Why a Submariner? My story

[Beachcomber]

I have always been a lover of Rolex and I really didn't know why until I sat down and started to think about it the other day. I remember a time when I was 5 or 6 maybe and I was in the car with my mom and I remember passing a sign of a big crown and asking my mom what it was and I can still remember it like it was yesterday--I was very young mind you--and she said to me that it was a sign for Rolex a watch that was one of the best watches in the world. I can still remember this today. Well, this must´ve been 1970 or 71.

Anyway, let's fast forward to 1984 and I remember staring at the Submariners in a tiny shop on the island of La Maddalena Sardinia--ironically where some of the early Bond movies were shot--and not having the money to purchase one, an entire year I was staring at these watches they were a fortune to me back then at least 1200 bucks or so and there was no way I could have ever saved up enough money to buy one, so I kept lusting. When I was to be transferred to another duty station I requested what at the tie was called "advanced pay" it was more or less an interest free loan that you could get to help defer the cost of moving. Back then I was making about 700 bucks a month so I asked for 2 months advanced pay, well after taxes etc. I think I was given about 1000 dollars, with that money I needed to pay other things and to make a log story short I had about 600 dollars left after it was all said and done.

I went back to that small jewelry shop with my fist full of Lira to see what I could get, sadly the Submariners were out of my price range but I saw a nice little silver dialed Datejust and decided to buy that instead to quell my desire for the “the best watch in the world”. I bought the watch and or course my 19 year old skinny writs were way too small and I needed the bracelet adjusted. I must have been the shop owner’s biggest sale in a long time because he actually closed up shop and took me to his house where his family was having lunch, as his wife commenced to tell me to have a seat and she started to heap pasta on my plate the owner of the shop went in the back and came back a few minutes later with the band adjusted. I finished my lunch and thanked him and left with my shiny new Datejust on my wrist.

Sadly times were hard for me and my family back in the late 90s and I ended up selling my Datejust to pay bills. And I lusted after the Submariner ever since,.

The pic below is of me and my mom right after I left Italy in 1984, she passed away of breast cancer in 1988. I'm wearing my Datejust in the pic although hard to see.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ezio]

Nice story mate !

Not Much different Then my desire to own a Crown one day

Sad to hear about your mom but such is life and we will Always have the memories

Congrats on your 5513 now you Finally Got a Sub !

[astonjenks]

Great story and love the cartoon Ezio :-)

AJ

[Mendota Explorer]

Nice story.  Thanks for sharing!  Very sorry to read about the passing of your mom.  My wife lost her mom 3 years ago to an aortic aneurysm.  58 years old and it was completely out of the blue.  One moment here, another moment gone.  They say that time heals all wounds, but I wonder if this is true.  In some ways it becomes more painful as time goes on because your life has moved on and you have more time to think about the memories that our loved ones have missed out on, such as children being born, children growing older, special moments in our lives that we would want to share with them, etc. They have missed out on experiencing these moments with us.  I think with time maybe we are better able to set the pain aside and not let it consume us, but I don't think it ever goes away.

 

I had always lusted after the submariners due to my love for the James bond films growing up. I would walk past the windows and just drool over them.  I will always have this regret and I am still kicking myself today for making this mistake:

 

Back in 2002 I was determined to buy myself a Rolex for my 30th birthday.  I had just found a website called Timezone and I started checking the place out.  I saw the Explorer 1 and I fell in love with it.  That was what I was going to buy myself.  They were only $2,200 and I had made up my mind.  Literally the week that I was going to do it, I went back online and found, to my horror, an article written by a douchebag hack who proceeded to rip the watch to shreds.  Here was a Rolex expert bashing the very watch I was going to buy.  Long story short, I never bought it and at the time I thought a submariner was too large for my wrist (what was I thinking?), so I bought a Sony XBR flatscreen with stand and DVD player instead.    The TV is worthless but the watch would have still retained its value.  It also turned out that the article was a sham and was simply not true. And now, I think the sub is the perfect size. Sigh.

Edited May 14, 2015 by Mendota Explorer

[Ezio]

Great story and love the cartoon Ezio :-)

AJ

Haha thanks AJ

[GenTLe]

Good story BC and you have lived in a paradise back in the eighties!

[Skywatch]

Great story thanks for sharing, my journey on the road to Rolex was almost the exact same time line.

[508-Fanatic]

Same with me, Grandfather had a Datejust, gave it to my father who gave it to me. Then I expanded into other watches and fell in love with Submariners, particularly vintage models and just finished this:

[danielv2000]

Great story!