All 'special' iterations of Rolexes need a lil' patience. Luckily for us, Brunei's AD is not as bonkers as those in Sq, where typically even standard stainless sport models won't even get you a discount, even if they had it. They would try to milk the maximum from any buyer willing to part their hard earned mulla for a lil’ luxury. This happened to me personally in 2008 when I bought a black GMT-Master II ref. 116170 LN that retailed at SGD$9,500.
Having visited a good number of AD's, many mentioned that it was hard to find, hard to get, not available for walk-in buys but for bookings only... yada3! The best excuse they came up with was, ‘we have it but the market has dictated the price’. Cheah, whatever that means! After many months of looking around I eventually managed to get one at a ‘decent’ SGD$1k over-retail at SGD$10,500. I literally had to beg to get it at that price. To be fair this was the first time that Rolex came out with the ‘cerachrome’ bezel for any of their watches (2007). Even as one year had passed since launch, it was still a sellers market for the then coveted ‘cerachrome’ bezeled watch.
Fantastic alternative to the Sub!
Having visited a good number of AD's, many mentioned that it was hard to find, hard to get, not available for walk-in buys but for bookings only... yada3! The best excuse they came up with was, ‘we have it but the market has dictated the price’. Cheah, whatever that means! After many months of looking around I eventually managed to get one at a ‘decent’ SGD$1k over-retail at SGD$10,500. I literally had to beg to get it at that price. To be fair this was the first time that Rolex came out with the ‘cerachrome’ bezel for any of their watches (2007). Even as one year had passed since launch, it was still a sellers market for the then coveted ‘cerachrome’ bezeled watch.
Back to Brunei’s AD --- although they do try to exercise the typical Rolex VIP client privileges where they only offer regular return clients hard-to-get special iterations of their coveted sport models, I do however believe their efforts to exercise that bad habit is somewhat ineffective as it all boils down to our limited market size, neighbouring AD's are only a hop away and that tourists are few and far between.
It seems that if they notice that you're a serious buyer and not the kind that just asks and compare prices, they may entertain you well. Funny thing is, you still have to offer your contact and show keenness in buying for ‘bookings’.... yes bookings! It doesn’t work the other way round where one would be offered to be contacted if the product has arrived. Even then, the 1st thing they would tell you, if asked, is ‘their’ retail price for the asked model. Discount?, then ask again… typically today’s standard is the recommended no-more-than 5%. But that is only for the standard pieces. Special coveted models? --- Retail price is the order of the day. You really must have bought a few pieces in the last short moments beforehand/ regular buyer/ VIP cockaspanial types to be offered one to buy, let alone be considered for a discount.
So why did you sell off the 116710 LN when it was hard to acquire in the 1st place
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