Quote Originally Posted by chasea View Post
I turned 40 in September. I had the idea of walking into a dealer and purchasing my first nice watch to mark the milestone. A stainless steel Rolex or Tudor. Turns out you can't really do that anymore. A few trips over several months and the AD had nothing simple or of interest to me in the case. Anything I asked to see they didn't have, couldn't get, wouldn't add my name to a list. "No chance." Anything I tried on invited huge pressure to buy. Full court press from the sales associates. I probably would've bought that Datejust 36 I posted earlier if the bracelet weren't so flashy. Mentioning dislikes about the pieces ("I'd like something simpler, without polished links" etc) seemed to be invitation for debate about why my tastes were wrong. While being very giving with their time in regards to whats in the case, their attitude is pretty much "take it or leave it." One sales associate even bragged about some baseball player with my name being a regular customer. He gets a lot of watches there. Like I give a shit. I'm just trying to get one. He's better business. I get it.

The whole thing turned me off. I could go grey but I can't really stomach paying more than MSRP. Plus that would blow my budget. I could could try larger dealers and even brand-owned boutiques. But I don't really think I should be driving around during a pandemic just to buy a watch. It's really a drag that a guy cant walk into a store and buy a $6-7K watch to celebrate a milestone.

Anyway. The new Speedy is really nice. Pretty sure after the initial rush I can walk and an get one at MSRP no problem.
As an owner of the older Speedmaster, there isn't too much of a difference if you don't mind having the latest and greatest. Definitely an evolution vs a revolution, IMO. I think if you can find one with the older 1861 movement you will be more than happy (all that assuming you can't find the newer one currently and want one now vs later).

I do love the new Ed White Speedmaster with the remade 321 movement, but that one is almost certainly harder to find.