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Old 17 June 2018, 01:01 AM   #1
armypilot
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1980 16750

My, how things have changed. This is what I paid for my 16750 when purchased new at the PX in '81
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Old 17 June 2018, 01:02 AM   #2
Mik8yu
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Absolutely baffling. Show us some close ups. Wear it in good health!! Been looking but it’s just too high a price


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Old 17 June 2018, 01:26 AM   #3
armypilot
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I'm retired now but it saw me through my entire military career. Of course, over time not knowing what to do and not to do as far as replacing parts, I just figured it was a watch and parts should be replaced as they wear out. I replaced the faded bezel insert and the corroded hands back in 1999, the crown and tube in 2002 due to the threads being shot, and the crystal in 2005. Sure wish I still had that insert! I told my Rolex AD, whose watchmaker has performed all my services for the last 20 years, to just throw it away! What's weird is, I see people post pictures where their dials have really developed a patina, but my dial is pretty much as white as it was when I bought it.
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Old 17 June 2018, 01:40 AM   #4
Tom1675
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Thanks for sharing!

More patina develops when the tritium is out of the sun, like in a safe. I have a 2.1m GMT I wear daily with not a lot of patina...
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Old 17 June 2018, 01:53 AM   #5
armypilot
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Thanks for sharing!

More patina develops when the tritium is out of the sun, like in a safe. I have a 2.1m GMT I wear daily with not a lot of patina...
Mine does not see much time in the safe. It is in a daily rotation with my 1965 vintage Omega Speedmaster Professional Ref 105.012-65. I have other watches I wear occasionally, but these two are worn on an almost daily basis.
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Old 17 June 2018, 02:54 AM   #6
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Old 17 June 2018, 01:32 PM   #7
Nikita70
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Sweet example, love it. So awesome you still like it after all these years.
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Old 17 June 2018, 03:24 PM   #8
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hahaha nice one
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Old 17 June 2018, 10:11 PM   #9
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Awesome, which airframe did you fly?

High Above The Best!
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Old 17 June 2018, 11:34 PM   #10
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Very nice to see an excellent example worn as intended and taken care of as it should be.
Congrats and thanks for your service. m
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Old 18 June 2018, 12:17 AM   #11
armypilot
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Awesome, which airframe did you fly?

High Above The Best!
I started flying UH-1 Huey's like everyone else back in the day. I then transitioned into the AH-1 Cobra and flew those till the Army retired them. I did an in house transition into the OH-58 A/C's for something to fly while I was waiting for my AH-64 Apache AQC. Thought I would finish up my career in Apache's but in 2004 they were short Black Hawk pilots so they sent me to the UH-60 AQC and then a couple months later to Iraq for OIF III. I also was attached to NASA from Jun 92 to Sep 95 as a research pilot flying a modified AH-1 Cobra. I retired in Feb 2015. Here are some pics from back in the day.
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File Type: jpg 073.jpg (27.7 KB, 338 views)
File Type: jpg 736-2.jpg (60.1 KB, 338 views)
File Type: jpg AH-64A APACHE.jpg (87.5 KB, 335 views)
File Type: jpg NVG Flying 003.jpg (111.4 KB, 337 views)
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Old 18 June 2018, 12:18 AM   #12
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Thanks for sharing and thanks for your service. Quintessential tool watch in every way! About $1750 adjusted for inflation for those interested!
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Old 18 June 2018, 12:27 AM   #13
armypilot
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Very nice to see an excellent example worn as intended and taken care of as it should be.
Congrats and thanks for your service. m
Thank you, it was a pleasure and an honor to serve. A few years back I posted how it was that I came about owning a Rolex GMT-Master, I'm going to re-post it here:

Back in 1968 my parents took me to the air show at NAS Miramar in San Diego, CA. I had known from from the age of 3 or 4 that I was going to grow up and be a military aviator. My grandfather and a few great uncles had been aviators in WW II and Korea and I wanted to grow up and be just like them. While we were walking the flight line looking at the static displays we came upon a Naval Aviator who was manning his aircraft and answering questions. If I remember correctly, his aircraft was an F-8 Crusader. He was standing there, jet black hair, HGU-4/P issue sunglasses, and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows on his flight suit. He had a watch on his left wrist and I thought it was unusual because one side was red and the other was blue. I asked him, "Mister is that a pilots watch?" He turns to me, looks down at his watch, and says, " Well son, as a matter of fact it is. This is a Rolex GMT-Master, this is the finest aviators watch money can buy!" Well, I knew from that point on that if it was the finest aviator watch money could buy, than I would just have to have one. Fast forward to 1981. I've graduated from high school and am in the ROTC program at San Diego State University. I've got a buddy that is going to PCS ( Permanent Change of Station) to Germany. I know AAFES ( Army and Air Force Exchange Services) has a special deal with Rolex for servicemembers to get a discount if they are PCS'd OCONUS (Outside Continental United States) so I coordinate with him to buy a Rolex GMT-Master for me, $630.00 at the time. He purchases it in April 1982 and I have had it ever since. It is a 1980 manufacture ref. 16750. Yes it has gone through a few bezel inserts, new hands, a new mainspring, and a crystal, tore the last one up pretty bad on my last deployment while under a mortar attack on our FOB (Forward Operating Base) but other than that it is original. It has seen me through my entire military career. I will wear it till the day I die and then it will be going to my daughter. Here is a pic of me wearing it in Iraq
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Old 18 June 2018, 01:05 AM   #14
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Great history thanks for sharing
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Old 18 June 2018, 02:27 AM   #15
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Great story and watch!
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Old 18 June 2018, 02:50 AM   #16
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Nice story, thanks for sharing & TY for your service.
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Old 18 June 2018, 03:16 AM   #17
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Old 18 June 2018, 03:31 AM   #18
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I started flying UH-1 Huey's like everyone else back in the day. I then transitioned into the AH-1 Cobra and flew those till the Army retired them. I did an in house transition into the OH-58 A/C's for something to fly while I was waiting for my AH-64 Apache AQC. Thought I would finish up my career in Apache's but in 2004 they were short Black Hawk pilots so they sent me to the UH-60 AQC and then a couple months later to Iraq for OIF III. I also was attached to NASA from Jun 92 to Sep 95 as a research pilot flying a modified AH-1 Cobra. I retired in Feb 2015. Here are some pics from back in the day.
Incredible timeline! Former Flight Operations guy here, no more birth month closeouts for you!
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Old 18 June 2018, 03:36 AM   #19
armypilot
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Incredible timeline! Former Flight Operations guy here, no more birth month closeouts for you!
Yep! I miss the flying but I don't miss the APART's and DES no notice checkrides!
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Old 18 June 2018, 05:55 AM   #20
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That was a great read beautiful timepiece and thanks for your service!
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Old 18 June 2018, 05:59 AM   #21
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Thanks for your service and great watch.
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Old 19 June 2018, 09:42 PM   #22
cardiel
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Incredible to note the price rise in Rolex over the decades....would that have been about a months wages in 1981? ( for someone starting their career )
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Old 19 June 2018, 10:33 PM   #23
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thanks for your service and protecting our freedom
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Old 19 June 2018, 11:56 PM   #24
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Thank you for your service and a wonderful story!
May you wear your watch in health for many, many, many years to come!
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Old 20 June 2018, 12:25 AM   #25
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Thanks for posting your story, and your service to our country! Let’s see a picture of your Omega!
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tt date circa 69'
5513 circa 81'
ss sub w/date (z)
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polar expy II(z)
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ladies datejust on jubilee for mom (z)
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Old 20 June 2018, 04:37 AM   #26
armypilot
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Thanks for posting your story, and your service to our country! Let’s see a picture of your Omega!
As requested. Here is my 1965 cal 321 ref. 105.012-65 Omega Speedmaster Professional. This particular watch is from the same batch that the NASA Apollo watches for the moon missions were procured from. The first picture is from 2015 after I received the watch back from Nesbit's for a full service. Since I wanted this watch to be in a daily rotation with my GMT-Master, I was concerned with damaging the most valuable components so I replaced the dial, hands, and bezel with genuine Omega parts and I keep the original components in a humidity controlled safe. I wear it on a 1960's vintage JB Champion horned end mesh bracelet just like the Apollo astronauts wore theirs when not in mission profile, see picture of Apollo 12 Command Module Pilot (CMP) Dick Gordon. I source the clip on aluminum calendars from Jackson Office Supply to give it that further retro look. See picture 3 of Apollo 15 Commander David Scott and picture 4 taken last month
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File Type: jpg Omega 105.012-65.jpg (178.5 KB, 139 views)
File Type: jpg Dick Gordon.jpg (131.7 KB, 138 views)
File Type: jpg David Scott.jpg (180.9 KB, 139 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_0670.jpg (156.8 KB, 138 views)
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Old 20 June 2018, 04:41 AM   #27
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Mine does not see much time in the safe. It is in a daily rotation with my 1965 vintage Omega Speedmaster Professional Ref 105.012-65. I have other watches I wear occasionally, but these two are worn on an almost daily basis.

That is a awesome story .. That is one of the things I love most about Rolex!!

My mom is still wearing her Rolex she got new 40 years ago .. Every Rolex tells a story.
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Old 20 June 2018, 05:36 AM   #28
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Really a great story! Thanks for sharing and congrats :)
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Old 20 June 2018, 07:27 AM   #29
etp095
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JD, thanks for posting the Omega speedy picture. Since you were to young to buy that speedy new,how did you come upon it, if you don’t mind me asking?
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tt date circa 69'
5513 circa 81'
ss sub w/date (z)
pepsi gmt for dad(D)
polar expy II(z)
1675 gmt circa 68'
ladies datejust on jubilee for mom (z)
sea dweller16600(M)
SS Sub-C(g)
Omega Planet Ocean,45.5 on mesh(2500D)
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Old 20 June 2018, 07:54 AM   #30
armypilot
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JD, thanks for posting the Omega speedy picture. Since you were to young to buy that speedy new,how did you come upon it, if you don’t mind me asking?
Yep, I would have had to buy it when I was two! I actually purchased it in 2005 off of eBay from a well known vintage Omega retailer out of Australia. Now I know a lot of people knock eBay, but it is a fantastic resource for vintage and antique watches. Of course you need to be knowledgeable in what you are looking for and do your research on the item and the seller. I have purchased and sold vintage and antique watches off of eBay for 15 years and have been happy with all of my transactions.
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