This is a Rolex Tridor.
Rolex discontinued the Rolex Tridor Day-Date years ago but I remember that when it came out many people touted it as the Supreme Day-Date.
It is interesting because it looks like a Presidential bracelet mixed with a Jubilee bracelet.
But Rolex and some brands have been creating, with my observations, a culture where the customer serves the company(that sells).
ie You get to buy a Rolex because Rolex decides that you are fit to be one of their 850,000 customers per annum.
Strange. I have been KNOWN to say alot of bad things about Rolex, but I still buy their watches, because I believed that they are good.
UNTIL...now, if you treat us consumers like shit, make sure you NEVER sell any shit.
Look at this Tridor. It belongs to me. This is NOT a second hand story.
Basically, this BRAND NEW Rolex bought some 8 years ago..simply fell aprt and dropped off my wrist.
Why on earth?!?
Because the LINK on the Tridor is both glued and lasered with minimal contact area...look at the pictures.
NO screw or pin!!!
If one tugged at the Rolex, it will split apart!
Well, no one has said anything...maybe I am the ONLY one.
BUT...hear this second part...and it is NO surprise.
When I go to the Rolex Centre...they said..they don't make this Tridor anymore, so they don't fix it!!!
The policy of NOT fixing any Rolex that is more than 4 years old is still urban legend or what?
Anyway, short of not blogging about it, for 6 months, to allow them to do damage control, I am now releasing the NEWS.
How can a company that prides itself on engineering even MAKE a bracelet of THIS design???
How can one depend on glue to hold less than 2mm square of gold to gold surface????
So...as usual, Rolex answers to NO ONE.
And that is a sort of cool marketting strategy.
They are ABOVE service. YOU serve Rolex.
NOT the other way around.
That's GREATNESS.
Well...I will still buy Rolex.
But I think they should have better service attitudes, and admit mistakes.
This is a TOP END watch, bought by me...not a second hand watch, and I wonder if today, the submariners and etc etc are held together this way?!?!?!
I would be more than happy to apologise IF I have misrepresented anything, but as a known collector, I am speaking up for the common man in the street, many aspire to own just a Rolex.
It is their life savings.
Why not treat them with some courtesy? Errr...in Singapore..don't even bother to deny this. If you are a Rolex owner, and your watch is old..say about 5 years...have you experienced their "service"?
The people at Panerai, Patek, Lange, IWC, etc etc...all bend over to serve, as watches like these are not cheap, and service is all a part of it....even at Rolls Royce, Krell, Porsche, Lambo, hey...I am speaking as a customer.
But Rolex??? They have always been an aloof bunch...of sales people, who believe they are socially the equivalent of a surgeon/minister. Strange..maybe it is all an act.
Let me know.
I have no idea if Rolex is servicing customers in other parts of the world.
I would be more than happy to apologise IF I have misrepresented anything, but as a known collector, I am speaking up for the common man in the street, many aspire to own just a Rolex.
It is their life savings.
Why not treat them with some courtesy? Errr...in Singapore..don't even bother to deny this. If you are a Rolex owner, and your watch is old..say about 5 years...have you experienced their "service"?
The people at Panerai, Patek, Lange, IWC, etc etc...all bend over to serve, as watches like these are not cheap, and service is all a part of it....even at Rolls Royce, Krell, Porsche, Lambo, hey...I am speaking as a customer.
But Rolex??? They have always been an aloof bunch...of sales people, who believe they are socially the equivalent of a surgeon/minister. Strange..maybe it is all an act.
Let me know.
I have no idea if Rolex is servicing customers in other parts of the world.
I have long gave up on Rolex as a brand...major price hike consistently over the years w/o so much of a clue of innovation!
ReplyDeleteShyan, I think Rolex still attracts me. I like the quality, but it is a fact that if you were to CLOSELY examine a Rolex and a Grand Seiko or the Seiko Galante, the Rolex is DEAD.
DeleteHowever, society being what it is today, and I am not an exception...is that Rolex has a cache of quality and status.
I would still love to show off a Rolex saru GMT.
BUT..that said, the recent design of the Rolex Yachtmaster 2 is exactly a Seiko watch.Period.
What I still cannot stand at all about Rolex is the attitude of the upper management. They seem to, in my NOT humble opinion, have no sense of humility, and have probably NO idea of good manners, and deep down..they are bullies.
I can read their minds. Right now, if they even bother to read what I write, and they do...because they have often (I have heard) objected to the editors of magazines I used to write for...about personal comments I made about them.
Chuckles. That's the whole idea, I AM being personal.
They are not the ONLY ones, the others are Jaguar in Singapore. There was a day, I recall, and being me...I walked into a Jag showroom to buy a car...right off the shelf. The idiot, wjo was then the GM of the retailer, refused to give me a brochure. Because, again being me...I looked as if I could not afford one. Well...I just walked across the road, or down the road..and bought a Porsche. They, Porsche, understand humility.
So funny.
I sometimes get the idea...I guess that many Rolex customers are VERY obnoxious too...and they treat the sales people like shit..because they can afford a Rolex.
So I guess it is a way to maintain mental health for the sales people.
ANYWAY...who the hell cares!!!
I admit, I have not been on this web page in a long time... however it was another joy to see It is such an important topic and ignored by so many, even professionals. professionals. I thank you to help making people more aware of possible issues. sell watches online for cash
DeleteThis reminds me of the childhood tale "The Emperor's New Clothes"...where Rolex is the tailor (manufacturer), coming up with the worst possible product and yet the Emperor (customer) remains not only blind but bask in all its glory proudly.
ReplyDeleteI would blame both brand and customer for this vicious cycle of arrogance and blindness.
Definetely.
DeleteI blame myself too.
See, I don't know if you read my latest post on how much spill off tech goes to making medical things...but certainly THIS form of engineering is NOT approved for medical products!
For a company that always shows off its innovations such as using 904L steel and Parachrom blue hairsprings in their watches, I can't believe they couldn't use a simple spring bar for the bracelet, when the watch costs over 20k brand new.
ReplyDeleteThe use of glue and a laser is worse then a Lego set in my opinion as the Lego pieces will lock firmly into place.
As you have mentioned a Rolex will be a symbol of success and people can get swell heads over having one but they shouldn't drift away from their founder Hans Wilsdorf who believed in things such as delivering the watch to a solider in a POW camp and only expecting payment after the war.
Again..correct.
DeleteI too trusted..past tense..Rolex.
Now..who knows what kind of short cuts.
This is NOT the first time they have pulled stunts.
Recall:
"it takes ONE year to mae a Rolex"???
" a Rolex is carved out of a solid block of gold"?
Pardon all spelling mistakes!
ReplyDeleteIf I were to buy a Rolex it would have to be a classic pre owned watch it would probably be much more expensive but it would be a better value.
ReplyDeleteValue..yes.
DeleteBut the new Rolex after 2011 is a much better object.
This is unfortunate I always wanted to own a Rolex but now I guess I will have to shop for another brand.
ReplyDeleteNo no...if you still plan to buy a Rolex, buy NOT the old tridor or ones made before 2010...but buy the platinum day date.
DeleteIn a perfect world Rolexes would be reliable, useful and possibly even slightly affordable. They would not be the international symbol of the vacuous social climber. They would not be another accessory for superficial boneheads who wish to impress other superficial boneheads with real or imagined wealth.
ReplyDeleteYesterday I was wearing an old shirt, ragged boots and a 60-year old Rolex. I am dressed the same today, but I am wearing a 35-year old Timex. Somewhere I have a photo of my Tudor sitting in a pool of blood on my arm after I got spiked by a tree branch when riding my bicycle. It was my fault for going too close. The tudor gets worn swimming, having been resealed recently. It is nice that it gets used.
And seriously, it doen't matter. I love the fact that watches are little machines in impregnable little boxes, but a lot of people get hung up on perceived value - cachet, style, allure, coolness, whatever.
Expensive watches are alleged to impress a whole lot of people who simply aren't worth talking to. Interesting watches, whether a GMT-master, a Speedsonic, a seiko 6138, an A Schild alarm, may be expensive or cheap, but they have technical interest.
To conclude, my old alarm watches won't impress anybody except real watch lovers. And my wonderful old casios? My ragged old seikos?
If trhe worst comes to worst, I will have to wear a newer shirt.
Thank you anonymous.
DeleteI am in total..as in 100% total agreement with you.
I am not impressed, but actually totally the opposite, of Rolex owners UNLESS I am aware of the reason for their purchase.
I began to explore Rolex all over again..2012.
The company, and I am not flattering myself, is probably aware of me and had in the past swatted my rants away...prior to 2004.
Later..they read and did a good thing...they banned me, and ignored me actively.
In the corporate world, this is THE CORRECT move.
I am a nuisance. BUT..whatever you and I have said about Rolex is true.
To my pleasant surprise, they have improved their watches to the N th degree in 2011.
The Rolex of 2011 and 2012 is not the same.
However, the consumer is only aware of their cosmetic changes.
One thing remains...their dissociated service!
I think it is done on purpose.
More later.
However..the fact that (1) they place their watches in small insignificant boxes is good, for a Rolex. (2) They place TONS of antiscratch stickers and plastic all over the new products (3) their attention to QC is EXTREME (4) They do not bullshit anymore (5) they do not entertain journalists, I am glad (6) they do not allow visits to factory is good,but only for Rolex (7) Rolex remains not a watch, but a comodity and that is good and important.
After saying all that...well I hate old rolex before 2011...and I like Rolex after 2011.
But it is far far from a status symbol for me, but it is a status symbol for 99% of the world. That statement is in itself, a terrible snobbish one for me to make, but it is from the heart.
Love to see you place this in all the "right" stores where all the air heads buy.
ReplyDeleteThe use of glue and a laser is worse then a Lego set in my opinion as the Lego pieces will lock firmly into place. Sell Rolex
ReplyDeleteHi Bernard, I may not be a fan of rolex, just share my 2 cents worth of comments, metal are fused together , the chances of failing/breaking is very very rare, unless the surrounding area have some defects , a tiny hairline which can lead to failure. Hence I can see you may be the unlucky one( one in a million )
ReplyDeleteHi Bernard;
ReplyDeleteI was interested in the Tridor until I read your comments. Is the problem with the President bracelet in general or just for Tridor?
In particular, I looking at a 18239 (circa 1989) at Bob's Watch in Southern California. Below is the link
http://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-president-tridor.html
Interested in your thoughts.
Daniel Cheng
Hi Daniel,
DeleteI missed your post. Apologies.
But since 2001 to 2016, I never had further issues...this was an isolated case.
nice
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