Yes, Rolex is very protective and rightfully so, since they are without a doubt the most counterfeited brand ever. They have always been very insistent about their policies. I have a friend who was a dealer in the 50's and even then they were pretty stringent. Sometimes this may seem a little bit overboard but you have to kind of see it from their side. Look how many people fake Rolexes these days. I mean people go to extreme lengths to perfectly reproduce the watches...some of these cost thousands of dollars for a fake. These watches give the company a bad name, because no one is sure they are buying the genuine article. They don't want genuine parts ending up in or on fake cases and all of the other possibilities that exist. Rolex is protecting themselves, their dealers, and their customers. Anytime their product gets out of their loop they are at risk to an extent so they try to keep everything under some sort of control. I'm not saying that you won't find someone who will do it, but it would be very risky for them and like I said...its hardly worth possibly losing their franchise. There is a very good dealer in Portland if you can get down there. I hesitate to name them in the forum because I don't think we are supposed to promote anyone here. If you like I can e-mail you with the name. You could drive down and buy it from them and not have to pay sales tax. I bought a watch from them when I was traveling through there in the early 90's. Very nice folks.

Best,