side track a little, I've seen so many "we're getting the call from AD" on youtubes, some social media post...but I've never really heard or know enough people personally who actually really got the call. Who in this forum actually have gotten that lucky call?
I am interested to know as well. Same as you, I read/watch so many people saying that the heat is over, and you can walk in and buy on the spot some more, but what I experienced was totally different. I can see many Rolex on sale on 2nd hand market/grey market but not from the AD.
OK.. so this is going OT (off topic) a little but what the heck..
As most will have heard from grey dealers by now, Rolex prices will increase on Jan 1, 2024 which is just the day after... and from what I hear, it's about 7%. So there is a FOMO rush at grey dealers to get what they want before the "price goes up"
But while retail may be going up, do you really think grey will go up as well? Maybe some popular sports model will but the gold ones are definitely going to be stagnant or even below retail. Steel models, which will soon be the "cheapest" Rolex, will still hold some ground but the older models will not be shooting up too much or maybe even drop when the market begins to flood with people off-loading investment pieces to cash in.
I'm not sure why the AD are still holding out from selling but maybe it's because they still have quite a queue to offer available stocks to and when those clients decline due to poor economic situation or lack of profits from offloading, then maybe your turn will be quicker.
Back in 2020, it was not hard to get pieces from the AD, but since then they have been quite hard to come by. Have since tried to register interest at other AD but never received any feedback either.
You could read those posts about how they "develop a relationship" with AD salespeople to get their desired watch if you want more ideas.
If you really must buy from grey market, it's still safer to get it from one that has a shopfront and has been in business for many years and will provide a clear purchase receipt which can be used in case the watch is fake or stolen goods.