby in 1972.
To mark the occasion, Woodward presented him with a Cosmograph Daytona, which he is reputed to have worn for the rest of his life. The version she chose was a Reference 6241 with an exotic dial distinguished from the standard one by, among other things, considerably smaller hour markers and a black minute track to contrast with the light-coloured centre.
Produced for only two years – 1969 and 1970 – the model has come to be known as the Paul Newman Daytona and examples are highly collectable, regularly selling at auction for up to £70,000.
Last month, at specialist auction house Antiquorum, this was exceeded by the sale of an ultra-rare, gold-cased version with a lemon-coloured dial, which fetched a world-record $850,000.
For the less well-heeled, Cosmograph Daytona ownership starts from £7,950 for a standard steel version, rising to £62,950 for a yellow-gold model set with baguette-cut diamonds.
To mark the watch’s 50th anniversary, Rolex has introduced the first ever platinum-cased Daytona, featuring an ice-blue dial and chocolate-brown bezel.
See our stunning collection of Swiss Clone Daytona replica here
Affordable Style
The increasing popularity of replica watches is perfectly explainable, we all want to purchase high quality merchandise, prestigious items that define our style, but we do not want to spend a fortune on them. This is why replica watches sell so well they deliver all the positive aspects of a premium watch, but they often cost ten or fifteen times less than the original model.
The luxury watch market is in a fierce competition, and so is the replica market. While there are always a few sites selling lower quality replica watches while claiming they are Swiss made or, in some cases, even original watches. Being a reputable dealer we offer the best of the best in replica Rolex watches.
There are many different types of quality replica watches so its important to understand the difference between a genuine Swiss made timepieces and Asian production watches. At Bestreplica as our name states, you will only find the very best replica Rolex watches on the market. Our watches are all manually assembled, just like an original Rolex, with the quality of the materials and techniques used in their production actuality rivals many genuine Swiss manufactures.
As with any luxury watch manufacturers our watches go through a rigorous testing program prior to being shipped to ensure 100% quality and reliability.
Asian Replicas are of lower quality, both because the manufacturing and testing process is less advanced and because inferior quality materials are used
Our replica watches as so close in precision to the originals that even an expert can not tell the difference. The quality of the manufacturing materials the intricate markings and precisely calibrated movement ensure you can ware your watch with style pride and glee to yourself that no one will ever know you are wearing a replica watch.
Please visit our exclusive store to discover the best Rolex replicas in the business. Visit Store