rolex oyster perpetual steel and white gold

As with Ford and Chevy, Canon and Nikon, BMW and Mercedes, or Coke and Pepsi, in the world of luxury watches, the debate between Rolex and Omega is a heated one. These two titan companies (both Swiss in origin) have been battling each other to win the hearts, minds (and pocketbooks) of high-end consumers for decades- and are showing no signs of slowing down. As in other competitions such as these, the source of the debate is not the fact that one is actually better than the other- it’s the fact that they are both generally very good, and the decisive factors in choosing one or the other is more or less a matter of personal choice, and/or in some cases professional need.The Rolex Submariner - a classic Swiss diving watchAs aforementioned, both watch makers have a long history. Before the time of Quartz watches, Omega was the top-selling brand of Swiss watches, and was consistently selling more units per year than Rolex. At that time, although Rolex was selling fewer units, they were doing so at a higher price point. With the advent of Quartz-battery powered watches however, many Swiss watch producers (including Omega) unsuccessfully tried to compete with the Japanese in producing cheap quartz watches, while Rolex (which was owned by a private trust, and as such, didn’t have to cave in to market pressure) stayed the course, and continued to focus on producing high quality mechanical watches. Under the worldwide economic crisis in the 1970s and a restructuring as part of the swatch group in 1983, Omega had become weakened, and Rolex increased market share until it became the undisputed ruler of the Swiss watch world.Since then, although Omega continues to produce quartz-battery powered watches, it seems to have also adopted many elements of Rolex’s business model (i.e. higher pricing, tighter controls of dealer pricing, increasing advertising, etc) and has thus increased it’s market share to become more of a direct competitor.In terms of the watches themselves, being quartz-powered most would agree that Omegas are more accurate (although Omega also makes a huge range of fantastic mechanical watches). As such for those who need a super-accurate timepiece for professional reasons, the Omega would definitely be the better bet. At the same time however, for those who are more interested in the prestige of a luxury watch, and can handle a higher up-front cost, Rolex would be best way to go. What the Rolex watch may lose in its accuracy (which is still extremely good), it makes up in its brand value. As Rolex is the most well known, desired, and copied watch brand in the world, (and most likely will continue to be so in the foreseeable future) it is the safest bed for re-sell. Furthermore, (and most likely as a function of it’s higher price) Rolex is known to have both customer service that is second to none, and a wider dealer network.Even though Omega watches are both more revolutionary (while Rolex watches are ‘evolutionary’) and accurate, the brand name, resale value and customer service of Rolex make it an equal contender to Omega- if not in sales, then at least in the hearts of consumers.

Antiquorum is gearing up to celebrate Rolex's 100th anniversary this year with a special Rolex-only sale April 17th at the auction house's US headquarters in the Big Apple. The event will pay special attention to Rolex's position as the leading sports watch manufacturer, including its development of the world's first waterproof watch. A special prototype of the Rolex Seadweller from 1967 is expected to fetch $150,000.