On Tuesday morning, Antonia Hock assembled dozens of people she’d recruited on the ground floor of a fancy new shop in London’s Mayfair.
Smartly dressed and self-assured, Hock is the former global head of the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Centre, before she set up her own company to advise public-facing blue-chip clients on talent acquisition and customer experience.
(“The firm specialises in creating exceptional customer experiences for luxury brands around the globe to delight the most discerning clientele,” notes the blurb for her company, the AHA Group.)
The shop was shut, and would not open for another 48 hours.
But Hock set her guests to work as if they were shopping, wandering about the four-storey premises, and interacting with the staff in a variety of prearranged ways.
Some said they knew exactly what they were after, others hadn’t a clue. Some were looking to spend a small fortune, others just browsing.
There were people who were instructed to be friendly and charming. Others were told to be time-wasters and argumentative, the epitome of “the difficult customer”.
One had an imaginary badly-behaved dog.
The exercise, which Hock followed keenly, was a simulation of “every conceivable outcome” of how customers might interact with the shop, a new flagship best UK Rolex replica watches boutique, on London’s Old Bond Street.
She ran the same exercise through again, the following day.
This was the final part of six months’ worth of preparation to create “the guiding light for the client experience… from the very first experience coming through the doors, to the last fond farewell”.
Those guidelines were outlined in a 140-page internal publication, The Experience Playbook.
Perfect Rolex fake watches does not own any shops. Instead, it’s products are sold through a network known as Official Rolex Retailers, which include Goldsmiths and Bucherer, as well as its largest retail partner – Watches of Switzerland.
It was the latter who has oversaw 16 months’ worth of renovations of the Old Bond Street premises. Brian Duffy, CEO of the Watches of Switzerland Group, later said his staff, who had been recruited from fashion, hospitality and retail, and spoke 17 languages between them, had “been trained to death”.
Along with other members of the media, and some clients, I visited the new store on Thursday, the day after Hock’s training had concluded, and the day before it opened to the public.
As the rigorous training may have indicated, not much about the new 1:1 China replica Rolex watches boutique has been left to chance.
“It’s been many years in the planning,” Craig Bolton, president of the Watches of Switzerland Group, said at Thursday’s press event. “Pretty much from when we first started looking for a location, in 2020.”
“It’s the best showroom in the world,” he declared.
“And the most expensive,” interjected Duffy.
The exterior alone was fairly spectacular, its façade dating back to 1899, when the building was a bank.
“Then it was repurposed for retail, and it’s since been a flagship for Versace and Gucci – but it’s moved upmarket now, for Rolex,” Duffy joked.
The interior has been redone from scratch: covering more than 7,200 square feet, it includes wall frescos, seven different types of marble, handblown chandeliers, and a glass lift – the best spot to look down on a hanging display of outsized green bezels, leaving you in no doubt whose rarifed world you were in.
The site had been covered in Rolex-fronted awnings for months, the build had taken 72 weeks and more than 108,000 man-hours.
At one point luxury Rolex copy watches, as the client, deduced that the marble wall by the stairs leading from the ground floor to the first floor contained too many blemishes.
It was taken down and replaced.
High quality Rolex replica watches is, of course, intrinsically linked to London. Before it became Swiss, it’s founder Hans Wilsdorf established the company as Wilsdorf & Davis in Hatton Garden in 1905.
Inside the new store, there was some debate about its global ranking, vis-à-vis its size.
The conclusion seemed to be that it was the biggest in Europe, with one bigger in Dubai, and the biggest one in the world due to open on New York’s Fifth Avenue, in 2026.
We all wondered what staggering amount of money it could have cost.
I made a ham-fisted attempt to ask Watches of Switzerland employee, but of course he was too well-trained to reveal the answer. “I’m not supposed to say”.
But I was stood with an architect and the editor of Elle Decoration magazine. Between them, their ballpark guess was £50m.
Cheap Rolex super clone watches is famously one of the most secretive companies in the world, and it’s sometimes said that no one can name its boss, because even that is not public knowledge.
This isn’t really true – Jean-Frédéric Dufour is named on Rolex’s Wikipedia page, for a start. It’s just that it’s not the Rolex way to have him put in public appearances, or give loads of interviews.
But Dufour was there on Thursday, helping cut the opening ribbon, chit-chatting to guests over coffee and pastries and telling one journalist colleague how wildly inaccurate the latest Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult report, the annual document that’s poured over by the media and purports to show accurate sales figures for the Swiss watch industry, was – at least when it came to Tudor, Swiss made replica Rolex watches‘ sister brand, whom were said to be down 23 per cent.
After some speeches we were split into groups and given a tour of the building.
The boutique’s ground floor was deemed an “art gallery equivalent”– it has the chandeliers, and the fresco – as well as a marble mosaic reception. The full breadth of the Rolex range is on display here – including luxury online fake Rolex Submariners, Oyster Perpetuals, GMT Master IIs and Cosmograph Daytona watches.
Should you be in the market for taking your browsing to the next level, you may proceed to the sales area on the first floor – all soft-backed chairs, vases of white arum-lilies, the Rolex flower of choice, and several display cabinets of rare gem-set copy Rolex watches site, on loan from Switzerland.
There was also a bar.
“The vision was not just to make this a retail experience,” Antonia Hock told our group. “But to make this an incredible hosting experience. When you come into this boutique, we want you to have the sort of moments that you will remember, not just after you walk out the door, but for life, right down to the details of the hospitality program.”
“Just to give you one small detail and a glimpse into that, we have a specialty cocktail here, the only one in the world, for Rolex,” she said.
“It is an homage to London and the brand itself.”
It was, unambiguously, green.
“But it cannot be officially ‘Rolex green’ for patent reasons,” Hock clarified. “We have done our very best to match it.”
Up one more flight, and the top floor is dedicated to a Rolex Authorised Service Centre.
Here, six watchmakers, two technicians, a polisher and a service coordinator beavered away in lab coats at work stations. Between them they are trained to do everything from bracelet adjustments to complete movement overhauls.
Arguably the most interesting part of the new building was on the lower ground floor.
This part is dedicated to Swiss AAA replica Rolex’s Certified Pre-Owned watches – ie: the second-hand models it has taken back in, authenticated, fixed up and is now offering back for sale.
(There’s also an exhibition area here, currently showing the evolution of the GMT-Master.)
There were more than 250 CPO watches on display, many of them rare and of historical interest, including a “John Mayer” Daytona ref. 116508, a “Tutti Frutti” Yacht-Master ref. 116695, and a GMT Master II in white gold with a meteorite dial.
Other rarities, including a “Comex” Submariner, developed for a French diving company in 1970, a Daytona “Big Red” and a “Paul Newman” ref.6264, would soon be joining them from Geneva.
“This is the world’s largest collection of Rolex Certified Pre-Owned,” Robin Greenwood, head of pre-owned and vintage watches at the Watches of Switzerland Group told me. “In an uncertain marketplace for pre-owned Rolex watches, this is a real game changer.”
Rolex’s decision to start buying back its own Rolex fake watches online was something of a necessity.
With eBay, and excellent online trading platforms like Subdial really getting their act together with their own authentication programmes, the stigma of buying a “used” watch has all but evaporated. It was a huge slice of the market Rolex replica watches shop was missing out on.
“Subdial, Kettle Kids [another rising preowned outlet] … bring it on,” Greenwood said. “You pay a premium with our [preowned] service, but most of our customers understand that. When something has actually been officially authenticated by Rolex, it’s a world away from the competition.”
Greenwood said the idea was always to have something new on display here – “We’ll change the stock every two weeks” – so passers-by would feel compelled to drop in regularly.
Brian Duffy later mentioned to me that controlling this was his biggest concern, that coupled with the exhibition area, an unquantifiable amount of people might just want to come here to hang out and enjoy the watch porn.
When I mentioned this to Greenwood he pointed to the number of chairs available on his floor – just two.
“A way to cut down on ‘dwell time’,” he advised.
For years, the biggest gripe about shops selling Rolex watches is that you can’t actually buy fake Rolex watches paypal in them.
Demand outstrips supply, and Rolex has apparently been happy to lean into a scarcity-creates-desirability model, and run tightly-controlled waiting lists.
Little green and gold placards in boutique windows bearing the legend “For Exhibition Only” under each watch – ie: “this isn’t for sale” – have become the subject of watch chatroom ire.
On Thursday, Watches of Switzerland posted a photo of the new Mayfair store onto its account.
Almost all the comments underneath were of the: “Why keep opening bricks and mortar if there’s nothing to buy when you walk in?”; “Perfect, a store where nothing is for sale ” and “Pointless” variety.
Yet Watches of Switzerland is at pains to address this.
It says the new store has the biggest inventory of any Rolex outlet in Europe.
You may not be able to walk out with Swiss movements replica Rolex Daytona watches, or some of the most high-demand models. But there are plenty of other options. Ones they promise will be in stock.
After my tour I sat down with Brian Duffy – wearing best quality fake Rolex Submariner “Hulk” ref. 116610 LV watches – to discuss availability, future pricing models and what it is that makes Rolex the watch world’s top dog.
Rolex loves to talk about its “exceptional customer service”. What does that mean?
Brian Duffy: It’s about consistency. But, really, the goal in every case is to be responsible, knowledgeable – and to exceed expectations.
How does that vary with different types of customer?
BD: If they’re coming here for an appointment, it’s easier. Because with appointments, we talk to clients beforehand. We know who’s coming, we know their interest, we can check them on the database, we know their history. But then you’ve got clients coming for a service, you’ve got clients coming in for Pre-Owned. We try to anticipate every potential behaviour. They literally have done that here [with the training].
For example: a customer kicking off, and losing their temper?
BD: Yeah, or people coming in with an erratic dog.
How do you deal with an erratic dog?
BD: I don’t. But fortunately, our team do.
That amount of training seems like… a lot.
BD: We’ve never had so much training. Antonia Hock, with her Ritz-Carlton experience, was a big part of that. They set the standard for hospitality. And we’ve looked to hospitality to set the standard in retail. The idea is that you really feel like you’re a guest here.
Can you expand on that?
BD: We wanted the client to be known and to wowed – right? So, every morning, our team are told who’s coming for appointments. Just like in a hotel, everybody knows what guests are coming and when they’re coming. And they will be recognised and helped and directed in the right way. Because I think its what clients are looking for today.
Antonia Hock was talking earlier about having “choreography” around the rooms. So there’s a flow to the building.
BD: Yes, we’re using this new system, which is like a restaurant system – we have consultation areas, where we know what China online Rolex replica watches are available, and what’s becoming available. We’re not having people standing around wondering what’s happening.
You’ve taken away the “For Exhibition Only” signs.
BD: We’re not creating automatic disappointment. I mean, those signs are a discouragement to coming into the store. And even when we can’t supply [everyone], we still want people to some in and engage. Because then they may decide to put their name down [on a waiting list]. Or look at Pre-Owned. Pre-Owned has changed the dynamic. Because somebody can come in and say, “I’m interested in the “Hulk”. Is it still around?” And then you say: “No, not as new. But let’s take a look at what’s in Pre-Owned”. That changes the dynamic.
How do you justify the considerable premium Rolex puts on Pre-Owned, versus other secondary traders?
BD: Well, versus the secondary market… You’re getting something that’s been authenticated, serviced and guaranteed by Rolex fake watches shop – a two-year guarantee. So that watch is, in some cases, you could argue, even better [than it was]. It’s a watch that has been around for a while – but everything has been replaced. Now it’s in great shape, so you can feel very confident about it. And I think, quite rightly, people still have my nervousness about shopping online and spending a lot of money [on secondary market sites]. And not really knowing what they’re getting. Getting it from us gives them a great deal of comfort. And then getting that guarantee from Rolex. It’s a very, very different proposition.
If I walked in here when you open tomorrow morning, could I walk out with a Daytona?
BD: If you want to buy AAA replica Rolex Daytona watches at retail price, you’re going to have to go on the waiting list. And we’re going to be in touch with you every three months, to make sure you want to stay in the waiting list. That’s something we’ve started over the last year. We’ll give you as much information as we can – an indication of how long you may have to wait, the Daytona having of one of our longest waiting times. And people do wait. People go on the list and wait for years. And they’re just as enthusiastic at the end of a three or four year period as they were at the beginning. We would also try and encourage the client to look at Pre-Owned.
Apparently you have the largest inventory in Europe here?
BD: Obviously it’s a big store – it’s the biggest store in Europe. And of course we want to show the best of Rolex. As do they. So, they’ve been very, very supportive [ie: they’ve allocated us more stock than other stores]. There isn’t anyone else that’s got this selection of product available. And quite a bit of it for sale, initially. And then you add to that the 170 or so Pre-Owned watches on the ground floor. You want to schedule a good half-day when you come shopping here.
Okay, so no Daytona. But I could definitely walk out with something?
BD: Yeah.
That’s not always been the case.
BD: No, it hasn’t. And I do think having some product for sale is a healthy thing. Oyster Perpetuals, Day-Dates, smaller case sizes, and so on. That’s great for our team. Over the last few years, they’ve either been doing appointments for somebody whose name came up on the waiting list. Or they’re just taking down names. What they’ve not been doing is responding to clients coming in, and then finishing up with a transaction. The new availability of products has bought that back to life.
I’ve certainly seen people at the Rolex outlet at Geneva Airport losing their minds, because there’s a watch they want to buy in the window, and the shop isn’t allowed to sell it to them.
BD: Again, we’ve had to get through all kinds of training and advice with our people about what to say and what not to say – how to handle those clients. And I think we’re pretty skilled at it now.
Why do you think Rolex maintain its position as the number one watch brand?
BD: It’s been consistently managed throughout its entire history. It focuses singularly on product quality and innovation – the famous “evolution, rather than revolution”, of the style of design. Great marketing. They have great control over their distribution, in terms of client experience and environment. It’s a unique [business] model, I think. Particularly in the sense that they can do that through so many partners around the world, of which we are one of the biggest. They stand alone.
Watch shops aren’t always the most welcoming places. The ground floor here, with the exhibition space, seems designed to encourage people to hang about. Is there any concern its going to become a distraction?
BD: But we want that. I have said we can’t have ropes outside [if it gets too popular]. I really hope that doesn’t happen. We clearly want to entertain as many people who come as we can. But at some point, there’s fire regulations. We’ll find out soon.
Does Rolex give Watches of Switzerland a better allocation of stock than other retailers?
BD: There’s fair process that goes on, for allocation. And the things that make a difference are investment, and expansion. This [store] is the biggest investment. And the biggest expansion. And obviously that’s got to come with a level of support [from Rolex] to make it all make sense. Over the last few years they’ve had to be a lot more disciplined in terms of making allocations, and transparency and all that. They’re very good at doing that.
Does the allocation vary a lot from watch model to watch model?
BD: Well, they don’t ever tell us the mix. But we get hints. “We’re going to be doing more of this family than another, over the year”. So, three months before they arrive, we know the mix. And, then, within a month we know the SKUs that are coming in [ie: actual numbers of models we’ll be allocated]. So, then we can start preparing some clients. And then a week before, we know exactly what’s coming – so we can make the appointments. All that’s a lot smoother now, because the scarcity that we’ve had over the last few years is no longer a factor.
If someone buys Pre-Owned from you, will that bump them up the waiting list for something new?
BD: Aye, it will do, with our team. As it should. Because you’re in there buying a Rolex-certified product.
There’s talk that Rolex will push more into precious metals and produce fewer steel Rolex fake watches store this year. Which will increase its margins. Have you heard anything about that?
BD: Not really. That’s something I wouldn’t comment on. That’s not been the direction, historically. But I don’t know.
Most Watches of Switzerland stores are multiband. This one isn’t, obviously. Will monobrand become increasingly important, do you think?
BD: I think brands really value multiband – and correctly. The clients prefer multiband, very clearly. I’ve got the statistics – by 41 per cent. For very obvious reasons. Choice. Forty-six percent of our business in the US and the UK is from clients who only [ever] buy one or two 1:1 quality Rolex replica watches. So therefore they will not be “brand predetermined” when they come to the store. They want to see choice. They want to make comparisons. And Rolex actually likes that environment. They like an authoritative presentation of luxury Swiss watches. But it needs to be correct multibrand. You’ve got to show the brands and all the glory. You can’t have bits and pieces here and there. That does nothing for the brand, nor the client. I think that’s been a big part of our success, actually. 155 Regent Street [a popular Watches of Switzerland multibrand store] is a perfect example.
How “hands on” have Rolex been with this store?
BD: The whole process has been remarkably smooth, actually. Having said that, inevitably there were things that we were putting in place, and Rolex would come along and say, “This isn’t quite what we expected”. So, then we move back to the drawing board. But it was all positive at the end of the day. There was no massive issues. Although there were people here every week checking on something or other.
Rolex is going to be ramping up its production, opening a new factory in Switzerland in 2029. Meanwhile, demand for its best wholesale replica Rolex watches has cooled from the peak of the last few years. What will that do to waitlist times?
BD: Honestly, I think it will be very helpful. When I started in this business 10 years ago, it was [only] GMTs, Subs and Daytonas on the waiting list. And I think it was a really nice healthy balance between the highly desirable kind of “grail” watches that you had to wait a period for [and others you could more easily acquire]. But compared to now, to be waiting for several years for [all sorts of watches]… I honestly don’t think it’s a healthy situation, or a sustainable one. Over time they’ll be a gradual improvement and availability, and a shortening of wait times. I think that will be very healthy. That will happen through a combination of availability and demand. But in our lifetime, you’re never going to get to the point of being able to buy any Rolex you want.
What’s the sweet spot for someone on a waitlist? How long before people get cheesed off?
BD: My personal opinion is 12-18 months. People expect to be patient for that sort of time. When you start talking three, four or five years… you know, it’s long time to wait for anything.
Even a dream Rolex.
BD: Well, people do! That’s why we’re in touch with our clients every three months now. So at least they know that [their request is] alive and kicking, and their name is down. And it’s coming at some point.
Before watches you worked at Ralph Lauren, among other places. Has the luxury shopper changed?
BD: I do think the client has higher expectations of personalised service and responsiveness. The watch world is different from the fashion world, though. There’s a gender difference. And there’s also a great understanding and appreciation, technically, of perfect UK fake Rolex watches from a lot of clients. I get embarrassed by client’s knowledge. People think I know a lot about it! Watches is a really special category for luxury. It’s exclusively Swiss. It’s very technical. It’s mechanical. Honestly, I love it.
