That is a special time piece. Man, oh man.Skagen is a good suggestion.
Some shots of the new Omega. Loving this piece. Casamigos LE based on the Planet Ocean Deep Black.
Also got a little travel case and ordered a second strap with blue stitching for free.
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Who's got a nice watch? Traditional watches only, no smartwatches please.
- Thread starter JW8725
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Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical 38mm white dial
Gold and TT Rolex seem to be plentiful. The problem now is typically only with finding the SS sport watches, although last I heard that didn't include Datejust and Oyster Perpetual. For a long time the Explorer I and II was an exception, but now even those are getting harder to find.
I've been on the list at two different Rolex AD for the ceramic bezel SS Daytona since it was released 3 years ago, with no luck. I wasn't willing to pay $17K for one 2 years ago, and now they are over $20-24K to find one (50-80% over MSRP now).
So trying to find a steel GMT II, Submariner, or ceramic bezel Daytona is like pulling teeth. Before the black bezel GMT II was discontinued you could find those at many dealers, while only the BLNR and Pepsi were scarce, but now all three are scarce at this point and the supply of new old stock GMT II black bezel are drying up fast.
In 2015 I walked into a Ben Bridge Jewelers and walked out with a Hulk at retail to add to my 2014 white dial Explorer II, because I couldn't find a GMT II BLNR to replace my Explorer II. Then DavidSW.com had a new unworn BLNR at MSRP, and I returned the Hulk and bought the BLNR with my name on the warranty card. I had to part with the Hulk instead of Explorer II to fund the BLNR, because the refund was more money than from selling my 1 yr old Explorer II (still plentiful at the time). Now the Hulk is selling for 50% over MSRP on the private market, and BLNR a little above that.
I kept the Explorer II until April 2018 when I traded it towards another Hulk, and I kept the BLNR until April 2019 when I traded it towards the Pepsi GMT II. Last fall I traded my extra Omega Planet Ocean 2500 and a Tudor Black Bay Red diver towards a Submariner ceramic No Date. So other than a Ceramic Daytona and a birth year 5513 from the early 60's (can't afford either) I'm all set.
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got a new strap for the omega.
I have a thing for TAG Heuer myself, my first was an S/EL way back when it was the hottest thing which I still have. It seems TH wants to rid all memories of that model. My second was a 6000 with the gray dial which I regrettably sold. Neither models aged particularly well, which I guess is why TH wants to forget about them.
Tag Heuer Link
My latest addition. First thing out of the box removed the bracelet and put on a brown leather strap. I have a thing for a sunburst blue dial. They're just so mesmerizing to look at. Couple years ago I was close to buying an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra co-axial with a blue dial, but the sunburst effect wasn't strong enough, plus I wasn't entirely sure I wanna spend that kind of money so I told myself the blue wasn't good enough for me lol.
My very humble collection. Note the oddball here that is the Apple Watch
And the Hamilton I bought for my son but it goes into my collection 
Browsing this thread a few pages back, I noticed there are quite a few elite collectors here. Couple of questions for you guys. What do you think of the dateless Submariner (2018 114060), and those "homage" Submariners (namely a Squale with ceramic bezel)?
I personally like the date, but without the cyclops. I used to have a previous generation sea dweller and currently own a deep sea. as for homage watches, that's a nice way of saying fake if you ask me. would rather have a seiko diver than anything that resembles a sub, but is not. my $.02
The dateless Submariner is classic, but I like the date and (gasp!) the cyclops. Echoing what Mr Kram said, I think that an homage watch that tries to look just like the Submariner is just a nice way of saying it's a fake.
I do usually prefer having a date complication, especially on the newer Rolexes with the instantly changed date at precisely 12AM (I have deep appreciation for mechanical details such as this), but on the Submariner I like the symmetry of the dial without the date.
As to the Squale homage, I haven't touched one personally, but seeing the various Youtube videos it seems like a very fine and substantial piece (weighs more than an actual Submariner I believe) for under $600 and with a decent ETA movement. I would like a piece with a very substantial bracelet which this Squale 1545 seems to have, it just happens to be a Submariner homage.
But yeah, that Submariner bracelet is just, wow. I remember my dad's Rolex probably back in the 70's, even as a kid I thought the bracelet felt really cheap so I didn't get his obsession with that watch. I also remember raiding that green wooden box from him lol.
Edit: while I'm at it picking the brains of you real collectors, one thing that has always bugged me on a mechanical piece is when adjusting the time on a hackable movement, the seconds hand wiggles back and forth when I adjust the time forward and back. It just seems to me like a real lack of refinement on the movement. When I tried on an Omega Aqua Terra coaxial, it surprised me that it did just that when I adjusted the time. The store display Seiko cocktail time I just bought also did that, but the actual one I bought does not. Do you guys feel it's a lack of refinement, or just the trait of a particular movement? If the latter, it doesn't really explain the display Seiko cocktail time compared to the one I actually bought.
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Personally, as with some others who have already posted, I prefer the date to be present on a classic watch, and am rather partial to the presence of the cyclops.
I love the Submariner ceramic no date, and I owned a March 2018 model for over a year, but I just traded it Monday towards a Sea Dweller 43mm 50th Anniversary this week.
Often I feel like Submariners wear a little small on my wide and flat wrists, since I wear a 45.5mm Planet Ocean daily, so rotating to my Sub made it feel small. But then I look at the photos and the size looks fine.
I'm keeping my Submariner Hulk for now though, but the size of the SD feels much better to me. If I could have kept the Sub No Date, and also bought the Sea Dweller I really would have - it's a classy and under the radar model of Rolex. But with a 2019 Pepsi GMT II, 2018 Hulk and SubC ND, I just couldn't afford to not sell one to help pay for the SD43 - given that I can replace the SubC ND much more easily than a Hulk, that's what had to go.
I can't speak to the Squale ceramic, but I've not heard anything bad about it. I have a few NTH sub homage watches like the Naken vintage blue (aluminum bezel) that looks more like a Tudor Black Bay.
I normally love, LOVE, a dial with the sunburst effect, but on a diver I prefer a flat black dial. Now of course if I can have one of each such as yourself, well, best of both worlds
I actually tried on a Tudor Black Bay this week. It felt really great, and with an in house movement for the price it’s almost too good to be true. The only thing I’m unsure of is the strange black piece that sits behind the crown. I will keep browsing until closer to the holidays before deciding. The looking part is almost as good as the getting part so I’m taking my sweet time. I saw your collection a few pages back. Wow, just wow, is all I have to say. Thanks for sharing. I would love to have that Speedmaster racing with the snoopy dial if I could pick just one
don't know if i mentioned it here, but my new casamigos sea master died last week. so I dropped off the casamigos at the Omega boutique yesterday. they just sent it in for warranty. they were kind enough to offer my a speedy loaner watch, but I declined because I didn't want the responsibility. the manager told me that the Apollo 50th are starting to roll in and I should be getting mine soon. before I left he gave me an official space pen with pressurized cartridge for those times you need to write in zero G situations.
I normally love, LOVE, a dial with the sunburst effect, but on a diver I prefer a flat black dial. Now of course if I can have one of each such as yourself, well, best of both worlds
I saw your collection a few pages back. Wow, just wow, is all I have to say. Thanks for sharing. I would love to have that Speedmaster racing with the snoopy dial if I could pick just one
My Hulk, like my ceramic Pepsi GMT, is more of a statement piece; while my Sea Dweller black dial above that replaced the no date last month is my diver
Here is another one of my favorites - Speedmaster Pro Speedy Tuesday LE - I sold the Snoopy and like this one more.
Wow that's awesome lume on that!
I looked at Speedmasters a while back. While on the subject, I just remembered seeing a Tintin at Costco ($3800 IIRC) and just did a quick lookup. It's at least double that now. I wish I hadn't looked lol.
Found it. 1/30/2018. $3599. Why didn't I buy it
I looked at Speedmasters a while back. While on the subject, I just remembered seeing a Tintin at Costco ($3800 IIRC) and just did a quick lookup. It's at least double that now. I wish I hadn't looked lol.
Found it. 1/30/2018. $3599. Why didn't I buy it
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I prefer the Deep Sea, but's too large for me. The Sub is the perfect size. I was looking for Sub Date, but I found a Sub No Date. I will own another Rolex with date (datejust 41 probably) eventually. There is sweet beauty in symmetry.
If you don't mind me asking, how did you score a 2019 Pepsi GMT? I wanted the Magnum P.I. version for years, and when the new version in steel was released, I didn't want it as bad anymore. I still want it (LOL) but I will probably never see it in store. I've never seen a new Sub (or GMT) in a Rolex store before I bought mine. I've gone to authorized dealers and I've never seen a new Sub or GMT. My personal preference is to go with a watch with a ceramic bezel. I see plenty of used older watches though.
I would love to at least see a steel Pepsi or Batman GMT, but it ain't happen.
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I heard exactly the same thing from a friend. Word for word lol. That's how I know I will probably never buy a new GMT at a AD or Rolex store.
I've been on the waiting list at both go my Rolex AD since the SS Pepsi was released years ago, with no love. But a re-seller/flipper guy that I've bought from before had a 2 month old Pepsi GMT in steel for $18,000. He was willing to take my 4yr old GMT II BLBR with a dinged 11 o'clock lug + my silver dial Yachtmaster (5 digit model) in trade + $500 cash back to me after he paid for shipping both ways.
Since I'd paid $9K out the door for the new BLNR 4 years ago with DavidSW.com, and $7000 for the used Yachtmaster (well, traded a $7K TT blue Sub for the YM, making the YM $7K), I thought it was a great deal. At the time (April 2019) I didn't know the value of a mint Gen 1 BLNR had climbed from $9K to $14-15K!
Otherwise, the best price I was seeing for buying the Pepsi was $17,500 at DavidSW.com for using bank wire transfer ($18,025 if using PayPal). And I would have had to sell my 2 watches on my own to buy this, and take the risk of being scammed. Only after I agreed to the deal with my watch guy did I get a cash offer for the two watches for $17,500 from a very reputable buyer who would wire me the money 1st and send me prepaid shipping labels, but then it was only enough money to get the DavidSW watch, while the 1st deal also was getting me $500 cash back.
The ding in my 11 o'clock lug was only about 0.3mm wide x 0.1mm deep, but I knew it affected the value (which later I found that LAWatchWorks could fix for a few hundred bucks). So, I received wholesale value for the 2 watches, and the guy who traded me probably profited $1,500 -$2000 due to me being afraid to get scammed.
A year ago one of my Rolex AD was remodeling and in a temporary location, so during an inventory liquidation they had a white gold pepsi GMT II for 35% off! After taxes their price was the same as one that DavidSW.com had for sale online. I figured that I could privately sell my BLNR, my Polar Explorer II, and my TT Blue Sub to pay for it if they would drop the price by 40% and I made the offer. I was going to put it all on a credit card right there and then, and pay it off by selling the three watches later. They were disinclined to acquiesce to my request.
The things we have to go through. I haven't gotten to selling a luxury watch yet and I will probably not part with my Sub. Even getting a lowly Sub wasn't easy. I waited a little over a month and that is a really short wait. I had help and that's all I want to say lol.
Word of mouth says we need to establish a relationship with our AD and it will be based on money. I have friends that are doctors and lawyers who, if they were watch nerds, could easily afford to buy luxury watches. These people who spend a lot can jump to the head of the line when seeking an entry level SS Rolex watch.
I wanted the Pepsi for years. The newer version was based on white gold and that's much more than I was looking to spend. And then the SS version was released and it's not possible for joes off the street to buy one at MSRP. If I ever get around to buying the SS version I'm sure it will be used.
But there are so many nice watches that are much easier to find. Someone mentioned Farer earlier in the thread. I took one look at this one and love it.
https://usd.farer.com/products/lander#