Southoftheborder
Well-Known Member
The increased cost of European made jackets - even Eastman jackets can't really be compared to vintage watches or Rolex watches of any age. But even so raw materials have increased in price much more than inflation, and I mean inflation in the UK not Sweden which sounds as if it has very low inflation if your figures are right.
Italian tanneries have put up prices with increased demand particularly for very much in demand vegetable tanned hide, and I would guess the price of hides has much more than doubled in the last ten years. Then there is the decline of sterling against most major currencies in the last four years after the Brexit vote which pushes up import prices still further.
Rolex is really a special case. It along with Burberry are examples of so called aspirational brand marketing. They spend a lot of money on advertising and promotion and are repaid with large profits. Rolex turns out watches by the thousands in an automated process and can still sell many more than it makes. It alone among volume watch makers has waiting lists for its products. Not even run of the mill Oyster Perpetuals can be bought for ready money at a dealer nowadays and they sell for a premium over the list price on watch sites.
Back in the late eighties I walked into a Rolex AD and bought a GMT Master on the spot for £880 as I recall. Now they cost over £7,000 if you can even buy one. £880 in today's money is probably under £3000 which is an affordable price for a decent watch today. It's hard get a precise comparison because not all things increase in price at the same rate but the price then was nowhere like £7,000 in current sterling that's for sure.
But they can charge that and more and sell as many as they can make. It's not so much supply and demand, as demand that has got out of kilter with the reality of the product. Burberry is just a good raincoat and Rolex is just a good watch. But those brands are seen now as much more than that and the price has gone up accordingly.
Italian tanneries have put up prices with increased demand particularly for very much in demand vegetable tanned hide, and I would guess the price of hides has much more than doubled in the last ten years. Then there is the decline of sterling against most major currencies in the last four years after the Brexit vote which pushes up import prices still further.
Rolex is really a special case. It along with Burberry are examples of so called aspirational brand marketing. They spend a lot of money on advertising and promotion and are repaid with large profits. Rolex turns out watches by the thousands in an automated process and can still sell many more than it makes. It alone among volume watch makers has waiting lists for its products. Not even run of the mill Oyster Perpetuals can be bought for ready money at a dealer nowadays and they sell for a premium over the list price on watch sites.
Back in the late eighties I walked into a Rolex AD and bought a GMT Master on the spot for £880 as I recall. Now they cost over £7,000 if you can even buy one. £880 in today's money is probably under £3000 which is an affordable price for a decent watch today. It's hard get a precise comparison because not all things increase in price at the same rate but the price then was nowhere like £7,000 in current sterling that's for sure.
But they can charge that and more and sell as many as they can make. It's not so much supply and demand, as demand that has got out of kilter with the reality of the product. Burberry is just a good raincoat and Rolex is just a good watch. But those brands are seen now as much more than that and the price has gone up accordingly.
