Publicly traded companies must, by definition, have short-term interests.
Even the most senior executives in the company report to, and exist to serve the interests of, the shareholder (that’s you, me, and anyone who owns stocks in 401Ks, brokerage accounts, pension funds, etc.). In a publicly traded company – one whose shares trade on an exchange – shareholders own the company. How did growth become the de facto central objective of economies, markets and therefore companies? It’s mostly down to the advent of the publicly traded company, which dates back hundreds of years but really took off in the early 1800s. I’m making the point that Rolex occupies a market position that other watchmakers – even the most distinguished of them – can’t replicate. I’m not making any claims that Rolex makes the most superlative anything. To be clear, I’m not saying Rolex’s success is due to making the best or most expensive or most advanced or most desirable watches. The pervasive growth fallacy within the luxury watch industry largely explains why Rolex sits perpetually atop the watch totem pole.
So, what does this have to do with Rolex’s success? Many things. There are now social, political, and economic movements that seek to undermine the notion that eternal growth should be the goal (see: Raworth’s doughnut economics).
#Rolex faceless watch professional
I say this as a professional marketer that traffics in the art of getting people to want things. It leads to perverse incentive structures, increases materialism, shallows our culture, rewards manipulation of people to achieve corporate objectives. The endless pursuit of growth has negative consequences. I won’t go into all of them, but I will challenge one of them: the notion that growth is always good, even necessary, for economic success. Similarly, there are economic truths we don’t challenge: humans are rational actors, GDP is the best measure of economic state, economic growth is always good. To the younger fish, the water is a truth so innate it’s not even perceived. An older fish comes by and asks, “Hey there, how’s the water?” The two younger fish look at each other, confused, and ask, “What’s water?” And there you have it: the secret to Rolex’ success. As I've mentioned before, a fresh-to-market watch in crisp, original, and honest condition like this can get even the most cynical of collectors excited.How do we account for Rolex’s success in the luxury watch market? David Foster Wallace tells a parable about two young fish swimming along. After the strong performance of complicated Pateks in Geneva last month – including a pink gold 2499 that sold for CHF 3.2 million – I'd expect this 1518 to land somewhere near or above that high estimate. Sotheby's has placed an estimate of $2.5 million to $4.5 million on this 1518. But the case looks gorgeous, with thick and sharp lugs that are so often polished to toothpicks on these old watches. This explains why the example looks so good, with just a bit of uneven wear near the center of the dial. Sotheby's specialist Jonathan Burford discovered this 1518 thanks to the monster sale of that last 1518 – the consignor of this watch had it sitting in a drawer for 30 years without a crystal on it. It's not quite as pristine as the last example Sotheby's sold for nearly $10 million in December 2021, but it is nearly as exciting. I saw this watch briefly in Geneva last month, and it's absolutely gorgeous. The biggest lot of the sale is a fresh-to-market pink-on-pink Patek 1518 perpetual calendar chronograph, just the fifteenth known.
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