Let's see those Rolexes

[monbla256]

Since many of us here smoke Dunnies, Charatans and other high-end pipes I'm sure there are some Rollie owners as well :twisted: Let's see 'em guys !
Here's two of the 4 I own ( the only ones I have pics of), the first is my fathers 1956 Explorer after I got it re-furbed three years ago:

Next is my SS Datejust I bought back when my daughter was born in 1972 :

 

[Puff Daddy]

I wish. Someday. I started getting into watches when a new Rolex Datejust was around $4500. Now you're looking at about $8500 for the same watch (36 mm, all steel). They go up at a ridiculous pace anymore. A watch that was just a few hundred dollars in the 70's is now almost 10 grand. When I do eventually get one, it will be off the estate market. I'm hoping to give myself a nice estate datejust when I retire.

I have a Hamilton Jazzmaster Cushion which is an excellent Swiss made watch ( same parent corp that owns Omega, same basic ebauche on the movement, ETA 2824) and is one of the best values out there. I'm happy with it. I also have a Seiko Orange Monster for an everyday wearer. It's a fun dive watch my kids gave me a few years ago.

Watches are a great hobby, but they're more expensive than pipes :lol:

You're a photographer and you don't have pics of your Rolexes? C'mon man!

 

[riff raff]

Those are classic beauties. I wish too, classically elegant watches. My father could have gotten me a stainless Submariner back in the 80's for around $500 from memory. Would-have, should have...

This Swiss made Accutron is as close as I'm going to get...

 

[Growley]

Too high end for my blood. I LOVE watches too, but no Rolibling for me. .....unless you REALLY need another Growley pipe...or two

 

[monbla256]

Those are classic beauties. I wish too, classically elegant watches. My father could have gotten me a stainless Submariner back in the 80's for around $500 from memory. Would-have, should have...

This Swiss made Accutron is as close as I'm going to get...

My father paid about $125.00 back when he got his Explorer back in the '50s and I paid $275.00 for my Datejust in '72. They weren't cheap even back then but like High End pipes, they weren't up in the stratosphere as prices are for this stuff today. Hell, my father had a 180 MB he bought new back in '58 that cost LESS than a Cadillac or Lincoln back then :twisted:

 

[Slide]

I'm extremely hard on watches.

I take better care of pipes.

 

[Mozjo33]

They're not Rolexes, but here are some of my pieces. I'm a watch geek in addition to pipes. Since I started buying pipes, the watches slowed down a bit.

 

[Fatman]

I am a bit if a watch geek, only semi high grade one I own is a pre TAG, Heuer I bought in 1985. Sadly it sits in dire need of repair on my dresser. Due to my job, I can only wear a cheapo digital watch at work. I do MRI scans for a living, and the high field magnet would do a number on an analog timepiece. My day to day watch is a Seiko alarm chronograph I picked up ay a yard sale for 10 bucks That being said, I would love to own a Rolex one day.

 

[MisterE]

I'm sorry I didn't get a good Rolex knock-off when I was in Shanghai a few years back. That was about the closest I'll get to having one..

 

[daveinlax]

I'm a F1 fan and Rolex is the 2013 watch sponsor. I love the classic Rolex clock in the pit lane and the racing green crown branding around the circuit. :shock:

 

[BigCasino]

those are nice watches but unfortunately I can't stand to wear something around my wrists, it drives me insane

 

[daveinlax]

those are nice watches but unfortunately I can't stand to wear something around my wrists, it drives me insane

I don't wear my Rolex to work but I feel nikkid without a wrist watch on. :shock:

 

[Greyson]

I too dislike the feel of a wristwatch, and I've refused to wear one for the last ten years or so. However, my father did give me his solid gold Patek Philippe. He was given it by his company decades ago for being their best salesman, I don't think he'd ever have bought anything as ostentatious as this otherwise. He read an article in the 70s which said this particular watch (watch series I assume) would someday be worth a million due to the gold construction and delicate mechanisms used, and I think he gave it to me as an emergency 'get out of deep shit card' if I needed to sell something for emergency cash. Thus far I've not used it. Anyhow, here it is:

I don't know if its a cultural thing, or perhaps just an attitude I have developed because I'm always struggling to get by, but I'd never wear this watch even if I wore watches. Same goes for a Rolex, though I'm not trying to have a go at anyone here. To me, if I see a guy wearing a Rolex, I don't think 'that's a nice watch', I think 'that guys trying to show how much money he has'. And to me that's a very negative impression to give. Again, I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here, maybe attitudes are different in the states or maybe I'm out of step with society, I don't know.

 

[Zeno Marx]

I used to work for a couple of guys involved with Rolex. It was rather a small town, and they were smart enough to know their situation was about volume and not selling a couple watches per year at full price. They'd sell the watches for a mere 10% above cost, and then they would pay Rolex within the first 14 or 30 days and get an additional 4% knocked off the invoice. People from all over the country bought watches through them. I can't remember the details so well. A few $M/y that way. More than a few times they tried to get me into a Submariner or the Tudor equivalent. I was never really that interested, though it was difficult at times to resist the good deal. I'm only sorry now because I could've flipped some watches. I got so much Rolex paraphernalia through that job; golf balls, shirts, bags, notepads, etc. I've since sold every little Rolex item on eBay. I wish I'd known. I turned down piles of that stuff as well. I was more into pocket watches. I think there are a lot of cool watches out there. I appreciate them for their design and looks, but because I hate having things on my neck, wrist, and fingers, it's easy for me to avoid getting sucked into watches and jewelry. They used to ask me to wear a Submariner for the day, and I couldn't take it for 15 minutes. Just don't like the way wristwatches feel. I'm always surprised when I see athletes, like tennis players or golfers, wearing full-size Rolexes. Some of the women players wear men's watches while they play. Makes no sense to me at all. Yes, advertising, but eh. Weird looking on the court during a tournament.

 

[monbla256]

Your Patek is worth 3/5 times more in US $s than BOTH of my Rolexes Last time I saw one in a store they were starting in the 5 to 6 K US $ range depending on size and movement. Consider it a "rainy day" gift from your father :cheers: As for the "attitude" thing about Rolex watches, today it's like ALL "hiigh end" consumer goods, if it costs MORE it's BETTER. I've enountered the same with pipes, cars, clothing etc. Rolexes are very GOOD mechanical watches which are sadly OVERPRICED compared to what the firm did years ago. My father bought his because it was a "good watch" and I did the same. They were not that far from the prices of better American watches at that time, Hamilton and Elgin both had watches that sold for MORE than Rolexes back then. Times change :twisted:

 

[Greyson]

I'm sorry mate, I was trying hard not to sound preachy and I think I failed regardless. I wasn't trying to take away anyone's enjoyment or rightful pride of their watches, I apologise if it came across that way. There is also a dimension I hadn't considered that you mentioned: if you bought one a while back before they hiked their prices and turned the brand name into something so coveted by the wealthy you can hardly be at fault for continuing to use it despite the possible changed perception (good and bad) people might have of it.

 

[Puff Daddy]

A Rolex is just like a Hummer. Extremely well built, designed for years of rugged use, durable, precise, serious tool. They were glommed onto by the fashionista group. You'll find more Rolexes sitting under suits and more Hummers parked at a shopping mall than anywhere else. It doesn't take away from the fact that these are serious tools, although it can be hard to look past the present connection between the companies and their fashion forward followers. The Rolex watch has never stopped it's progression and still today boasts some of the most advanced design and production elements in an automatic movement. They are amazing watches and the watch entusiast (not the fashion watch enthusiast, but the horological design fan) who knows his stuff respects Rolex watches, if not the direction the company has gone with marketing.

I personally don't have an issue with them, as it's hard to fault a company who sees a market, cashes in on it, and gives back so much (they lead the industry in charitable giving and sponsor a great deal of events that give back to the community). They also refuse to give in to trends, they march to their own beat, and they continue to put quality first. True, a Rolex Submariner is the best $2500 watch out there, too bad it costs $10,000. But, it is a fantastic tool and if you can afford one, more power to ya.

Rolex has jumped the market over the last few years and repriced themselves into an arena where they compete with Patek Phillipe, Breguet and Audemars Piguet, and that was intentional. They feel that their watches are superior to those competitors and thus should be seen as at least equal to them, and they have been pretty succesful doing that. Again, hard to blame them for it. They have, however, been selling their Tudor line ( a little brother to the Rolex, sharing a lot of components) in many countries for a while now, and they've been really bringing that brand up to pick up and fill the hole that Rolex left when they increased their prices. Tudor watch has finally decided to start selling in the US again, and very soon you will be able to buy a Tudor sub at 40% the cost of a Rolex sub here in the states.

 

[Zeno Marx]

Well, precise is a bit forgiving. Divers use them because they're reliable and built well. Them being a precision time piece is not something too many claim. But maybe they are now, because they sure weren't twenty years ago.

 

[Puff Daddy]

Precise as in they are are certified chronometers, operating at -4/+6 seconds per day. For mechanical movements, that's very precise. A quartz movement would be precise, Breitling makes a thermocompensated superquartz that is accurate to about 10 seconds a year, but we're talking mechanical movements, little machines with beating hearts. There are 86,000 seconds in a day. To make a mechanical device that operates within a couple seconds of that regardless of temperature, shock and age is prety damned impressive.

 

[monbla256]

Precise as in they are are certified chronometers, operating at -4/+6 seconds per day. For mechanical movements, that's very precise. A quartz movement would be precise, Breitling makes a thermocompensated superquartz that is accurate to about 10 seconds a year, but we're talking mechanical movements, little machines with beating hearts. There are 86,000 seconds in a day. To make a mechanical device that operates within a couple seconds of that regardless of temperature, shock and age is prety damned impressive.

You do bring up a good point, and at one time they had that market of accuracy, mechanical wise, cornered but things have changed somewhat. They still are rated as cronometers, but now only by a restrictive organization that ONLY rates Swiss and a select few German watches. Seems Seiko entered the annual cronometer competition with it's Grand Seiko model back in the late '60s and took the top three places over the Swiss and Germans three years in a row and since '69, no one but the Swiss and a select few German firms can compete in these. :twisted: As far as accuracy, I usually wear my Citizen Cronomaster, still the worlds most accurate watch at 5 seconds/year. Kinda plain, but really a nice watch :twisted: