Your father and Rolex (heirloom).

[Welshwatchman]

Did your father/grandfather love watches or particularly Rolex?

Did you inherit a timepiece from them?

My grandfather's "50 year work service" Rolex was stolen off his wrist by my aunt when he died. It was supposed to be passed down through the family and to me utimately.

My dad could then never afford in his own right to purchase a Rolex or the like though his love of watches was evident due to the cut outs of adverts I remember seeing as a child.

I guess events fueled some sort of desire inside me to acquire fine watches. It is probably the reason that I flip them so often. There is no real sentimental connection with any of them as they are by no means priceless to me.

Any other stories of father/grandfathers being into watches and anyone lucky enough to have an heirloom?

[roadcarver]

My father has three Rolexes, two he switches around daily (Datejust SS and TT), and one with diamonds I think which I have not seen myself as its in the safety deposit box.

My mother sometimes tells my dad to let us wear it, but I always tell them that I don't want it. It's my dad's to wear. I don't expect to inherit them

[Letsgodiving]

My father had a blue faced Seiko that he wore during my younger childhood that I always loved. I haven't seen it in years but hope to get it one day. He probably owns a 100 watches and pocket watches so there is no doubt where I got my love of them. He's never owned a Rolex or any other higher end watch that I'm aware of but the man does like his watches.

[Chris B]

My father is a dour old scouser who never owned a watch until recently, he reckoned he could tell the time by the miserable look on peoples faces,

My son, on the other hand, is a complete Rolex nut & he gets mine when I snuff,

[bwalkerVintage]

My grandfather bought the Rolex 1675 i wear today around the time of my birth. He wore it everyday no matter what he was doing (usually working on the boat or out sailing/cruising) for 35 years until he passed away. My grandmother put it into my hands on the day of his funeral and requested that I take care of it.

It had definitely seen better days since he was always in the sun with it. The tritium hands were flaking and the dial had also seen better days - not sure the last time it had been serviced. I opted to have Rolex do a complete restoration on it and this was the result:



While I still have the jubilee, i opted (thanks to an amigo of mine here on this forum - thx G!) to wear it with a oyster bracelet instead and absolutely love the watch! Here is a more current picture:



I feel great knowing that it is relatively like new condition and within COSC specs. It should last me my lifetime and hopefully can then be passed down to my children/grandchildren.

Thx for asking.

[marsatlanta]

Great topic. I am going to contribute using a different perspective.

Last month, my wife got me a SS GMT II for my 40th Birthday. This watch will be an heirloom to my son who is 3.5 years old someday upon graduation, marriage or a significant event at my discretion.

But here's the kicker, my wife is giving birth to son #2 on Monday. So to not play favorites I will have to purchase another Rolex at some point in the near future to wear equal amounts of time. And eventually I will be giving my Rolex #2 to my youngest son.

So what do I plan to do when I give away all of the heirlooms? Purchase more Rolex because I hope to have grandkids some day.

I am so happy to become part of the Rolex community and look forward to passing this feeling to my two sons.

[Robb]

Originally Posted by marsatlanta

Great topic. I am going to contribute using a different perspective.

Last month, my wife got me a SS GMT II for my 40th Birthday. This watch will be an heirloom to my son who is 3.5 years old someday upon graduation, marriage or a significant event at my discretion.

But here's the kicker, my wife is giving birth to son #2 on Monday. So to not play favorites I will have to purchase another Rolex at some point in the near future to wear equal amounts of time. And eventually I will be giving my Rolex #2 to my youngest son.

So what do I plan to do when I give away all of the heirlooms? Purchase more Rolex because I hope to have grandkids some day.

I am so happy to become part of the Rolex community and look forward to passing this feeling to my two sons.

Great plan!!

[yachtsales]

My father is one of those people that wouldnt be caught dead wearing a Rolex, however, a favorite uncle bought a Prez in the late 70s and I was hooked from that one!!

[Givmeabrek]

My father bought a TT DateJust in 1961 in Hong Kong and wore it everday for 40 years. I don't think he ever took it off. When he passed on, my mother gave it to me and I had it totally refurbished. I've worn it myself almost every day for the last 5 years. It's still in great shape.

I now have a new new SS Explorer II that I really love. I have a few other watches but am just hooked on the Rolexes.

Rich

[nudie]

I guess I'm luckier than some. My dad left me 3 Rolexes and I have since bought 2 more. Looking out for number 6.

[SPACE-DWELLER]

No one else in my family have any interest in watches, so I don't know why I got this interest in watches and in Rolex in specific.

I even had to CONVINCE my mother that she would love a Rolex, and I bought a Lady DJ for hear some years ago. But she does not wear it often as she is afraid of scratching it!

I will post a pic of it when I visit her the next time.

[Dan Pierce]

My dad would never own a Rolex or any high end watch for that matter. He was busy providing for his family [not that Rolex owners were not]. He is curious about my interest in fine Swiss timepieces though.
My son recieved a nice Tissot from me last year. He will certainly inherit my modest collection when the time comes. Rolex will be the highlight of that collection.
dP

[jbradley02]

I am the First that I know of in my Family that has owned a Rolex, and have only Daughters, but I will be leaving mine and whatever I collect during the years to my oldest Grandson, who is 8 now. and hopefully her will continue the tradition. Figure someone has to start it.

[ROGU808]

My grandparents on my father's side gave me a TT Blue Sub for graduation about 20 years ago. I've worn it quite sparingly until recently. Runs and looks great!!
They gave my father a GMT Pepsi bezel when I was born...and a SS Sub when my brother was born two years later. At least that's the story. I'm not clear on the details of how my dad came to have both watches. My dad always wears one or the other...but I never really appreciated Rolex as a timepiece until after my grandparents had passed away.
My grandfather on my mother's side left me an Omega Seamaster. My mom doesn't seem to know much about it...But we know it's old. 40-50 years old by some estimates. It has an acrylic crystal and a reverse cyclops over the date window. The word "waterproof" is engraved into the caseback...I think I read somewhere that it's now illegal to state that on a watch...Is that correct? I know very little about it as a timepiece...but I've read that some of the "war time" watches of SS could be more valuable than watches made of gold from the same period...due to steel being allocated mostly towards the war effort.
Sorry

[miner]

Not a Rolex but my Dad wants my son to have this



He got the back engraved, nice touch.

My son is 8 so I'll hang onto the watch for a bit, a piece of my Dad that I'll be reluctant to let go until my lad is old enough to appreciate the value, mostly sentimental.

[Rockrolex]

My father was not into watches. But he was heavily into restoring old clocks. He had all kinds of non-working clocks that he would pick up at auction and repair. He had hundreds of clocks around the house. Noon and midnight were times to be away from the house. Each clock was set to chime at about 30 sec intervals. For about 15 mintues, all you heard around the house were boings, gongs, chimes. . . .

My interest in watches, though, did not come from him. Being an engineer by training, I've always been fascinated by things mechanical and electronic.

The Rolex obsession came much later.

[s7horton]

My dad has four. he is the reason I have one. He started his collection by saying he needed one for each of his three sons. The fourth one came because he wanted it.

I plan on passing mine down to my son (or maybe daughter, won't know for another month)

[Scooby]

My father wore the GMT 1675 in my avatar for as long as I can remember. After he fell ill (ALS), he couldn't wear it any longer so he kept it in a drawer. I borrowed it once when visiting to go out to dinner in NYC. He wanted me to keep it, but I wouldn't dream of it. After he died 4 years ago, my mom said he wanted me to have it, so she gave it to me. I wear it every day, just like he did. I love the fact that when I check the time, I am looking at the same face he did for over 30 years.

My son already knows it will be his. The one change I will make is that (God willing) he will get it directly from me, when the time is right (like marsatlanta said). I want to see his face when I give him his grandfather's watch.