Podcast Guide
Cover art for Acquired

Ben Gilbert

Acquired

Rolex

Published
January 3, 2026
Duration
5h 0m
Summary source
description
Last updated
Apr 17, 2026

Discusses business, investing, technology.

Summary

Rolex is a series of paradoxes. They sell obsolete and objectively inferior mechanical devices for 10-1000x the price of their superior digital successors… and demand is stronger than ever in history! Their products are comparable to a Hermès Birkin bag in price, luxury status and waitlist times… yet they produce over 1m units / year (roughly 10x annual B…

Show notes

Rolex is a series of paradoxes. They sell obsolete and objectively inferior mechanical devices for 10-1000x the price of their superior digital successors… and demand is stronger than ever in history! Their products are comparable to a Hermès Birkin bag in price, luxury status and waitlist times… yet they produce over 1m units / year (roughly 10x annual Birkin production). They make the most universally recognized and desired Swiss watches… yet their founder wasn’t Swiss and didn’t start the com

Themes

  • business
  • investing
  • technology