Hello from a long-time lurker and vintage Rolex lover

[meadowsweet_]

Hello everyone!

Meant to post this a little while back when I joined, but just now getting around to a proper introductions. I have a rabid love of vintage Rolex timepieces, especially Daytonas (more on that in a minute). IMVHO, there is no finer place for Daytona lovers than RWG; so many here with such a high level of expertise and so many with some of the loveliest 6263/65, 6239/41, etc. builds I've ever seen no question. My rep/franken collection is small, although my collection of parts (mainly gen) grows daily lol.

So, a little story of how I came to be so enamored with Daytonas in the first place and what has set me on my path to build a near-completely gen 6263:

My father was a car guy. A huge car guy. Collected and built and tinkered with Mustangs his whole life. I grew up hunting through junkyards with him and watching him take old frames and re-build some of these cars piece by piece. It's where I learned that the hunt and the build is greater than the end product sometimes (most times lol). And he loved racing-specific sports chronographs. And I mean he LOVED them. We grew up dead-center middle class in Wyoming, Pennsylvania and frankly, a second hand watch purchase was his only option. He eventually bought himself a used Heuer Carrera second hand from our neighbor who owned the jewelry shop in town. At the time (this was 1975 or 76 if I remember), buying a used watch wasn't necessarily something you'd be proud of or "show off" per se, but it wasn't necessarily looked down upon either and besides my father didn't care, he had himself a real deal racing chrono, and one that "real drivers" wore too as he would say.

Now, his "baby" was a black and British racing green 1971 Plymouth Barracuda that he had bought brand new. I swear he loved that thing more than me and my mom hahaha! Anyways on my 10th birthday (in 1981) he took me out for a spin in it. On the way home I asked him why he rarely, if ever, drove it. He had spent years saving up for it he told me, drove it pretty hard for that first year, then just put it away when my mom got pregnant with me. He told me that he was actually saving it to sell it. He said, "I'm going to sell it and put you in college and buy myself a new watch. A Rolex."

When my father passed away in 1989 the Barracuda was long gone and it had most certainly helped get me into college. He never did buy himself that Rolex though.

He took his Heuer with him to the next life, and after college I saved and saved and saved and eventually bought myself the exact same Carrera (which regretfully just sits in a safety deposit box most of the time; I would be devastated if something happened to it). And with little ones of my own now, buying that 6263 (that I KNOW my father would have wanted) for $25-30K is not really an option. So, I'm doing what my father may have done nowadays and build the damn thing myself. Piece by piece.

I have a lovely DW-cased 7750 iteration of a 6241 (pictured), and just recently purchased a 6263 mid-case from Jensen over at vintagewatchmaker .com (en route to me now) to start my V72 build in earnest. My hope is that this mid-case ends up being the only non-gen component other than the V72. I hope to glean amazing insight and criticisms from the wonderful RWG vintage Daytona community (I've already learned SO MUCH already in the 18 or so months of lurking I've done) and I hope to share the entire journey and build with everyone here from beginning to end.

Apologies for the novella, and thank you RWG for having me…

[droptopman]

Welcome to the forum. Great introduction. Appears that you will fit in well here. Good luck on the build.

Sent from my droptop using telepathy.

[meadowsweet_]

Thank you Droptop, I sincerely appreciate it. Happy to be here

[whoopy12]

On/off again lurker here too! Great intro MS, you seem very well versed - welcome to the forum

[Avenue]

Welcome! 

[vlydog]

We're glad you joined us!

[Ezio]

Hey mate welcome to RWG

Hope you will enjoy your stay here!"

And join in on the fun with us

You might wanna read this before you start if you havent already

http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/171237-what-are-the-rep-collecting-10-commandments/

http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/85981-hey-noobor-not-so-noobread-this-now/

http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/24786-read-our-forum-rules/

Before you know it you Got the rep bug and some great fellow minded guys ready to help out here

Best regards Simon (Ezio )

[pam007]

Welcome. Love your story. Looking forward to your build progress

[Nanuq]

"So, I'm doing what my father may have done nowadays and build the damn thing myself. Piece by piece."

I have no words to describe how that resonates with me. My daughter has scars, and permagrease under her fingernails from doing that with me.

Boy are you in the right place. That Daytona IS going to happen. And this is where you'll find the knowledge and parts to do it.

RIP to your pops, he sounds like a hell of a guy.