No history, two watches: what October's buyers told us
Two of October's standout reports came from buyers with no purchase history at all. One was introduced to the store by one of its top clients and walked out with a Batman and an Oyster Perpetual 34. The other drove back to a store an hour and a half from home with friends who had bought there for a decade, and got the call for a Datejust 41 Wimbledon the next day. It's not a strategy anyone can copy, but it's a reminder of how much of this comes down to people.
Another buyer, five months into waiting for an Explorer II, got a text offering a Starbucks instead, and took it. If you're on a list, tell your salesperson what else you'd happily take.
The GMT-Master II was October's most reported watch: 24 reports, 6 of them from people still waiting. Further down you'll see what moved this month, including the Oyster Perpetual 36 and the Sky-Dweller coming in quicker.
Beyond Rolex, October was quiet but telling. Every Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin report came in through the form on this site, including a Royal Oak 16204XT offered unlisted to a client with a few prior purchases, and still-waiting reports for a Royal Oak Offshore and an Overseas. Patek Philippe, Tudor, F.P. Journe and Lange owners: October brought no new reports for your brands, so if you've had the call, or you're still waiting, yours would be the one that moves the figures.
The most important number this month: 16 of October's 102 reports came from people still waiting, more than in any month this year. Every typical wait here comes from people who got the watch, so those reports keep the figures honest. If you're still waiting, tell us how long it's been. It takes a minute.
New on the site: every figure now shows the reports behind it, and the home page finder works with nicknames, so "Bruce Wayne" finds the same page as 126710GRNR.
One correction to last month: the count of buyers with no prior purchases came from a history field since found to be overstated. Today's figures, on every brand and family page, only count buyers who told us their history.
Headline
Typical wait among buyers who got the watch is the middle report in the last 12 months. Completed reports set the median. Still-waiting reports sit beside that count and are not in it. Below 10 completed reports we show the count and no typical wait.
These figures come from buyers who got the watch and reported it. Dealers decide who is offered the watch at all; these figures describe the wait after that decision, not the odds of getting one. People still waiting or who gave up rarely report, so the real wait is probably longer than shown. Dealers differ too. Read this as what happened to the people who reported, not as what to expect at yours.
| Brand | Typical wait | Completed | Still waiting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rolex | 1-3 months | 827 | 25 |
| Patek Philippe | 1-3 months | 12 | 0 |
| Audemars Piguet | 1-3 months | 32 | 2 |
| Tudor | Walk-in / same day | 11 | 1 |
| Vacheron Constantin | 1-3 to 3-6 months | 60 | 2 |
| F.P. Journe | Too few to quote | 4 | 0 |
| A. Lange & Sohne | Too few to quote | 3 | 0 |
Rexhep Rexhepi (1 all-time) had no reports in the last 12 months.
Rolex families
Same 12-month window as the brand line. The typical wait is the middle report for that family.
| Family | Typical wait | Reports |
|---|---|---|
| Submariner | 1-3 months | 191 completed, 8 still waiting |
| GMT-Master II | 3-6 months | 123 completed, 8 still waiting |
| Cosmograph Daytona | 3-6 months | 27 completed, 0 still waiting |
| Datejust | 1-3 months | 203 completed, 4 still waiting |
| Explorer | 1-3 months | 117 completed, 0 still waiting |
| Sky-Dweller | 3-6 months | 25 completed, 0 still waiting |
| Day-Date | 3-6 months | 10 completed, 0 still waiting |
| Air-King | Under 1 month | 19 completed, 0 still waiting |
| Oyster Perpetual | 1-3 months. Oyster Perpetual mixes 28mm to 41mm. | 55 completed, 4 still waiting |
| Yacht-Master | 1-3 months | 23 completed, 1 still waiting |
| Sea-Dweller | 1-3 months | 13 completed, 0 still waiting |
| Land-Dweller | 3-6 months | 14 completed, 0 still waiting |
Movers
Families and references whose typical bucket changed since last month's report. Sample size is the current 12-month completed count.
| Watch | Was | Now | Reports |
|---|---|---|---|
| 126000 | 6-12 months | 3-6 months | 19 |
| Oyster Perpetual | 3-6 months | 1-3 months | 55 |
| Sky-Dweller | 3-6 to 6-12 months | 3-6 months | 25 |
Walk-in share
Walk-in or same-day share, only where the wait pool is at least 40 reports. Below that we omit the row.
Datejust: 47 of 203 reports were walk-in or same-day (23%).
Explorer: 32 of 117 reports were walk-in or same-day (27%).
GMT-Master II: 22 of 123 reports were walk-in or same-day (18%).
Oyster Perpetual: 8 of 55 reports were walk-in or same-day (15%).
Submariner: 38 of 191 reports were walk-in or same-day (20%).
Vacheron Constantin Overseas: 8 of 47 reports were walk-in or same-day (17%).
New this month
No reference crossed or dropped the 10-report floor this month.
What we still cannot answer
These have reports, but not enough in the last 12 months to quote a typical wait. All-time count is shown beside the 12-month count.
| Brand | Scope | Kind | Last 12 months | All-time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tudor | Black Bay | family | 7 | 23 |
| Rolex | 126710BLRO | reference | 0 | 21 |
| Vacheron Constantin | 7920V | reference | 7 | 19 |
| Rolex | 126600 | reference | 4 | 15 |
| Vacheron Constantin | 4000V | reference | 5 | 13 |
| Rolex | 126331 | reference | 5 | 12 |
| Rolex | 278274 | reference | 5 | 10 |
| Tudor | Pelagos | family | 2 | 10 |
| Rolex | 277200 | reference | 7 | 10 |
| Patek Philippe | Nautilus | family | 2 | 10 |
| Rolex | 126333 | reference | 6 | 10 |
| Vacheron Constantin | 4500V | reference | 3 | 9 |
Intake
102 new reports in October (20 submitted directly, 82 from recent posts). 2,123 published all-time.
Methodology
Every typical wait is the middle report of the last 12 months, from self-reported buyer reports.