Best Selling Rolex Watches Become An Investment Choice In South Korea

Illustration of a Rolex watch. (Wikimedia Commons/Ralf Roletschek)

JAKARTA - Rolex watches are becoming a hot investment in South Korea, as it becomes increasingly difficult to find luxury watches, while supply is limited but demand is soaring.

On Diesel Mania, an internet cafe or forum for sharing information about fashion and trends on Naver's search engine, a user posted that he had finally bought a Rolex Datejust after three months of waiting.

"At the Hyundai Department Store on Sunday, there were 30 people waiting at 2 a.m. and 70 people at 5 a.m.", he wrote, while other users praised his efforts and envied his luck, citing the Korea Times, Monday, September 6.

People are willing to line up early in the morning to enter a Rolex store as the first customer to increase their chances of buying a Rolex watch, but there is no guarantee they will succeed. Due to supply shortages, customers here jokingly say they 'only sell air in Rolex stores'.

Illustration of Rolex Daytona. (Wikimedia Commons/Sealobo at English Wikipedia)

Some of those in line want watches for themselves, while others buy to resell the watches, as they can earn several months' salary by reselling them.

Tired of waiting, some consumers turn to used ones, while, some popular used models sell for around double their new selling price. In the online second-hand market, one can find many offers to buy or sell Rolex watches.

The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner Date, for example, is priced at 11.65 million won or around USD 10.068 approximately IDR143.241.966 on the official South Korean Rolex website. On We Watch trading, a used watch trading platform, the same model was sold for more than double the price of 24 million won, approximately IDR 295.165.113.

Separately, there is a seller asking for 28 million won or around IDR 344.359.298 for a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona purchased in 2017. On the official Rolex Korea website, the price is currently priced at 21.24 million won approximately IDR 261.221.125.

Illustration of Rolex Datejust. (Wikimedia Commons/ajay_suresh)

The scarcity of Rolex watches seems to be a global phenomenon. Defines flaws as a 'perfect storm'. Yahoo Finance recently reported Swiss watch sales rose 7.6 percent in July compared to pre-pandemic data. Meanwhile, sales in the US rose 48.5 and 75 percent in China.

Despite high demand, production has been limited due to COVID-19 with Yahoo Finance reporting Rolex is unlikely to increase production to meet demand. Manufacturers are said to have chosen to create long-term value for clients, rather than flooding the market and reducing the value of the watch.

This strategy is evident when analyzing Rolex Korea's business proposals, which seem to be more focused on maintaining scarcity than increasing sales or profits. It recorded total sales of 232.9 billion won in 2020, down about 20 percent from last year. Rolex's operating profit also fell 49 percent to 28.3 billion won.