A question to ponder

[danny]

I recently came across a post in timezone referring to a recent article describing an interview with a close associate of Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France. Now as we are all aware, the French President has been seen on numerous occasions with his flashy Rolex watches, especially the Daytona. Incidently in this interview his close associate and friend Jacques Seguela was reported as having said: "Everyone has a Rolex. If you don't have a Rolex by the time you reach 50, then you have clearly failed in your life."     

While I am admittedly a fan of Rolex watches, I utterly disagree with this guy's narrow world view. His statement is utterly obnoxious and insensitive especially in the current economic environment where many people are facing the grim prospect of having their nest egg seriously depleted by the financial turmoil sweeping the world.

It is also very unfortunate that all the bad press generated by this materialistic fella has served to obscure the brand equity of Rolex as a symbol of top quality timepieces and project Rolex watches as just extravagant jewelry.

IMHO a Rolex watch is worth owning not for its "bling bling" factor but rather for its top notch features and quality at a reasonable price level. Amongst the many aspects of Rolex which I find appealing are:

i) Rolex's rich history and numerous pioneering contributions to the watch industry such as Oyster case, Auto winding movement and instantaneous date change and the Original helium escape valve.

ii) Rolex's classic and conservative design DNA which has withstood the test of time. Just look at the much imitated but never matched  Submariner Date!

iii)  The robust, reliable and accurate Rolex in house calibers which offer the best of breed features such as free sprung hairspring with Breguet Overcoil, Glucydur balance with Microstella screws, balance bridge, Teflon coated reverser wheels etc. Not to mention that every single Rolex movement is now certified COSC.

iv) Rolex offers the most extensive international network of service centers which provide top notch service and swift turnaround time.

Now that I have shared my views on the article, I would very much like to hear what you guys have to say.

[Scott C.]

I'm 100% agree with Danny.

Rolex has a very reliable movement...accuracy is good, very easy to maintain (less cost), agree?

I still remember i saw few building constructor/workers in the Western country wearing Rolex while doing their job.. some of my ex-colleagues in the UK wear Rolex like how we wearing Casio (no offend, I do love my G-Shock), you can see them banging their watches everywhere! To them, it is not a real expensive watch! (due to the cost of living) All I'm saying is, Rolex is a tool watch to start with...at least before they put on some diamond/gold to it

I think, partly because of him (Nicolas Sarkozy) or other people like him causing the Rolex (or other luxury watches) price increase to maintain it luxury status!

What I'm really interested is how he or some one (including me) here define success and failure. Successful = Rich? Let just say it's true (but i strongly disagree).

IF I'm successful (rich), I don't think Rolex will be my first choice, maybe a A.Lange or PP or many other far "superior" watches

I know a lot of young guys (some of my ex-schoolmate/college-mate) wearing Rolexes, are they successful? Maybe, maybe not, but definitely not up to me to say! I can be rich because of my father or my great grandfather (unfortunately, no :p)

In my opinion, no one can really say how successful or failure he himself (or herself) is. You can tell the world how wealthy you are but definitely not how successful you are. I think it's what you had done to the community or a particular group of people to determine that. The impact you have done to someone else or to the community.

Personally, it doesn't really "matter", successful is just a status that given to you for something you had done well, it an experience that motivate me to do well for another time. A compliment not much different from "Good job"

If successfully earn the first 10Million (if successful = rich), and if i don't work harder again, i maybe not able to earn my next 10Million

A real example, will Mother Terrisa tell the world she is successful while she has dedicated her life to help out the poor all over the world? NO! She didn't even complaint a words to anyone else (I did some reading about her long time back) and keep helping one after another. Is she success? I'll say Yes! (But, I never see her wearing Rolex in any of her photos )

How about Adolf Hitler? kekkekekeke..

If someone failed at the age of 50 and willing to stand up to correct the mistake again, i think he is successful and respectful!

To me, Watch is a very personal "thingy". Has no definite answer to what SHOULD wear. Most importantly, wear something you really like but not pleasing somebody else

Cheers!
SC


SC

[sshark]

Just can believe some ppl would say something so untrue publicly. That sounds so Ah Beng. Sadly, many "china man" subscribe to that idea.

Rolex is a reliable watch and has many good qualities as mentioned by the previous poster. Some how or rather, ppl like to think Rolex as a bling2 watch rather than a great tool watch. If I not wrong, Rolex  makes tool watches in their early days. They made "precious stone studded" watch as the demands arose and at the same time to promote its watches as luxury watches to gain more profit. IMO, the sport models made sucky luxury watches The celini models on the other hand are better at this.

In limited experience with watches, a Rolex is a watch with great accuracy compared to many ETA based watches. Great accuracy is an achievement by itself because it is so much harder to do than a quartz based watch. Many ppl tend to forget that conveniently.

So for me, owning a Rolex means having one of the many great inventions man has created on my hand, nothing more nothing less. Slightly more, it tells me the date of month when I write checks to pay loans

Rolex is not tat expensive in the Western countries in relative to the salary they made annually.

[David_cheong]

J have touch 50, but am I successful?. Yes and No.

Over my years of Rolexes ownership, I have my past failure and successful stories. And at the very moment, I have just sold off my very last piece of Rolex and yet to gain another fine classic piece of another make. (Not Rolex).

While Rolexes are consider as tool watches for each respective individual, many would be owner will not wear their precious pieces near any harsh environment.
For me, the weak point lies within the crystal glass.  No matter how careful I am, is that I actually need to replace the sapphire crystal whenever (3 times already) I need to sell or trade in my pieces. These so-called sapphire crystal are non scratches but not chipped-off proof. If you run your finger tip around the edges of the protruding glass, you will know what I meant.

Owning a Rolex is a joy in the initial stage but as time wane by, I find that its less attractive, because IMHO every other guy/s is wearing a rollie. Nowadays, nobody would give you a second look (especially when you are walking along the Petaling Street, but then I do not need any attention on my watches) or is it because its replica/s are the most copies brand name on this whole wide world

I would now prefer some classic models to go along with my wardrobe

Just my 2 cents
DC

[chrisyen]

haha... u guys r just too serious....

rolex = successful = rich
then all ah long and under ground daiko wear rolex.... so ah long & daiko = successful?

do they really care about what is inside rolex? level of finishing in movement? accuracy? if he want accuracy then casio is better... if he want luminous... then casio better... if he want function... casio better...

why ah long buy rolex? because he only know 1 good brand ! and he know if tomorrow he got no money... rolex is so liquid... any pawn shop, used watch shop... even other ah long will buy it!

ppl who buy and own rolex may not know how to appreciate rolex... bill gates wear rolex? warren buffet?
so i wont measure ppl with the watch he wear....

dr. benard said now in singapore.... even a taxi driver is wearing either rolex or panerai !

btw, i'm not look down on taxi driver, ah long and daiko...

lol.... ah long n daiko now wear panerai, pp and ap also.... why?

[danny]

ppl who buy and own rolex may not know how to appreciate rolex... bill gates wear rolex? warren buffet?

To answer your question:


Bill Gates wears a Fossil Smart Watch.



Warren Buffett wears a solid gold Rolex Day Date. He's got style!

[chrisyen]

maybe in warren safe got 1000 rolex.... long term investment...
his strategy is to invest into a company with a very very good management team... then buy at low price....