007Sub
17 June 2009, 02:30 PM
Dear fellow TRF members, I'm proud to say that I finally made the leap, and have officially become a member of the Rolex community in my recent acquisition of a 16800 transitional Sub... and quite a story I have to go along with it.
I suppose my obsession with these fine watches started not too long ago. Having owned a brushed stainless steel Breitling Superocean professional for a few years, my eyes naturally were drawn to the Rolex Submariner; with its undeniable superiority showcased not only in aesthetics, but in mechanics, and heritage.
It wasn't long before I read everything there was to read about them, researched every nuance, and memorized every curve.
One of my favorite pass-times soon became watching the rolex sub market on ebay and TRF sales posts.
I toyed, for a bit, with the idea of getting a Tudor... but never felt quite motivated enough.
Aesthetically, I am most drawn to the 5513 of the late '70s with a maxi dial. I simply adore the old matte dials, much more so than the newer gloss with gold surrounds. Moreover, the cream colour of the tritium patina is so classic and understated...to me, a matte dial sub is simply the best.
Still, I'm a fan of sapphire crystals and naturally one day I decided to look into the transitional model 16800; the only sub adorned with the classic matte dial, and newer sapphire crystal. It seemed a perfect combination...the best of both worlds if you will.
Nearly by accident, i stumbled on an ebay listing for a "sub with a matte dial". The listing was very poor, but the one blurry photo caught my eye nonetheless. I messaged the seller asking for more photos, and much to my surprise, when I saw them in my inbox, I was stunned at what seemed to be beautiful example of a 16800.
I decided to place a bid... (there weren't many most likely due to the poor quality of the auction). I knew I was taking my chances, but figured I'd trust my instinct. Again much to my surprise, my bid was the highest at the auction's close.
A few days later when the watch arrived, I went straight to Rolex USA in NYC to have it examined for authenticity and to see what a servicing would cost.
Well my friends, if you have not been to RNYC, I can tell you, its quite an experience. The walls of the elevator are lined with stone etched coronets and the walls a colored with that signature green. The architecture is, as one might expect, pristine, yet imposing.
I walked into the service center located on the 5th floor and was greeted by two lovely women. Not mentioning my ebay extravaganza, I simply said that i recently received this watch as a gift and wanted to assess its authenticity and get a quote for servicing.
The women took the watch and brought it behind closed doors to a service tech. In classic rolex fashion, when I asked to see what the watch looked like open, they refused to bring me backstage :) As I sat in the reception area waiting out the 25 minutes I was told it would take, my conversation with the women was interrupted by a phone call in which one of the service women informed my that they may need to "keep the watch for a week to check on some serial number issues" (or something of that nature). I quickly replied, 25 minutes to a week is a bit of a discrepancy no? Then one of the women said, "let me see what I can do" and retreated to the service area.
Naturally, the first thing that came into my mind was that the watch was stolen! The gamut of human emotion started to pour through my veins. I was nearly 100% sure that I would never see the watch again... that they would come back out and give me the bad news. I started planning my chargeback claim, and thinking of what I may say to the women to avoid further humiliation.
Twenty minutes later, the woman came out from the tech area and to my surprise was holding the watch. She said that, they had some trouble locating the serial number in their database which only meant that it was originally purchased overseas. A wave of relief washed over me. My blood pressure dropped by at least 20%. She confirmed not only the authenticity of the watch but provided me with paperwork on service options (most of which I would refuse as they would destroy the originality/collecability of the watch).
So a very long story short, my ebay chance auction and Rolex research has paid off. I am now the proud owner of a transitional sub; a piece of the submariner history. I still am unsure of the cyclops...I'm debating having it removed, but am stopped via my interest in preserving its originality.
I hope you enjoy these photos. Thanks for reading.
~G
I suppose my obsession with these fine watches started not too long ago. Having owned a brushed stainless steel Breitling Superocean professional for a few years, my eyes naturally were drawn to the Rolex Submariner; with its undeniable superiority showcased not only in aesthetics, but in mechanics, and heritage.
It wasn't long before I read everything there was to read about them, researched every nuance, and memorized every curve.
One of my favorite pass-times soon became watching the rolex sub market on ebay and TRF sales posts.
I toyed, for a bit, with the idea of getting a Tudor... but never felt quite motivated enough.
Aesthetically, I am most drawn to the 5513 of the late '70s with a maxi dial. I simply adore the old matte dials, much more so than the newer gloss with gold surrounds. Moreover, the cream colour of the tritium patina is so classic and understated...to me, a matte dial sub is simply the best.
Still, I'm a fan of sapphire crystals and naturally one day I decided to look into the transitional model 16800; the only sub adorned with the classic matte dial, and newer sapphire crystal. It seemed a perfect combination...the best of both worlds if you will.
Nearly by accident, i stumbled on an ebay listing for a "sub with a matte dial". The listing was very poor, but the one blurry photo caught my eye nonetheless. I messaged the seller asking for more photos, and much to my surprise, when I saw them in my inbox, I was stunned at what seemed to be beautiful example of a 16800.
I decided to place a bid... (there weren't many most likely due to the poor quality of the auction). I knew I was taking my chances, but figured I'd trust my instinct. Again much to my surprise, my bid was the highest at the auction's close.
A few days later when the watch arrived, I went straight to Rolex USA in NYC to have it examined for authenticity and to see what a servicing would cost.
Well my friends, if you have not been to RNYC, I can tell you, its quite an experience. The walls of the elevator are lined with stone etched coronets and the walls a colored with that signature green. The architecture is, as one might expect, pristine, yet imposing.
I walked into the service center located on the 5th floor and was greeted by two lovely women. Not mentioning my ebay extravaganza, I simply said that i recently received this watch as a gift and wanted to assess its authenticity and get a quote for servicing.
The women took the watch and brought it behind closed doors to a service tech. In classic rolex fashion, when I asked to see what the watch looked like open, they refused to bring me backstage :) As I sat in the reception area waiting out the 25 minutes I was told it would take, my conversation with the women was interrupted by a phone call in which one of the service women informed my that they may need to "keep the watch for a week to check on some serial number issues" (or something of that nature). I quickly replied, 25 minutes to a week is a bit of a discrepancy no? Then one of the women said, "let me see what I can do" and retreated to the service area.
Naturally, the first thing that came into my mind was that the watch was stolen! The gamut of human emotion started to pour through my veins. I was nearly 100% sure that I would never see the watch again... that they would come back out and give me the bad news. I started planning my chargeback claim, and thinking of what I may say to the women to avoid further humiliation.
Twenty minutes later, the woman came out from the tech area and to my surprise was holding the watch. She said that, they had some trouble locating the serial number in their database which only meant that it was originally purchased overseas. A wave of relief washed over me. My blood pressure dropped by at least 20%. She confirmed not only the authenticity of the watch but provided me with paperwork on service options (most of which I would refuse as they would destroy the originality/collecability of the watch).
So a very long story short, my ebay chance auction and Rolex research has paid off. I am now the proud owner of a transitional sub; a piece of the submariner history. I still am unsure of the cyclops...I'm debating having it removed, but am stopped via my interest in preserving its originality.
I hope you enjoy these photos. Thanks for reading.
~G