Thread: What types of watches do you like?

Here she is: 1964 Submariner

This watch has been in Vietnam, was worn by a paratrooper (my Dad), has never been serviced and still keeps good time! I'm wearing it now. Sacrilege, I know, to have an inexpensive leather band, but it will have to do until I decide which band should be more permanent. The original band is not to be found.
Pretty amazing that even though this watch has clearly taken some beatings, after 52 years with no service and still running well. Wow.



ChrisL

Hi Chris, please don't send this watch off to Rolex, it is worth a considerable amount of money as original as it is. I hope that you have the original oyster bracelet. If you want some service done, there is an expert watchmaker in Arlington TX that specializes in vintage rolex refurbishing. They do not, polish, or relume anything, and will treat your watch with care. His name is Bob Ridley, watchmakers international. Good luck!

Originally Posted by ChrisL

Here she is: 1964 Submariner

This watch has been in Vietnam, was worn by a paratrooper (my Dad), has never been serviced and still keeps good time! I'm wearing it now. Sacrilege, I know, to have an inexpensive leather band, but it will have to do until I decide which band should be more permanent. The original band is not to be found.
Pretty amazing that even though this watch has clearly taken some beatings, after 52 years with no service and still running well. Wow.



ChrisL

Back from a return to it's homeland, 3 months in Japan at the Seiko factory.

Can't believe it, something like 25 years ago my girlfriend (now wife) bought me this watch, only went into the shop a few times, always a great timepiece, decided I wanted a complete overhaul, get it all cleaned up and completely restored, Seiko did it all in for $113.00....Seiko really stands by their warranty, at Odyssey Watch (Seiko Toronto) they said no problem, just will take awhile...glad to have one of my favorite Talisman's back on my wrist.

Seiko 7T59 1/100 Chronograph

Phrank:

That's very good business etiquette on Seiko's part. Nice watch, glad you're pleased with it.

Originally Posted by ChrisL

Here she is: 1964 Submariner

This watch has been in Vietnam, was worn by a paratrooper (my Dad), has never been serviced and still keeps good time!

Nice one ChrisL. I'm not surprised a bit. Rolex made and still makes good solid dive watches. My two cents: Take it to your local authorized Rolex dealer, in person.
Talk to them and tell them you are thinking about maintenance. It was your dads watch, and it has a great history. Don't worry to much about the strap. It was and still is fairly common among the SF and Airborne to change it to something with less bling. Anyway, don't sell it - if you don't need the money to save someones life. Your grandchildren or grand nephews will thank you.

If you take it to your local dealer they will send it out to the Rolex Repair Station and will tack on a healthy charge for handling the watch for you. Send it to Rolex via registered mail and it will arrive safely and insured.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

If you take it to your local dealer they will send it out to the Rolex Repair Station and will tack on a healthy charge for handling the watch for you. Send it to Rolex via registered mail and it will arrive safely and insured.

This watch should NOT go to a service center. They will relume, re dial, and re hand it, destroying it's vintage value.

I,m not so sure it ruins value on a watch of that caliber. They all need service at some time in their life, not to mention a well working model will bring more than one that is falling apart and don't work, you know what a watch is that don't work? It's a paper weight. So send it in get it working again, back to its glory days. Nelson knows quite a bit about watches, I don't believe he would steer you wrong.

By the way Andrew nice job getting your Seiko serviced, I like that one myself, see we do think alike, I wear a Seiko 90% of the time. Tc

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

I,m not so sure it ruins value on a watch of that caliber. They all need service at some time in their life, not to mention a well working model will bring more than one that is falling apart and don't work, you know what a watch is that don't work? It's a paper weight. So send it in get it working again, back to its glory days. Nelson knows quite a bit about watches, I don't believe he would steer you wrong.

By the way Andrew nice job getting your Seiko serviced, I like that one myself, see we do think alike, I wear a Seiko 90% of the time. Tc

My two cents on this. I am a watch collector and had sold collections to big auction houses, so I have a little bitty experience on this. Believe it or not, a watch like this is worth more in its current condition. I sold a big collection of Bubblebacks and half of them didn't work, most of the were from the forties and fifties and they fetched more than the ones actually working.

So it comes down to what one wants to do with it. If you want to keep it and wear it, by all means, send it to NYC and let them do their thing. If it has sentimental value keep it as it is until it actually needs service. I love vintage watches and still own a rather large collection, so I'm biased about restorations unless is extremely necessary to save the watch movement.

I currently sport a Hublot Bing Bang King. I don't use my vintage watches, those are sitting pretty at a bank.

Originally Posted by Otto

Nice one ChrisL. I'm not surprised a bit. Rolex made and still makes good solid dive watches. My two cents: Take it to your local authorized Rolex dealer, in person.
Talk to them and tell them you are thinking about maintenance. It was your dads watch, and it has a great history. Don't worry to much about the strap. It was and still is fairly common among the SF and Airborne to change it to something with less bling. Anyway, don't sell it - if you don't need the money to save someones life. Your grandchildren or grand nephews will thank you.

No, do not do this! You will lose a considerable amount of value due to the originality of the watch. Patina in old Rolexes is very sought after and increases the value of the watch by thousands of dollars. Rolex service centers do not care about that at all.