aphillipe Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) So with the pick-up of droptopman's 6538 last week (the most amazing watch I've ever worn on my wrist) I have since upgraded to VIP on here to show my support and figured I'd actually introduce myself since I've become more active on here the last few months. Name is Adam, I live just outside of Portland Oregon here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. I've been into reps since I got out of college in 2003 - My first purchases were from a guy in China after stumbling upon his website by chance. $25 for any rep you wanted - these things were 21j rudimentary pieces that looked the part from about 5 feet out but that was about it. I LOVED watches, picked up like 10 of these and they held me over until I purchased my first gen Rolex, a GMT II-C shortly after they came out back in 2007. I wore that thing proudly every single day for a few years including to my wedding but then regretfully parted with it shortly after. I decided to prove to her after we got settled in that paying off student loans was more important than acquiring "stuff".... We had about $200k in combined student loan debt so that watch was the first domino in what would take us almost 4 years to achieve. Looking back, it put such a small dent in the actual total but was symbolic in a way, as it said sacrifices must be made to get out of this hole we are in due to our degrees and career paths. Speaking of which, I'm a MBA grad and have about 11.5 years of experience now in the medical sales niche. I've done everything from rehab equipment in physical/sports therapy, to surgical instruments in the operating room. My current home though is with a fantastic company catering to the diabetic community. After selling off my GMT II-C, I began searching for a rep worthy of my wrist after wearing the gen. I stumbled upon one of the forums, and BK in particular and the rest is history. His GMT was amazing and helped ease the regret of selling my own. Fast forward to the last few years and I've always had a full watch box but sold off most everything I owned more recently to collect vintage Rolex exclusively. I'm not sure what it is about watches that are old (or are made to look the part), but I love how each one can age differently and be appreciated for what it is, and not what it isn't. I'm having to part with quite a few of my builds to recoup money from the 6538, but after wearing this watch and seeing how special gen parts are on a vintage piece, my attitude is continuing to shift. My 5 year goal is to (of course) keep this 6538, and add a 1981 5513 and a 1981 1675 (birth year) and potentially build a gen-spec 6542 albino if I can source a good base dial or have one made. I think those two watches, with the 6538 and a 6542 would make for an amazing collection to hold onto. Will I ever stop purchasing/building reps? Definitely not. The journey to completing one is too much fun as is the research that goes into it. Do I want some gens though that will appreciate in value and can be held onto for decades? Definitely! Outside of my watch obsession (it's about to get REAL nerdy here)... I LOVE board games and online gaming (particularly the Battlefield franchise). Euro games that require serious strategy really stimulate me. Many know Catan, but go further and look up "Twilight Struggle", and "Castles of Burgundy", and you will get the idea. I also love good whiskey, cigars, and getting out on our boat or just being active in the beautiful outdoors here in Oregon. My wife and I don't have kids quite yet, but are looking to start sooner than later as we're both 34 and the clock is ticking. I LOVE this forum in particular for unique reasons over the others that are out there that I also wander around on. People on here take their builds to a another level. There's many talented folks on here that do amazing work and create works of art. I feel the members on here also appreciate those finished products in a different way than your basic user that's online trying to find "the best sub". Thanks for letting me participate and keep posting your build threads as they inspire me to want to do more with my own! Edited August 24, 2015 by aphillipe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSTEEL Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 Welcome aboard Adam, that my friend is what you call an intro! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
droptopman Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 A formal welcome to RWG my friend. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avenue Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 Nice intro! Welcome to the forums. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam007 Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 Very Nice Intro. Welcome to the Forum. So I would like to know how you justified spending 6k on a rep to your wife.. lolI took me a year to convince my wife to let me buy a Rolex 1680. Even then she made me sell my Omega. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertini4u Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 Awesome writing, I really got into it welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgtguk Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 Welcome to the forum, good to have you here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ogladio Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 If you like vintage Rolex builds, then you surely have found your home here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aphillipe Posted August 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 Very Nice Intro. Welcome to the Forum. So I would like to know how you justified spending 6k on a rep to your wife.. lolI took me a year to convince my wife to let me buy a Rolex 1680. Even then she made me sell my Omega. Well she's making me sell reps to mAke up 3-4k of it, the other I played the guilt card on selling my gen after our wedding to pay off her debts primarily... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteM Posted August 28, 2015 Report Share Posted August 28, 2015 cant beat the guilt card... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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