Summer’s here. You get to the beach, kick off your thongs, flap down your towel and take off your shirt. Then you realise. You’ve forgotten to put sunscreen on your back. You look around uncomfortably.

It’s just you and two friends. This leaves you in a predicament: asking a mate to cream your back is uncomfortable at best, awkward at worst. Even worse: it doesn’t matter how many times you do it – asking an acquaintance to slop sunscreen on your back always feels a little weird.

But the alternative’s worse than a moment of embarrassment. As Cancer Council NSW’s Skin Cancer Prevention Manager Liz King recently told DMARGE: “In NSW, men over the age of 40 are 1.5 times more likely to be diagnosed and 2.5 times more likely to die of melanoma than women of a similar age. Worryingly, men generally have poorer sun protection behaviours than women and are more likely to engage in behaviours that increase their UV exposure and skin cancer risk; they’re more likely to be outdoors, less likely to use SPF30+ sunscreen, and more likely to have tanned skin (a sign of UV damage).”

“Melanoma, the most dangerous and aggressive form of skin cancer, occurs most commonly on the upper back of males. There are two main types of non-melanoma skin cancers: basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). BCC accounts for about 70% of non-melanoma skin cancers and most commonly develops on the head, face, neck, shoulders and back. SCC accounts for about 30% of non-melanoma skin cancers and usually appears on the sun head, neck, hands, forearms and lower legs.”

There is hope, however. King also told DMARGE, “We know that 95% of skin cancers are caused by UV radiation, making it highly preventable if we take care of our skin using five forms of sun protection (clothing, sunnies, hats, sunscreen, shade).”

“Having each other’s backs will ultimately reduce skin cancer risk and save lives.”

Other Cancer Council NSW statistics that should give us pause when fretting over how our mate might react to being asked to grease us like a cake tin, are that every year, in Australia:

• Skin cancers account for around 80% of all newly diagnosed cancers
• The majority of skin cancers are caused by exposure to the sun
• The incidence of skin cancer is one of the highest in the world, two to three times the rates in Canada, the US and the UK

Cancer Council NSW also points out that “the sooner a skin cancer is identified and treated, the better your chance of avoiding surgery or, in the case of a serious melanoma or other skin cancer, potential disfigurement or even death.”

Few individuals know this as well as Jimmy Niggles – the founder and CEO of Skin Check Champions (formerly known as Beard Season). Skin Check Champions is a non-profit charity which aims to win the race against melanoma through early detection, encouraging Australians to get smear happy this summer.

Jimmy founded the movement in 2010 (it was formerly known as Winter, before it became known as Beard Season, and now Skin Check Champions) after his mate, Wes Bonny, died from a melanoma. Since then the challenge has grown into a global movement.

Jimmy recently caught up with DMARGE to chat about the ‘slop shame’ many Australian men feel when asking a mate to put sunscreen on their back, and why we need to flip the script. Jimmy’s take? We should feel proud to have each others’ backs.

“Sure: it might be something you would rather have your partner for… but it’s also something you should be proud to do, especially when [skin cancer] rates are not slowing down.”

Jimmy also said now is a crucial time to spread this message, with many more people getting out and about again in the summer heat, and many parts of Australia relishing their post lockdown freedom.

Along with Cancer Council NSW and DMARGE, Jimmy encourages Australians not to let this stiff ‘no bro zone’ philosophy to continue dangling over us, but rather to “be the first one to take the lead” and help mates slop sunscreen over that spot they can’t quite reach.

Jimmy told DMARGE, “a lot [of skin changes] crop up on your back” and pointed out over 95% of skin cancers can be successfully treated – if they’re detected early, which is what Skin Check Champions is all about.

Hopefully, in doing this we’ll be able to move beyond the place we are now (where Google Images barely recognises the search term “rubbing lotion on a mate’s back”) and where men resort to desperate lengths (and Wikihow articles like “four ways to apply sun lotion to your own back”) to avoid having to ask a mate to put sunscreen on their back.

The aforementioned Wikihow article provides a rather absurd insight into how anxious asking a mate to put sunscreen on your back makes many men: “Creative ways to apply lotion to your back include using your forearms instead of your palms, using plastic wrap like you would use a towel, and using a paint roller to extend your reach.”

DMARGE, Skin Check Champions and Cancer Council NSW are asking Australian men to throw that thinking out the window, embrace the awkward and lather lotion into their mates’ backs this summer. And if you’re feeling particularly inspired, encourage them to get a skin check while you’re at it.

Though there is still a hump to get over, there appears to be fertile ground for Aussie men to get smear happy, with a recent poll DMARGE conducted on Instagram showing 59% of respondents are already ‘on board’ with rubbing sunblock onto a mate’s back.

It’s also worth getting familiar with the look of your own skin, so you can pick up any changes that might suggest a skin cancer. This means looking for: any crusty, non-healing sores, small lumps that are red, pale or pearly in colour, new spots, freckles or any moles changing in colour, thickness or shape over a period of weeks to months. This is not to replace getting a professional skin check, but a welcome addition.

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The post ‘Slop Shaming’: 1950s Mentality Australian Men Need To Ditch This Summer appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

While America’s count of confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to rise and Europe is once again trying to contain a flare-up of its own, most nations in Europe are currently saying ‘thanks but no thanks’ to American visitors.

Virtually all but one: Croatia. In pre-COVID times Croatia was known for being something of a tourist mecca: home to the world’s biggest truffle and the iconic Croatia Sail; world-famous for boozy Dubrovnik bar tours; as well as its Romanesque, Renaissance and Baroque architecture.

Total tourist visits for Croatia were up by 5% in 2019, with 20.7 million holidaymakers gracing the country’s shores, according to SeeNews. 2020 then came in with a wrecking ball Miley Cyrus would be proud of.

“The pandemic, and harsh disappointment, materialised in 2020 instead,” Traveller reports. “As American Airlines grounded its Philadelphia to Dubrovnik line [the only direct flight Americans had to visit Croatia] indefinitely, tourism in the city cratered to a point not seen since the war of the early 1990s.”

“In a country like Croatia, which draws one-fifth of its gross domestic profit from tourism, such a drop-off is a hard blow.”

That punch, however, has been lightened, Traveller reports, by American tourists and remote workers finding alternate routes into the country.

“This summer I guided around 20 tours – not a lot, really – but the majority of my guests were Americans,” Tomislav Matana, a longtime Dubrovnik tour guide told Traveller. “They all had a big will and desire to come to Croatia. And although it was [anything] but simple for them to come to Croatia and Dubrovnik, they all say that it was worth it.”

 

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Croatia shut its borders to tourists early in the spring, hit zero reported cases in May and reopened to visitors from all countries in July (subject to testing requirements). This was a tactic that stook them out on their own, with Traveller relating that “the move made Croatia the only nation in the European Union to accept travellers from the United States.”

In Traveller’s article, last updated 2 days ago, it states “that continental distinction has not changed, even as Croatia’s cases have risen and as it implemented a partial national shutdown last week that included closing bars and restaurants and banning weddings through Christmas.”

“According to Matana, most of his American guests in 2020 have been people who had covid-19 and recovered, remote workers or people who couldn’t stand to give up travelling.”

Traveller also spoke to Nika Kleak, CEO of Croatia’s Kompas Rent a Car, who pointed out, “This time… the Americans, when they found an alternative way to come to Europe, were not here to spend just a couple of weeks, but rather several months.”

 

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Recent Instagram posts seen by DMARGE would appear to back up these claims. One travel agent’s account, @scottandthom, posted an image on November the 12th with the following caption: “When Croatia opened up to US Tourists, we went to check it out. Not only did we feel safe abiding by Croatia’s Covid measurements, but we found an empty city at our fingertips.”⁠

 

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The post The One Place In Europe American Tourists Are Still Allowed To Visit appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Australians have a reputation for loving a drink or two, but the reality is we’re not truly the boozers the rest of the world think we are. According to the World Health Organisation, we’re the 19th biggest drinkers worldwide – behind countries like Finland, France and Russia but ahead of other stereotypically big drinkers like Germany, Ireland and the United States. (The top spot goes to Belarus.)

Our taste in alcohol is changing too. Wine long supplanted beer as our drink of choice: now spirit consumption is rising, and new trends like hard seltzers and fancy premixed drinks are becoming more prominent too. Aussies are far more health-conscious when it comes to alcohol, too: half-strength wines and low-carb beer have never been more popular – although Roy Morgan suggests that people watching their waistlines haven’t necessarily driven the latter’s popularity…

One of the biggest trends of 2020 was Australians drinking more during COVID-19 restrictions. With venues closed and social gatherings a no-go, Aussies turned to the bottle in a big way, this report from the Australian National University details. Binge drinking has long been touted as a problem in this country, and now it looks like the federal government is trying to clamp down even further on antisocial drinking.

Earlier this week, the government adopted new national guidelines on the recommendation of the National Health and Medical Research Council that suggest Australians should consume no more than 10 standard drinks a week, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. These replace guidelines from 2009 that recommended a maximum of 14 drinks a week. They also recommend that women trying to get pregnant and those who are pregnant or breastfeeding steer clear of alcohol, and that children under the age of 18 shouldn’t drink anything. (Good luck. Did you see Schoolies this year?)

Now we can all see the quip coming: ‘does that mean you have to drink 10 a week?’ All jokes aside, 10 standard drinks is a surprisingly small amount. As a point of reference, a six-pack of Victoria Bitter contains almost 9 standard drinks, as does your average bottle of Penfolds Grange at the other end of the sipping spectrum. While you’d have to be pretty bougie to knock back a bottle of Grange on a night out, six stubbies don’t seem like a huge amount of alcohol, particularly over a few hours – but that would still be tickling the limit.

It’s a kick in the balls as summer’s just arrived and we’re heading into peak day drinking weather… Cue the endless cries of ‘day for it’. Hell, how many drinks are you likely to consume over a Christmas lunch, seeing as that’s just around the corner too?

But maybe that’s exactly the point. Perhaps the popular conception of what’s a ‘normal’ amount to drink on a night out or holiday needs some (reluctant) readjustment. There’s an argument to be made that Australia needs a better relationship with alcohol and a more mature approach to nightlife. The two go hand in hand, and perhaps these new guidelines will serve as a wake-up call.

RELATED: Iconic San Sebastian Photo Reveals The Secret To Spain’s Nightlife Success

Of course, it’s a bit of a Catch-22: Australia’s nightlife and drinking culture isn’t like Spain’s because the cost of living (more relevantly, the cost of going out) is so much higher, so people instead choose to pre-load and drink at home. That, in turn, encourages antisocial behaviour, nipping any chances of decent nightlife in the bud. Perhaps our negative relationship with alcohol is more of an indictment on how unaffordable the Land Down Under has become.

In any case, these new guidelines aren’t likely to be received warmly by the vast majority of Australians, even if they are a breath of fresh air for healthcare workers. After what’s been a shitshow of a year, the last thing many Aussies want to hear is that they shouldn’t be allowed to drink so much.

Read Next

• Our Latest Alcohol Trend Could Fizzle Before It Even Gets Going
• Real Reason Behind Tasmania’s Whisky Producing Success Revealed

The post Australians Will Struggle With New Drinking Guidelines, Statistics Suggest appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

When you think about NBA debates, you’re probably thinking of LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan or the LA Lakers vs. the Boston Celtics. You’re probably not thinking suits vs. no suits, but it turns out this sartorial beef is one of the most hotly-contested issues in the sport… Among coaches, at least.

Since 2006, all NBA players must dress in business or conservative attire while arriving and departing a scheduled game, on the bench while injured, or when conducting official NBA business. Coaches too have been required to wear a suit or a sports coat as well as a tie. While players can ditch their suits for their uniforms once they hit the hardcourt, coaches need to look professional for the entire game. Many coaches have been pining for a more casual dress code for some time, while others are quite happy to rock a suit, ESPN relates.

However, the 2019-2020 season has changed things. During the ‘NBA Bubble’ in Florida this year, the dress code for coaches was eased somewhat, allowing polo shirts, trousers and sneakers – much to the relief of many coaches, who have long complained about having to worry about packing suits and what they wear as they travel around for games during the season.

There’s a lot of support for this relaxed dress code continuing into 2021 and beyond both among coaches as well as fans, as this NBA.com article reveals. But as basketball fashion blogger LeagueFits suggests, it’s not all good news, as this questionable fit from Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra demonstrates.

 

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While jorts are now technically permissible for coaches according to the NBA dress code, that doesn’t mean they’re a permissible fashion choice for any grown adult. Tucking your polo into your shorts is another crime against fashion, and is so distracting that it might just explain why the Heat lost against the Lakers in the 2020 NBA Finals.

RELATED: LeBron James Celebrates 2020 With Fastest Porsche Ever Made

That said, the bigger issue isn’t the coaches’ dress code, but the coaches’ dress sense. Many NBA coaches don’t know how to wear business attire properly either  – take the New Orleans Pelicans’ portly head coach Stan Van Gundy, whose “confrontational style owes more to perspiration than inspiration,” as the Wall Street Journal has euphemistically described.

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The post NBA Coaches Put On Notice For Crimes Against Fashion appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

David Beckham‘s health and fitness credentials scarcely need an introduction. The man is a football legend, a perennially fit style icon and – as of this year – a member of F45.

He’s also a proud father of four children, long retired from his duties of being England’s most prominent right foot, and yet – despite no shortage of paparazzi interest in his every move – we’re yet to see a photo surface of Golden Balls with anything even close to a Dad Bod.

The 45-year-old has been keeping fit this year, joining 2020’s hottest fitness trend as well as working out from home with his wife Victoria. He has also been taking to Instagram to provide snapshots of his routine.

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Enter: his latest Instagram post, posted on Wednesday night (UK time), which shows followers a bit more of what he’s been up to. The photo shows Beckham doing tricep dips “as a finisher,” which he claims to “really hate.”

In response, his trainer @mrbobbyrich wrote in the comments, “Behave, you were repping them out like you loved them!”. On his own personal profile, Rich elaborated on Beckham’s fitness routine of late, writing, “Despite lockdown disrupting a short stint and having to take our sessions online, for the past 8 weeks David has trusted me and smashed everything I’ve chucked at him out of the park!”

A Golf Tour physio Michael Murray jumped in on Rich’s photo, writing, “Get that left shoulder girdle fired up though too @mrbobbyrich it’s looking a bit unstable there,” to which Rich said “love the advice.”

Rich was not alone in jumping in the comments on Beckham’s post, with remarks flowing in thick and fast. Some were a bit rude (“the morning after eating mexican food”), but many others were inspired (see: “smashing it” and “no dad bod with Becks”).

Tricep dips can provide a host of benefits, strengthening – aside from obviously, the triceps – the Pectoralis Major (the main muscle on the upper chest), the Trapezius (the triangular muscle that extends from the neck to the shoulder to the middle back) and the Serratus Anterior (the muscle on the surface of the upper eight or nine ribs).

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Watch how to get lean like David Beckham below

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The post David Beckham Shares FinisherExercise That Keeps The Dad Bod Away… Even At 45 appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Browse through the Instagram feed of Sydney’s Figure Eight Rock Pools and you’ll find photos so ‘wholesome’ it’s sickening. Many people go there ironically, of course. Some go for exercise. But the vast majority go there for one reason – social media steeze – and I won’t lie, I was one of them.

After a couple of botched attempts to organise a group, my thinly veiled attempt to get a ‘squad’ together for my own selfish aims came to fruition, with a grand total of 7 of the 10 invitees confirming their attendance. Leaving Sydney’s Northern Beaches at the optimistic hour of 10am, we swept through Cronulla and down towards Sydney’s Royal National Park.

We payed the toll, ($12, cash only) and navigated the winding road down to Garie Beach, where we parked. Arrival time? 12pm.

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The Figure 8 Pool is “located on a dangerous rock shelf in Sydney’s Royal National Park near Burning Palms Beach,” The NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service website states. To get there you hike in from Garie beach, which takes about 2-2.5 hours (each way).

This means you’re in for a 9km round trip on a narrow, sometimes slippery, track, which normally involves about 5 hours of walking (all up). But hey: with the ‘figure8pools’ hashtag commanding 27,651 posts, it seems many think it’s worth it. For a point of comparison, the ‘bonditobronte’ hashtag has 44,793 photos to its name. But in our eyes ‘bonditobronte’ is less of a walk than a piece of picturesque cement.

In any case, we set off around 12:30pm, and arrived at the rock pools at around 3:30pm. It was during the walk that minor disaster after disaster set in. First: the flies. My back was covered in them. As was my backpack. Not the worst thing in the world: sure. But as somewhat that gives Uber drivers a negative rating if they don’t offer me ‘air-condition crisp’ mints, I was not impressed.

Next was the campsite at North Era, which was rudely empty after the national park booking application had told us it was full (we would otherwise have spent the night there). Finally, we fought our way through the Burning Palms undergrowth (you see where it gets its name: go there on a hot day and you could be mistaken for thinking you’re in Bali) and arrived at the pools. All was good until we realised… they weren’t there.

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Either the Geological Gods had reached down and filled them in, or we had gone blind. Cutting a long story (and a bunch of dodgy ‘maybe it’s this one next to the edge here’ moments) we concluded we still had another kilometer or so of walking to go – we had to round a corner and keep scrambling.

Things were once again straightforward until we arrived at the pools. Even though we had arrived at low tide (at high tide the pools are invisible, submerged beneath the waves), the size of the swell meant the pools were still dangerous to enter.

Suffice to say, we jumped straight into the pools, thinking we had planned our trip to perfection, and that the dead low tide would enable us to arrogantly avoid the waves which the National Park website said were making conditions treacherous that day.

We were wrong.

After mucking around for a little bit, our bags, towels, lunch, phones and electronic car keys were duly drenched by a random wave a bit bigger than the rest, which crashed through the edge of the rock shelf and flowed all the way through the pools.

Fortunately, no one was hurt or sucked into the ocean (as has happened to other Figure 8 Pool goers in the past). Unfortunately, our Instagram photos hardly justify the risk we took, in a location emergency services can only access by helicopter, where there is little to no phone reception… and where there is no canteen (RIP the Tupperware of leftover pizza).

Also: a quick look at the current trending ‘top posts’ under the Instagram ‘figure8pools’ hashtag and geotag, and it becomes clear my Instagram skills are a disaster too.

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While some users can be seen diving into the pools with finesse, my attempt to emulate their feats was met with nothing other than anguish (and skewed framing).

Our group shots didn’t fare much better either. While Instagram’s Top Posts feature squads looking casually out into the distance…

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… ours were either marred by high jinks…

… or super awkward…

Finally, when it comes to ‘romantic’ couple photos, while other Instagram users manage to make their outing look cute…

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A post shared by Alice Shardelow (@alice_shardelow)

… and far removed from the world…

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A post shared by GOOD MORNING OCEANIA (@goodmorning.oceania)

On a positive note: it was nowhere near as humiliating as the experience I endured when attempting the most cliche Instagram move ever in Bali.

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The post Figure 8 Rock Pools: I Visited & It Was A Complete Disaster appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Here at DMARGE, we are firmly of the belief that green is the coolest colour you can option a car in.

Not only does it stand out, as most cars sold in Australia are white or silver, but it looks classier than a red or blue. Green also has a particularly special relationship with motorsports: in particular, dark green has been the international motor racing colour of the United Kingdom for over a hundred years – the classic ‘British Racing Green’.

There’s also a practical reason for choosing green over other colours: according to Drive.com.au, green cars are involved in the least amount of accidents nationally. Maybe it’s because green has a soothing effect, as the American Psychological Association relates.

Good-looking, psychologically beneficial, and a long connection with motor racing? Sounds like a no-brainer to us. But making sense on paper doesn’t necessarily translate to the best real-world option, it seems.

The problem? Green cars are hard to sell.

Case in point: this 2017 BMW M3 Competition F80 LCI up for sale in Melbourne’s Wheelers Hill (a car-lover’s suburb if we’ve ever heard one) on Carsales. One of only two in Australia, in immaculate condition and with only 7,022km on the odometer, you’d think something like this would be snapped up in a heartbeat – especially considering it’s selling for well under retail as well as under the Redbook price guide.

Despite this, its listing has been up for months, with seemingly no fish biting. What gives?

It’s not just this Beamer that’s struggling to sell. This 2018 Audi RS4 Avant quattro also on sale in Melbourne and this 1972 Volvo P1800ES in Queensland that we wrote about earlier this year have both failed to sell despite being up for months on Carsales. Same goes for this 2007 Bentley Continental GT and this 1991 Nissan Figaro.

These are all cool cars, all at different price points and all with well-presented Carsales ads. They’re all a classy shade of green, too: no ‘vomit greens’ or chartreuses here. So it beggars belief that they are taking so long to sell. If we had the money, we’d snap them all up in a heartbeat (ok, we might go bankrupt if we bought all of them…)

In light of this, it was particularly bold of BMW to choose ‘Isle of Man Green’ metallic as one of the new M3’s exclusive colour options.

RELATED: BMW Reveal Aggressive Changes For Australia’s Most Loved Performance Coupe & Sedan

One reason touted for why green cars are unpopular is that green is considered unlucky. According to Snopes, this is due to historical superstition around the colour green, as well as a terrible racing accident in 1911 that saw 11 fans killed and 10 others injured by a green car that blew a tire during the race, careened into the infield, and ploughed through a snow fence into a group of spectators.

“[A] green face represents sickness, vomiting, nausea, etc. Green foods are considered healthier but taste bad. Notice very few restaurants utilize the colour green.”

All things considered, we don’t mind that people don’t like green cars. More cool cars for us, we say.

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The post The Brutal Truth About Owning Australia’s ‘Coolest’ Car Colour appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Australians and wine go together hand-in-hand, but there is a difference between stocking up on a few bottles of your favourite varietal and creating what can be considered a perfect wine collection.

St Hugo, one of the leading wineries in Australia’s famed Barossa Valley, has just launched a new service to make building your own wine collection an absolute breeze.

As soon as you buy a bottle of wine from St Hugo’s Fine and Rare Collection you’ll be contacted by the company’s very own Cellaring Concierge who will consult with you to find out what you do and don’t like when it comes to wine and about the space you have reserved at home for creating an enviable wine collection.

Haven’t quite figured out your personal wine preferences? For AU$3,000, St Hugo will grant Wine Club Members access to their Fine and Rare Experience, hosted by Chief Winemaker Peter Munro and Cellaring Concierge Tim Redman, which allows you to taste a number of wines, learn about the ageing process, how to cellar your grog and to learn about the important role St Hugo has played in winemaking history.

For anyone with even the slightest interest in wine, it’s an experience not to be passed up.

Head to St Hugo’s website now to secure your first bottle from the Fine and Rare Collection and begin your wine collecting journey.

The post St Hugo Just Solved Every Australians’ Biggest Wine Problem appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

When it comes to investing in watches, there are a few brands that top any collector’s list.

Of course, you have your ‘Big Three’ or ‘Holy Trinity’: Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. Other watchmakers that are commonly touted as producing good investment options include A. Lange & Söhne, Cartier and Omega. But the one brand that any watch fan, fund manager or even man on the street will name is Rolex – and for good reason.

Arguably the world’s most valuable luxury brand, investing in Rolex pieces are a no-brainer. Popular models like the GMT-Master II and Cosmograph Daytona (as well as models from Rolex’s sister brand Tudor such as the Heritage Black Bay) are consistently profitable investment options thanks to their limited supply and high demand. But picking which horological horse to back when it comes to the Geneva brand isn’t as straight-forward as many would claim.

RELATED: Most Frequently Asked Rolex Questions

That’s why DMARGE sat down with Carol Altieri, the owner and COO of Bob’s Watches – the world’s largest online Rolex exchange and an expert on the brand – who shared some key insights about which Rolex models stand out as investment opportunities moving into 2021.

Submariners and new models remain in demand

“The models I’ve seen the biggest increase in value over the long haul – I’ve been doing this for ten years now – are definitely the Submariners,” Altieri relates.

In particular, she mentions the five-digit references, such as the 16610 or 14060 (better known as the ‘No Date’) as particular standouts, Bob’s Watches having observed a 20% increase in value for these models over 2020.

“They’re probably going up at least US$2000 USD a year in terms of value. They introduced this newer 41mm model this year… Everyone’s trying to sell the new ones and they want a ton of money for them”.

RELATED: Rolex Drops Its Largest Submariner To Date, Complete With New Movement

The other big reveal this year from Rolex was that their stalwart, ‘base model’ Oyster Perpetual range got a big revamp, with two new 41mm models with a silver and black dial respectively, and five new 36mm models with particularly colourful lacquer dials: candy pink, turquoise blue, yellow, coral red and green.

These new colourful 36mms have been selling at 50 to 70% over their retail price, according to Altieri – and that trend is continuing to rise. Rolex is normally quite restrained when it comes to colour choices for their watches, so these unusual models are likely to remain solid investments into the future.

The gold standard

Another big sales trend Bob’s Watches has observed this year is people buying up gold Rolexes, Altieri says.

“Anything gold has gone through the roof. I don’t know if it’s the gold prices right now, or if it’s COVID and people are investing… They treat Rolex like it’s a commodity.”

It’s quite an old-fashioned approach to watch investing – gold is a classic commodity to invest in, and weathers market changes better than other investment goods such as stocks or even real estate (although it’s not foolproof). Even if the popularity of a watch model declines – or worst-case scenario, the economy absolutely goes to shit – a solid gold watch will at least be as valuable as the gold it’s made out of, although that’s usually a fraction of their retail price, as this Montredo article reveals.

 

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Gold prices hit an all-time high earlier this year in August, during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis. Prices have since stabilised but remain above 60 USD a gram.

RELATED: Justin Bieber Coordinates Solid Gold Rolex In Most Outrageous Fashion

Ladies’ watches are in demand

Perhaps the most unusual Rolex phenomenon Bob’s Watches has seen in 2020 is a sudden rise in popularity in small women’s models – traditionally Rolex’s least desirable models.

“Ladies’ 26mm watches – the iconic little lady’s Rolexes from the 80s and 90s – we can’t keep them in stock! I’m paying probably 30% more and they’re selling for 30% more,” Altieri shares.

“Before COVID, the ladies watches were steady, you know, we buy them and we sell them and we don’t chase them. Now we’re chasing after them because everybody seems to want them, they’re just really selling like crazy right now.”

The big takeaway?

Most Rolex models are decent investments, but like any investment of passion – like whisky or classic cars – one should not be buying watches simply because you think you’re in for a payday.

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The post Rolex Specialist Divulges The Best Watch Investment Moving Into 2021 appeared first on DMARGE Australia.