When it comes to watch collecting, a lot has changed in the last five years. Before certain Rolex professional models became a big moneymaker for resellers and watch collectors, and before Patek Philippe and stainless steel Rolex watches became as scarce and difficult to obtain as they are today, watch collectors were buying watches just because they loved them and wanted to wear them. A little bit over two years ago, Rolex sent a letter to their authorized dealers demanding to remove all plastics —protective stickers— at the moment of purchase and that’s when the game drastically changed.
In order to control the resale of brand new watches through gray dealers and watch collectors, having the plastics removed at the time of purchase complicated things for many wanting to turn around and make a quick profit. It also deterred certain buyers from buying watches that were BNIB but not fully stickered. And right there at that precise moment, fully stickered watches still in the hands of grey dealers became more expensive and commanded a premium over BNIB —Brand New in Box— without stickers. And even though Rolex requested authorized dealers to remove all plastics, some ADs were still selling the watches with stickers on and many continued to capitalize on that.
Honestly, it used to be very nice to come home and enjoy in private that special moment —or ritual— of removing the plastics from your brand new Rolex —whether it came from an AD or a grey dealer. While for many, that still seems to be something important and those willing to pay a premium will only buy a fully stickered Rolex, I really don’t think that it’s worth the premium or the hype. And unfortunately, I learned this lesson the hard way. I literally paid a two thousand dollar premium to have the pleasure and luxury of removing the plastics at home.
While many would see this as very frivolous, at the time I bought my Rolex GMT-Master II ref. 116719BLRO in white gold, I decided to go with a NOS fully stickered because I wasn’t sure whether I would be wearing the watch or I would just put it away in the safe for a while.
Of course, as soon as I received the watch, I had the urge to wear it. Right then, after I had paid such a premium, I didn’t feel it would be smart to remove the plastics as I was thinking of not diminishing the value of my recent purchase. Well, I wore the watch a dozen times with the plastics on, and finally, one day I was ready to take them off.
Sadly, I couldn’t grasp my head around the fact that I would be losing almost two grand as soon as those plastics came off. Regardless, I went with the task, and to my surprise —even after I’ve removed plastics from watches no less than a dozen times—, it didn’t feel special or like a ritual. After having worn the watch so many times with the plastics on it was just not important anymore.
As soon as I started peeling off each of those protective stickers, all I could think of was how dumb I had been for paying such a premium and how awful I must’ve looked wearing the watch with the plastics on —even thought most people never noticed. As soon as all the plastics came off, I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Wearing a watch with protective stickers on is literally like getting a new couch and never removing the plastic bag from it.
That day, I learned a very valuable lesson and all I can tell you is that if you buy a watch with the intention of wearing, you should just wear it and enjoy it. Are fully stickered Rolex watches worth the price premium or the hype? Absolutely, not.
Now that I wear my watch without any plastics, I really don’t care anymore about the loss of money paid for it. Furthermore, it gave me a fresh perspective on buying a BNIB versus an LNIB —Like New in Box. And to be honest, I no longer find a real difference.
Is the watch really BNIB after it’s been removed hundreds of times from the AD showcases and customers had tried it on the same number of times? Maybe an LNIB has been tried on and worn fewer times than those BNIBs watches.
At the end of the day, don’t fall for the hype and do what makes you feel right.
With this being said, I will now share with you an interesting conversation I had one day with Monsieur Thierry Stern from Patek Philippe. I will never forget his words after we started talking about collectors keeping safe queens. He said:
“Watches are meant to be worn. If they scratch we’ll polish them, if they stop working, we will service them. I hate seeing those watches been kept in safes for decades. I want clients to wear and enjoy their watches.”
Stickered or not, enjoy those watches that will always be ‘new’ to you.
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