The statistics that confirm Rolex's dominance of the watch industry are everywhere and incontrovertible, from brand-recognition surveys to chronometer-certificate applications via auction prices and retained values. That means you can't collect watches without at least thinking about a Rolex (and there are plenty of collectors who look no further, there being quite sufficient variety and interest to last a lifetime). And even should you be a Rolex refusenik, the brand's influence on the whole structure of the secondary market will determine what and how you collect.
Offering to advise on how you should collect Rolex is to immediately invite scorn, considering the volume of experts and writing on the subject, and so what follows should be seen as a way in and a personal view rather than anything definitive. Discussing Rolex inevitably means dealing in caveats as the brand does not discuss the past and even uses careful, nonspecific language in confirming the official reticence. Consequently, much of the detailed information on particular watches can only be inferred from supporting evidence, rather than confirmed through the company's records. There are, however, authoritative sources, including books by James Dowling and Guido Mundane, excellent auction catalogs (particularly the recent ones from Phillips) and a coterie of highly knowledgeable dealers like Watch Shopping
You may wonder why a story about collecting Rolex should start with caveats and recommendations for further reading, but the serious values that attach to even less rare models mean that the homework needs to be done. For instance, a Rolex Submariner reference 5513 from 1965 can vary in value from around £20,000 (with a newer service replacement dial) to above £300,000 (with the rarest format original dial in good condition), and even without a dial, it might be worth £12,000. At those prices, watches faked to high levels of sophistication are almost guaranteed to be in circulation, while even at lower prices it can be tempting for the unscrupulous to fit a less valuable bracelet.
Necessary warnings delivered, where should you start? Let's eschew the ultra-rarities, where values can seem to derive as much from collector machismo as intrinsic worth, and instead look at the watches that made Rolex the phenomenon it is today.
Oyster Watch
If collecting watches is about the object and its history rather than mere rarity hunting, then your next watch should be a Rolex Oyster from the Forties. Like most of the industry, Rolex switched at the outset of the Second World War to focus on what we would now call tool watches - simple designs that favored reliability and legibility over aesthetics - with the aim of winning government business. Another market open to watch companies was more curious: under the Geneva Convention, prisoners of war could receive packages via the Red Cross and within this arrangement were allowed to buy personal items, including wristwatches. Wilder made sure that Rolex was an enthusiastic participant in the scheme, responding in person to British POWs' requests with letters insisting that no thought should be given to payment until after the war - a barely concealed declaration of his belief in the end result. It is quite rare that these types of watches come up for action, but when they do they can achieve astounding prices. In 2015, a Rolex that belonged to a flight lieutenant called Jack Williams was sold for almost £200,000 at auction because of Williams' part in the "Great Escape" of 1944.
Daytona Watch
And afterward came the Daytona. Perhaps the ideal watch plan and one that any gatherer should prepare for. Lead with the eye and search for the most perfect articulation of the plan, disregarding stresses over whether the model you land on scores authority focuses for being made in this month instead of that or having another uncommon detail. Decide on exemplary, sixties-curved clearness (a quality that Rolex appears to underestimate today) as "Safari"- style patina is just worth paying the premium for in the event that you feel it improves the structure. Generally, I don't. Furthermore, once more, it's purchaser be careful to time - however, you're more secure maintaining a strategic distance from the most costly models.
