Timepieces

[mnoble485]

Nice. Hold on to it this time. You’ll get used to the weight. Just make sure it’s sized so it doesn’t shift around too much and you won’t feel the heft much at all.

April will be 33 years, I think I'll make it. I got it sized and fit is much better. Would any of you have qualms about wearing it on a construction site? I'm in a supervisory position so I don't do actual work.

Mike

[NYCfixie]

April will be 33 years, I think I'll make it. I got it sized and fit is much better. Would any of you have qualms about wearing it on a construction site? I'm in a supervisory position so I don't do actual work.

Mike

Just wear it everyday and enjoy it. Have it serviced at the correct intervals and it will be fine.

I have had a Rolex Explorer II since the mid-90s which was early in my technology career. I wore it while working in server rooms, network closets, electrical closets, ceilings, and the like. It got beat up because I never treated it like a "garage queen" watch (or bike) but I always enjoyed having it.

I recently sent it back to Rolex for service. They replaced the crown (it was heavily scratched and the numbers did not show because the black enamel was all gone), replaced the face (the newer ones use a different material and have much better luminescence for low light), and buffed the case and bracelet so it looks good as new (see below for the after shot - sorry but forgot to take the before shot). So, this is a thirty year old watch that cost about $1,000 to service and make look new (current retail is $8,500).

[pritchet74]

I bought this when travelling in Rome in 2000 at a jewelry store (non-Rolex dealer) used for $2,000. When I got home a jeweler told me that it was fake, but a really good fake. It say in a drawer for about 10 years but then I decided to wear it just to have a nice looking watch. A couple of years ago it stopped working and I was going to throw it away, but my dad wanted to take it apart and see if it really was fake. Turns out that it was real this whole time. ~$800 to the Rolex watchmaker to do a full rebuild and replace the glass and bezel and it's just like new again!

I am so glad that I didn't just throw it in the trash.

[Matthew Strongin]

I bought this when travelling in Rome in 2000 at a jewelry store (non-Rolex dealer) used for $2,000. When I got home a jeweler told me that it was fake, but a really good fake. It say in a drawer for about 10 years but then I decided to wear it just to have a nice looking watch. A couple of years ago it stopped working and I was going to throw it away, but my dad wanted to take it apart and see if it really was fake. Turns out that it was real this whole time. ~$800 to the Rolex watchmaker to do a full rebuild and replace the glass and bezel and it's just like new again!

I am so glad that I didn't just throw it in the trash.

I'm really curious...why did they think it was a fake?

And, yes...good thing you kept it!!!

[Daverino]

Or the jeweler offered to take this fake off his hands for a small amount of $$...

[pritchet74]

The jeweler said it was a fake because the second hand didn't move as smoothly as a Rolex should. He said that he could take the back off the watch to make sure but he wanted $500 to do that and that just seemed crazy to me.

[houston]

That is criminal. $500 to take the caseback off? Hopefully you don't frequent that jeweler?

[NYCfixie]

Because sometimes people do not know any better and/or they are just being rude.

In the mid-90s I was living in NYC and asked my father for the Rolex Air King (not pictured) my mother gave him when they were married (late 60s) and both just finished medical school. The bracelet had broken, was lost, and replaced with something not original. The crystal was cracked. The watch did not work. My parents were no longer married. I told him I would take it to the Rolex Corporate Service Center on 5th Avenue. Of course, the service people looked at me, in my mid-20s, and assumed the battered watch was fake and/or stolen. I told them not to be rude, look at the engraving on the back (my parent's wedding date), and to call my father at the hospital and ask him or call my retired mother in NJ and ask her about the story/provenance. They told me to wait and then came back about 20 minutes later. They apologized and said it was real, and they would make sure it was restored as-if new, and would call me in 5-6 weeks.

I'm really curious...why did they think it was a fake?

And, yes...good thing you kept it!!!

I bought this when travelling in Rome in 2000 at a jewelry store (non-Rolex dealer) used for $2,000. When I got home a jeweler told me that it was fake, but a really good fake. It say in a drawer for about 10 years but then I decided to wear it just to have a nice looking watch. A couple of years ago it stopped working and I was going to throw it away, but my dad wanted to take it apart and see if it really was fake. Turns out that it was real this whole time. ~$800 to the Rolex watchmaker to do a full rebuild and replace the glass and bezel and it's just like new again!

I am so glad that I didn't just throw it in the trash.