Got the watch, but never got the call - my AD experience
Got my first rolex, which I've wanted for around 16 years - it was my favourite design then and still is now. Generally not a big fan of the brand, but this model has always appealed to me. My mum kindly offered to get me a watch as a wedding present and I decided to go for this one.
I have 2 ADs locally and visited both the same day. The first AD I visited didn't have it in stock, but offered to put me on the waiting list, also mentioning some people had been waiting over 2 years for that model. I walked over to the second AD who had it on display after a recent delivery. I explained my desire for one, and they said they might be able to sell it to me if I bought an £18000 datejust for my wife. We declined to buy the datejust, but they let me take the explorer 2 anyway. They did ask to see wedding photos and asked about my proposal etc., I'm not sure if this was out of interest or to verify the story, possibly both. My wife and I still had mendhi visible on our hands from the wedding, and made some jokes about deepfaking the wedding photos.
Interestingly, the SA dropped my watch onto the tile floor whilst taking it to remove some links! No external damage and timegrapher check suggests all working ok. Not had any issues with it since and it's insured against accidental damage and also has 5 year warranty, so I've let it go.
So yeah, maybe you won't be on a long waiting list, depending on the model you want and the AD you go to. Good luck on your watch hunt!