Epilogue
For the longest time, I deliberated on adding yet another steel watch to the collection. Especially another sport Rolex which are aesthetically identitcal (essentially). Yet, this purchase is one that is very personal to me.
A means of righting a wrong that happened over a decade ago.
You see, I was new to watch collecting at the time and after seeing several posts of it on the daily WRUW threads, I found myself coveting a 50th anniversary Submariner Date 16610LV. I was never interested in a standard Submariner, but how amusing it was that a mere change in
color (albeit my favorite color) would compel me so.
Back then, I had never purchased a watch online before and was rather leery of the idea of wiring a large sum of money to a stranger. Therefore, I assumed that a local purchase would be the safer bet. So I set out to every pawn shop and independent jeweler in town in search of one. I quickly came to the realization that while standard Subs and green dialed modern variants were fairly commonplace, the older anniversary Subs were not. Almost giving up, I finally found one on display at a local gold/coin/jewelry buyer, and for a great deal to boot ($4k). I was
Ecstatic. The store owner told me it was from his own private collection that needed culling.
Inspecting the watch physically in person, I honestly had no idea what I was looking at other than it was the green Submariner that I dearly desired so I did what any newbie would. I took pictures and shared my find right here on TRF. Sadly despite my best attempts, phone photography merely a decade ago produced images of abysmal quality (I had an iPhone 3s at the time). The replies were unanimously approving which
I accepted and
sealed my own fate. Returned and made the purchase on my next day off.
My excitement could not be contained. I was eager to share my incoming post on TRF. But first, I needed to bring it to my jeweler (Rolex AD with watchmaker at the time) to get checked out and spruced up. So I dropped it off and started getting the DSLR setup ready. It was going to be epic…
Or so I thought until I get a call 3 days later from the watchmaker telling me that he “cannot” touch my watch because it WAS NOT a 50th anniversary submariner after all, but was instead registered on the database as a standard 16610 that was modified with aftermarket parts.
I was livid. I immediately called the store but no answer. I went back with the watch in hand but was addressed by store staff because the owner was always “busy”. When I demanded a refund, I was told that it would not be possible as there are no refunds and that I purchased the watch “as is”. I had no recourse. I couldn’t possibly afford to pursue litigation and was advised by a family friend (lawyer) that it just wasn’t worth the time or money pursuing.
I was devastated. My only option being to ask my AD for help, to which they agreed to service the watch and restore it back to factory. I then sold it locally at a loss to recuperate as much of my expenses as I could. Did I say I was devastated? Well I was, and the whole experience left a bitter taste in my mouth and I took a very long hiatus from watch collecting.
Fast forward to 2020 and the release of the 126610 LV at Watches and Wonders which rekindled my interest. Even more so in 2022 when it was noted and confirmed here on TRF that the latest iteration had a change in the green hue of the insert that more closely resembled the original 50th anniversary Subamriner. Eventually, I caved and decided to express my interest at Watches of Switzerland at the Wynn. 8 months later, I finally have a true
LV Submariner to call my own.
