Their products are comparable to a Hermès Birkin bag in price, luxury status and waitlist times… yet they produce over 1m units / year (roughly 10x annual Birkin production).
Fantastic deep-dive on Rolex's machinery. What strikes me most is how the rotating bezel transformed Rolex's tool watches from instruments into lifestyle items without actually changing their core function. The Submariner's timing bezel wasn't invented for status, yet it's become the visual signature that makes collectors drool. That's where Rolex really diferentiated itself—they understood bezels aren't just tools, they're the design langage that communicates craftsmanship.
Interesting. I'm wearing my newly acquired Submariner Date. It's just a data point of 1 here (and taste is very subjective), but I tend to agree with you. I reviewed and considered their entire collection and landed on the Sub, I'd say the bezel is a core part of the design that's appealing to me.
Fantastic deep-dive on Rolex's machinery. What strikes me most is how the rotating bezel transformed Rolex's tool watches from instruments into lifestyle items without actually changing their core function. The Submariner's timing bezel wasn't invented for status, yet it's become the visual signature that makes collectors drool. That's where Rolex really diferentiated itself—they understood bezels aren't just tools, they're the design langage that communicates craftsmanship.
Interesting. I'm wearing my newly acquired Submariner Date. It's just a data point of 1 here (and taste is very subjective), but I tend to agree with you. I reviewed and considered their entire collection and landed on the Sub, I'd say the bezel is a core part of the design that's appealing to me.