southcoast68 Posted August 17, 2007 Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 Hi all Nanuq's thread showing his new acquisition of that wonderful GMT has inspired me to share some pictures of mine. It has an about a 11 year history with me now and it was the one I thought would get away. For those of you who are also at RWI, you may have seen this story before, for those who have'nt, enjoy. Its been 11 years now, and I am still glad I made the investment. Well, were talking about a Rolex GMT MASTER 1675 pointed crown guards model, who wouldn't be glad with that, but at the time, I almost didn't go through with the purchase. It was about March 1996 when I strolled into a Rhode Island Rolex dealer to see if they had anything used. I asked about a Tudor prince, and was shown a beautiful stainless and white gold model, used but still with its inner and outer boxes. In about an hour and $700, I was on my way home with my new Tudor feeling pretty darn spiffy about it. However, all the way home and for the next 6 months or so, I was feeling another strong pull. For I had also asked about any used Rolex possibilites in the house and was shown the watch pictured here. A 1968/69 GMT MASTER with blue/red bezel, and a real looker at that. You see, the hour in the shop was not spent on the Tudor, I had money to spend and the Tudor is just what I wanted. No, about 45 minutes of that hour was spent looking into the face of that GMT, and thinking madly of how I could get it for my own. Asking price was $1800 and that was too much for me right now, so I had to leave it behind and all the way home I thought of anything in the house I did not need any longer that I could sell to add to my new "Get the GMT fund". Fast forward to that following spring. I was busy, the weather was good and construction and building was going good (I worked for a surveying / civil engineering firm at the time). A couple of good sized subdivisions as well as many individual projects kept me in overtime that summer, so the fund was building slowly but surely. Around September or so, I decided it was time to re-visit the AD to see if anything was available as far as used Rolex was concerned. I was banking on that GMT no longer being there and would have to look at other models since I was sure it had sold already and if it hadn't, I would be pleasently suprised. However there was one sticking point, my fund had only grown to just shy of $1500, a few hundred short of the asking price for that GMT. The AD was about a half hour drive away, and on the way I thought to myself that if the GMT was still there, I would be strong and make an offer of $1400 and see if that would do it. I walked into the store and started browsing when the same salesman who sold me the Tudor approaches me to offer help. I told him that back in March he showed me a stainless steel GMT, and I was wondering if it was still available. Off to the safe he goes and comes back with the GMT!! it was still there!! He had told me that this was the only used GMT they had and that it was in stock for a little while. Then the most extrodinary thing happened, before I could even negotiate, he looked at the price sticker on the back and said something to the effect of "we have it marked at $1800, but I can let it go for $1400"!! I don't actually remeber saying "I'll take it", but I must have, because I soon found myself driving home on a wonderful sunny September afternoon wearing it. That was 11 years ago, back when a good rep was hard to come by and the only way to truly enjoy a watch named Rolex was to have a real one. Since then I have had many offers to buy it right off my wrist which I always turn down. I plan on having it put in my last will and testiment to be put to rest wearing it! Its the granddaddy of my watch collection, and always will be, my first Rolex. They come and go you know, many watches bought and sold. A gen Air-King, a gen DateJust and even that Tudor I spoke of earlier have all been sent to new homes, but the GMT stays, period. Thanks for letting me bore you with my story, and without further a-du (sp.), I present the pics, enjoy everyone and have a good week. Cheers Robert The jubillee it currently wears is an aftermarket replacement, the folded like oyster that it came with is in safe keeping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephane Posted August 17, 2007 Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 Hi Robert, Very nice story indeed. Thank you very much for sharing it with us. Cheers Stephane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southcoast68 Posted August 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 Nanuq, seeing the photos of your GMT is what prompted me to take some better photos of mine to share. I have looked at a lot of photos of vintage GMT's and always noticed that mine had a different dial. Now for those of you who don't know what we are talking about, take a look at the hour markers on our GMT's and notice the following; 1. the dot hour markers are smaller than what we normally see, 2. even though it has a date function, the dial says "oyster perpetual" not "oyster perpetual date" (which was common on a few of Rolex sport watches of this period) and the "oyster perpetual" wording is much closer to the center of the dial than normal, 3. the hour markers are all a little farther away from the edge of the dial than what we see normally. I wish I had some comparison photos handy, but I don't. The numbers on my case are very faint to read without a loupe, but I can date mine to around mid to late '60's. Does anyone have info on just when the pointed crown guard case was produced? In John Brozek's book on Rollie replicas there is a picture of a 1675 that is a dead ringer for mine, crown guards and all, but I do think this watch had some parts replaced before I got it since the hands and bezel always did look brand new. Since I got it from an old school Rolex dealer in New England, I have got to think that if they serviced it, they may have had a supply of older NOS parts. The only thing on mine that is off is that the date does not center in the window , but its not important enough to me to screw with and I hesitate to send it in for service nowadays fearing that Rolex would replace parts in an attempt to "make it new again". Also, mine has the silver date wheel on it which is another driiference I have noticed on some others. Anyway, good stuff 'eh. Good luck with yours Nanuq and post some more pics when you get a bracelet for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FasTTaP Posted August 17, 2007 Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 GMT with jubile bracelet are really nice... great watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iglutikut Posted August 17, 2007 Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 Great story my friend.. you have a beauty there for sure.. You know for some reason of all the timepieces I have owned (rep and gen), I to this day have never really gotten over selling my gen 16700.. I still miss it terribly.. Sad I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dluddy Posted August 17, 2007 Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 Great story Robert and a fabulous GMT. I agree with your concern about sending to Geneva for service. Might loose some of the vintage charm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docblackrock Posted August 17, 2007 Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 Consider this: take our dial with the smaller, more-inset hour indices. Now put a gold ring around each one... bingo. It's a 16750 "transitional" dial. I think they reduced the size of the indices to allow gold rings with the result being indices the same size as the prior painted dots. Plausible? Hmm, interesting theory Bob, identical to the one I put forward for Pitmany's GMT dial HERE Only possible fly in ointment is that one of the transtional features of the 16750 was the switch from a matt to gloss dial. But then, who's not to say you have a prototype 16750 dial? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted August 17, 2007 Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 Man, what a sweet watch and excellent tale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docblackrock Posted August 17, 2007 Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 Wooooooooooo!! Who knows... maybe the day Hans made my dial he was suffering from the prior night's celebration and the noise from the paint machine hurt his head? So he let it run a bit less, and made smaller spots. It was actually that dial (with the tiny holes where the circles were removed) that made me think about the transitional... Guess once again we assume that anything Rolex did in the 60s and 70s was any way planned or according to strict procedure "...hey Siegfried, I neet unt dial for zis GMT....vhat do you av in your drawer?....(*sounds of rummaging about, bits being discarded*)....oh ok, zat looks like it vill fit, who care novone vill know anyhows...danke mein heren." *apologies to any Swiss German here for that atrocious stereotypical accent, feel free to post a pic of top-hatted gent drinking tea, or a leprechaun with a pig uder his arm as payback * Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southcoast68 Posted August 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 These kins of threads make this hobby fun! I will be watching Sabbin's thread on his GMT project with great interest as well. IMO, the GMT Master never really gets the attention it desreves from the rep world, at least not the vintage ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docblackrock Posted August 17, 2007 Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 BTW southcoast68, you do realise that Rolex in their infinite wisdom (read "blatant move to alienate their core sports model customers, raising two fingers in the face of their own heritage and the collector's market, the very presence of which is responsible for Rolex's continued success and.....blah blah blah")...sorry where was I? ....you do realise that Rolex Service Centres have now ceased servicing and repairing all c.15XX calibres??? Yes that's right, they won't touch your pointy GMT with a 10' bargepole However, the upside being you can now send it to The Zigmeister, which is ultimately an all-round more satisfactory experience for you and your watch anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southcoast68 Posted August 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 (edited) @docblackrock Yeah, Rolex has seemed to forget over the years just what made their brand so famous. Sure 'ol Wilsdorf and Davis are reponsible for the wristwatch as we know it today, and were the pioneers in perpetual movements, waterproof cases and the like, but today.... They made their mark with tough, well built and dependable watches like the GMT and Submariner. The new offerings they had at this years Basil (sp) watch festival were pretty dismal IMO. Instead of taking some of their sport watch line and making new updates (larger heavier sizes, AR coatings, etc.), they come up with the Yach Master II WTF!! The only thing they got out new right now that is worth a look is the new Milgauss, and thats only because it pays homage to the original with some nice design cues. I really don't think the world really needs a diamond tiger strip DateJust with a rubber band either, oh well. A freind of mine is on a waiting list for a SS Daytona black dial and is willing to pay the $$ for it. Myself, I aspire to what Ubi has done, build my own project watch, although I think my knowledge and budget are a little far from that level at this point. Edited August 17, 2007 by southcoast68 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmg Posted August 17, 2007 Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 Southcoast, What a great story and classic timepiece, thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heywood Posted August 18, 2007 Report Share Posted August 18, 2007 That's a beautiful watch and a great story to boot. Thanks for sharing them with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yt74 Posted August 18, 2007 Report Share Posted August 18, 2007 What a find! Thanks for the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechWatch Posted August 18, 2007 Report Share Posted August 18, 2007 ....you do realise that Rolex Service Centres have now ceased servicing and repairing all c.15XX calibres??? Rolex in NY still services 1570. My 40 year old OP Date 1500 with 1570 was serviced by them this year. @Southcoast, great story and beautifull watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docblackrock Posted August 18, 2007 Report Share Posted August 18, 2007 Rolex in NY still services 1570. My 40 year old OP Date 1500 with 1570 was serviced by them this year. Well it won't be next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechWatch Posted August 22, 2007 Report Share Posted August 22, 2007 Who needs Rolex NYC when we've got a The Zigmeister? I would not hesitate to sent work to The Zigmeister. The only reason I let Rolex do the work is that I can hand carry it there. The watch has sentimental value and I did not want to ship it by mail or thru other carrier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.