walrashish

I think the 16610 was the natural evolution of the Submariner—though the 116610 is a bridge too far. So it will never be passe. And I still get excited when I see it in the wild. My theory when it comes to watches is to never spite the watch for its owners. That said, here's a little story to illustrate the difference between vintage and modern Rolex owners. A few years ago I worked at a bike rental kiosk in downtown Chicago while I was in school. I was wearing a mediocre 16610 rep at the time, though it was generally concealed underneath the cuff of my jacket. One time, a guy came in wearing a shiny new GMTIIc. I complimented him on his watch, and he sneered at me, saying "Oh, I see that you have one too?" His sarcasm was hard to miss. I punted, and just moved on with my sales pitch. A couple of weeks later, a middle-aged Australian guy came in with a BEAUTIFUL 1675 on a jubilee bracelet. I didn't say anything until he was leaving, when I blubbered that his watch was one of the most beautiful vintage Rolexes that I'd ever seen. He was taken aback, and thanked me. He said that he'd had it since it was new, and was considering selling it since the GMT hand was sticking sometimes (he figured that he could get maybe $1000 for it). While I SHOULD have offered to pay him a grand right there and then... Instead I told him that he should keep it or give it to his kids (he loved that second idea). And then told him that he could definitely get more than a few thousand for it, if he decided to sell. He was so happy to talk about his watch and its history—and was genuinely excited that someone had an interest in his watch. Granted, that's too small of a sample size to draw any broad conclusions... But I think we all know how much more interesting vintage owners are!

I wish I was as handy at modding as you—this is just the right size for my wrist! Have you considered fading the red bezel triangle some more? They look so good when they're faded to a scratched pink. Anyway, beautiful watch!

I had a similar question—except I'm looking for an older Tudor sub. Though I might just wait for the Black Bay, since progress seems to be good!

Gads, I can't wait.

If I'm not mistaken, that's the "3135" movement to avoid, as well.

Very nice. I want one of those solid-link bracelets!

I can't speak for its accuracy vs. the gen, but I wore a Trevor Sub-C as a daily beater for 7 months this year, and it served me brilliantly. Waterproof and accurate (+/- 5sec/day) out of the box. Especially at his prices, it's a great deal.

Ha! I figured that I'd be proven wrong. Glad to see that they exist.

I think your biggest problem is going to be the hand-stack. I haven't seen any GMT IIc's with the correct stack (seconds, minutes, GMT, hours). There may be some out there that I don't know about, but it's a noticeable tell for someone who has the gen.

Here it is, gents. Tons of pics below, but first, a foreword. I'd been trawling around eBay for a while, looking for an Oyster Date or Oyster Perpetual around the $1000 mark. Then I thought about a Zenith for around $2000-2500. Then I saw this listed for $3300 (with a full non-AD service in May), and figured that if I'm going to be dropping major coin on a watch, I might as well get what I want. So I did. I feel like I'm not likely to take much of a loss on this if I need to sell it in the future—though I'm planning on keeping this as my daily wearer for the foreseeable future. One note: I'm thinking of getting a rep bracelet for this. The solid-middle-link bracelet from my 116610 might go on, since it's served me well, and it's a hell of a lot less rattly. Besides, keeping the gen strap in fairly good nick will decrease stretch and increase resale value. We'll see, though. The hollow bracelet is surprisingly comfortable. On with the show! And I also took some comparison shots with my Rolex reps, for reference. The 116610 has been a beater for about 7 months. The Exp I hasn't been worn yet. Both are from Trevor, FWIW. The difference in wrist-presence between the 116610 and 16570 is much greater than I expected. But I have small (6.5") wrists, so the smaller watch fits me better. Here's a lume shot—all three were charged for about 10 seconds by a 60-watt tungsten lightbulb. Since the 16570 is a U-serial (1997), I'm guessing that it's had a lume-job. Or maybe not—it does fade fairly quickly. Still enough to read by in the darkness once your eyes adjust, though. Anyway, this round very clearly goes to the gen! And speaking of the Exp I... I ordered it from Trevor just before I pulled the trigger on the gen. It's still in its plastics! It'll make an appearance on the trading zone soon enough, but if you want a jump on it, feel free to PM me. These were all taken quick and dirty with my iPhone. If anyone has some requests, I can get out the DSLR and macro lens and go to town for you. Hope you enjoyed the pics—I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'm wearing a gen!

My first gen Rolex (a U-serial 16570) is in the mail. It should be delivered by tomorrow. I'm so excited. I'll post pics when it gets here.

Love the look. Tudor is really killing it these days—I just hope the factory can keep up!

Someone looks like they're trying to flip a $130 Patek rep for $2600 on eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/221118977137 Check out the back and band especially—and them compare them to this (1st hit on Google): http://www.anyreplicawatches.com/item.php?item_id=1042 18k gold, I'm sure!

Greetings! I've been around the forum for a bit, but haven't posted too much. Now I need 5 posts to be able to add a link, so I thought I'd say hello! My rep journey started with a $35 SSD clearance special from Silix. That lasted about 6 months of very hard wear (including some diving, which it handled brilliantly after I sealed the HeV and greased the gaskets). Now I'm on to Trevor's Sub-C—though I'm thinking of getting his semi-fantasy black-bezel LV. I love the maxi dial and the old case/bezel, but just don't love the green! Anyway, I have more gen (but not impressive) watches than reps, but I prefer the community here. Cheers!

I'm in awe. I want to build something like this myself so badly.