[imagesource: The Telegraph]

Exclusivity and scarcity are the names of the game in the luxury brand world.

Do you remember the Sex & the City episode where Samantha Jones, so desperate to get her hands on a Hermes Birkin, had to impersonate Lucy Liu to get herself exclusive access to the outrageously expensive handbag?

It didn’t work because, well, she wasn’t Liu and she wasn’t as important as Liu.

Even if you don’t recall that scene, it still sheds light on how high-end luxury brands work their magic.

One of the more unattainable luxury watch brands around is following suit (or suiting up) by knowing exactly how to control distribution and demand.

Rolex.

Try walking into the high-end jewellers with your small fortune in hand, ready to be spent, and you’ll likely be turned away watchless or asked to prove your wealth and loyalty by spending more than you bargained for (say R2 million?) on other, less popular pieces.

Only the rich and famous, like Brad Pitt (that’s his Rolexed arm above), Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, and Jennifer Aniston are privileged enough to impress the masses with a fanciful watch:

Image: Pinterest

Subtle, much?

That’s because, as The Telegraph notes, in order for Rolex to remain a byword for luxury and fame, demand has to outstrip supply, prices have to surge, and shelves have to be somewhat empty.

It is possible that Rolex engineers these droughts, or it could be a result of things out of the brand’s control.

James Gurney, the editor of watch magazine QP, seems to think its a bit of both:

“I honestly don’t think Rolex is trying to increase scarcity, but equally they aren’t making any strenuous efforts to stop the scarcity,” says Gurney.

“As a prospective buyer you’ve certainly got a fairly strange experience. Walk into the biggest Rolex store in the country, yes, and the chances of you walking out with a watch is low. That’s because they have to allocate. A store might get three particular models in and their phones will go mad because there will be about 70 people clamouring for each one.”

It seems ridiculous to be begging a brand to let you purchase their very expensive product, but folks do this more often than not.

Think of those times you woke up at sparrow’s fart in a panic to nab those concert tickets or cheap flights…

At the end of the day, why can’t Rolex simply make more of the products that people want to buy and make everyone happy?

It is not as simple as that, as the watchmakers say:

…all Rolex watches are assembled by hand at one of four locations in Switzerland, a process that “naturally restricts our production capacities.”

It also takes months for all the various components of a Rolex to be made so changing direction quickly to produce more of one model and less of another is akin to moving a steamliner out of the way of an approaching iceberg (i.e. very difficult).

Whether Rolex really is this blameless or not doesn’t disprove the fact that they are wholly enjoying and magnificently benefitting from having an impossible-to-source product.

Such is good business, one supposes.

[source:telegraph]