Quote:
Originally Posted by offrdmania
Thats insane! You used to be able to buy these things for $800-900 all day long. No one wanted them
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Yeah you did, but not the Ranger 2 Orange hand they were c $1300!!
Mind you, in 1981 after selling my Yamaha RD400f for £795.... and feeling a bit flush I went to see my A.D. Upchurch in Colchester UK.
In the window he had a 1655 at list £397, but with an unheard of 40% off.
I walked in said 'what's with the discount on the watch ? You hardly ever discount Rolex !'
He then went on to bemoan he had 4 in stock which he'd had for 4 or 5 years and nobody wants them since they came out a decade ago.
Anyway, to cut to chase, I liked it very much (quirky i love), and twisted his arm to sell me two on a buy-one-get-one-free deal. :-)
I'm sure he was more delighted than me with the deal ( to halve his stock ) I suspect.
I gifted one to a pal for his 21st. They were 7 no's apart on serial number....both of us still have them.
Fast forward on a decade to 1991 they were still very unloved.
This was apparent as many dealers/buyers in Newspapers /Magazines ads saying 'We buy Rolex - No Explorer 2 or Daytonas though please' ! Crazy Days !!!
In the last 30 yrs however of course it's gone from unloved ugly duckling to highly sought after...
Now of course I don't think the Integrales will mirror that, but it's getting recognition at last and I personally love them for the 3D dial effect, 38 mm heft, scalopped bracelet and dare I say it again - quirkiness !