[Filipão]

Originally Posted by R.W.T.

Unless an internal part has cosmetically changed over production time...you wouldn't know the difference. I've never seen ANYONE turn down a 1530-1560 equipped watch for having teflon reversing wheels. At some point it's just stupid. Sure if it has the brass wheels and they work...fine...but how do you KNOW those are the ones that came in it? You don't. And unless you bought it new...and belIEVE me...the memories of people who bought Rolex new in the 1940's 1950's 1960's 1970's and even 1980's are generally FAR from accurate and I have a near photographic memory for places and events. If you know the history and what to look for...the GUARANTEED 100% original never restored dial that is SCREAMING "I have been badly refinished" to me...begins to wear thin. The owner is defiant and he owned it since new and it's never been serviced except what are all those scratch marks and dates in the back of the case and how come the screws are all marked...I mean...it's endless.

The minutia of pointless "originality" has spoiled what was once enjoyable.



"I love this old submariner...the previous owner dove for Jim McGillicuddy's Super Duper Dive Team in the Antarctic and he wore it on every dive! It's so scratched I can't even read the dial..isn't that cool?...You can see bits of rust around the crystal flange where it leaked...it's worth a FORTUNE....the dial is TROPICAL (water damaged.) That means he dove in the tropics too...! Even cooler. It has all of the original parts. He never serviced it...you can tell by the way the rotor scrapes the inside of the case back. I'm never going to let anyone EVER SEE INSIDE OF IT....I'm going to DIE IN THIS WATCH!

I have a vintage Mercedes...the valve cover and pan gaskets leak about 2 quarts of oil a week. The police stop me because of the smoke billowing out from underneath it when I stop at stop signs from the oil leaking onto the exhaust manifolds...it's 50 years old..the oil has never been changed...all of the window gaskets are original...It takes about a week and half to dry the carpet out after a rainstorm...the floors are rusting through...but it's TOTALLY ORIGINAL...

Precisely.