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Wearing my Vostok Amphibian, the Soviet's version of the Doxa

"I personally said forget it, and turned my interests toward used/vintage pieces." Me too...over 20 years ago. Last new rolex I bought from an AD was in May 1998, Bought a few new/like new presentation AKs at bargain prices from the owners since then but that's it for modern rolex. "Here are a couple that are guaranteed to go to stupid prices within a few years. The interest is starting to stir and they're cheap now." Bulova Devil Diver. Zodiac Sea Wolf. I sold way too many of my 'valuable' watches too soon but that's life. I did save a lot of 1960s through 1970s watches though and probably still have 8 or 10 assorted Bulova '666' divers that I put away because when I bought them they were going for $40 to $100 and no one wanted them. Have a few Caravelle '333' and '666' too...the Cv '666' are automatics and the '333' are hand crankers. All are mechanical except one '666' Accutron in very good condition that I got for $0 but it needs a movement. Still have 12 or 14 Bulova 333ft half devil dress Oceanographers (no rotating bezel), all tutone except two. They all have solid 10K gold bezels (even the SS models) and are slow set with reliable 11BLACD movements and they 'look like a rolex'. They are going for $300 or so now. They will not make me rich but they will buy a Big Mac or two. I have owned a LOT of Bulova watches, more than anything else...there are 365 entries in the 'B' section of my inventory, almost all Bulovas with a few Benrus, Breitling, and one Blancpain (one was enough!) etc. Many Bulovas are gone but quite a few remain. 'blanc pain' = white bread in English. Ha! Kept about a half dozen Zodiac Sea Wolf watches, both date and no date models including one with the disco dial...orange/black with white acrylic insert. Got them real cheap and some were free. They have A. Schild movements and parts are easy to get but the snap on case backs are a royal pain to get off and on. This one is $3595 on eBay! OBO. Mine was free. Before the wu-flu hit, a group of watch traders met every weekend for 30+ years and I would guess a few thousand watches passed over the trading table in that time and I snagged my share, some I'll never forget...bought a real nice gold cap rolex 1550 oys perp date in 1996 for $150...THO no bracelet. I still have the OPD...sold it in 2002 and the guy traded it in on something else. THO = time head only. The guy I bought it from walked up to the trading table and asked if anyone knew anything about rolex watches. I said: "I can tell if it is running or not." He handed it to me and asked if I wanted to buy it. I said: "I'll give you $100 for it." I was kidding. He said: "$200," I said "$150." He said: "Hand it over." Bought a like new manual wind 18KYG Patek 'Golden Ellipse' on the original woven mesh bracelet for scrap in the summer of 1998 and no one wanted to buy it so I traded it even for a nib rolex 16233 with a factory diamond dial a few months later. There were deals like this every week. Not now though. We stopped showing up not long after Christmas 2019...thanks to the wu-flu. Still see a few traders now and then. I bought an Illinois 21 jewel Abe Lincoln 16 size RR grade lever set pocket watch (made 1918) with a pristine dial/hands for $10 a while back in an undesirable oversize 'swing out' case from one of them. A PW mechanic friend c/o/MS the mvt and put it in a nos Star Watch Case Co. nickel case...no charge. It is running on my work bench now and loses 4 or 5 sec/day...the RR mech PW standard is +/- 15 sec per day. Not too shabby for $10. BTW...that Roamer chrono is super nice! I have a Seth Thomas 'Stingray' dive watch made by Roamer in my 'collection' somewhere, the case shape is the same as the chrono. I got it in 1993, sold it in 1999, and got it back in 2009. It still has the original signed bracelet, crystal etc. Some ST Stingray pictures... Seth Thomas Stingray Case Restoration – TM Watch (tmwatchco.com)