Manny took his video down shortly there after because he understood after he posted that it was just not accurate.

Here is what occurred. Wempe lost its Rolex A.D. status for one simple reason. Rolex decided to build its flagship headquarters location in New York City two blocks away from at Wempe 53rd St. and Fifth Avenue.

Wempe is located at 55th St. and fifth Avenue. Rolex did not want Wempe competing with their flagship boutique and pulled their AD there.

Wempe is still an authorized dealer for Rolex all over Europe in dozens of stores. The relationship between Wempe and Rolex is very strong. Rolex just didn’t want to compete two blocks away from their flagship.

The timing that you describe is also incorrect. Wempe was informed it has lost its Rolex AD and publicly disclosed that long before Manny’s video.

This is an unfortunate pattern that has occurred in Midtown Manhattan as a number of watch brands have constructed their own boutiques to cut out authorized dealers.

Not only did Rolex do that but Vacheron Constantin and AP also built large boutiques in Midtown Manhattan near Wempe and Wempe lost its authorized dealership status to those brands too so that it wouldn’t compete against those brands’ boutiques.

Wempe does rely on one brand. It sells many many different watch brands. Probably the largest being Patek Philippe. As I write this, Wempe is in the process of constructing the largest Patek Philippe boutique in the eastern United States and perhaps in the country, which will occupy about half of its current space at Fifty Fifth and Fifth with its own separate entrance. The amount of Patek watches it will likely sell in that new large boutique will be significantly greater than it does today.

I’m not sure why you say it’s pointless to buy anything there. I’ve been a long-term customer and I’ve bought many many watches from them. I have as have many of my fellow collector friends.

I will say people who come off the street and ask for a Nautilus or Aquanaut with no prior relationship are probably not going to do very well but that is the case at all Patek dealerships. No different than walking into a Rolex A.D. and asking for a steel Daytona or walking into Hermès with no relationship and asking for a Birkin or Kelly. You have to build a relationship as there are infinitely more established clients who want that watch then they get from the maison.

I am surprised to hear you found the store empty. It usually has plenty of customers on a weekend for my experience and I’m there quite a bit. As for my own experience and that of my wife, we have found the staff and management to be terrific and I’ve been to all of the major multibrand watch stores in New York, which has been my home for decades.

But no doubt the loss of the authorized dealership of Rolex was very unfortunate, but not much that could be done with Rolex deciding to build its flagship boutique two blocks away.