Hello from Seattle

[ridmaster]

Well, just outside Seattle. I've been into watches for years. I turned 40 this year and wanted to buy a really nice watch.

I was in no way looking for a Rolex. I prefer Arabic numerals so figured I'd end up with some variation on a pilots watch but nothing was really clicking for me. I already have a Fortis day-date Cosmonaut watch from the mid 2000s that is kind of a Flieger/dive watch hybrid and most things I looked at didn't seem significantly different from that.


TL;DR version: Found a unique Datejust II with Arabic Numerals and after jumping through a bunch of hoops got it from my local AD without paying sales tax.

Here's the way long version of how I bought my first and only Rolex:
I walked visited every jeweler and boutique I could find in Seattle, London, and Prague (conveniently timed business trip) and saw lots of watches I liked but nothing that really clicked, even with everything in the 2 story WoS in London. Walked into my local independent AD and spotted a Datejust II with blue Arabic numerals on a Rhodium face with a flat bezel on an oyster bracelet and it was an instant connection. I tried it on just for kicks since there was no way I was paying that much and it was the most comfortable bracelet and watch I had ever worn. It felt like it was made for me. I went home and slept on it, went to a Tourbillon boutique in Seattle to get some perspective and went back to look at it again and knew I wanted it but didn't want to pay retail for a watch that was out of production and probably had been there for a bit, but he wouldn't budge on price so I asked about shipping it to my brother in Montana to save the 10% sales tax. He said he'd do that but it had to be shipped out by the 27th (later verified this was correct, the sales tax rules are changing on July 1). I knew I needed at least 10 days to sell some stock to pay for it. My brother was with me an offered to put it on his Amex. So I bought the watch yesterday, I went home and put the stock sale through, my brother drives home tomorrow, I go back Monday morning for paperwork and fitting, it gets shipped Monday overnight to Montana, it arrives Tuesday while my brother is still off work to sign for it, and my sister-in-law is driving out on Saturday to visit her cousin who is visiting Seattle from china, all so I can save $700 on sales tax and get what will hopefully by my last expensive watch purchase for a few years.

Looking forward to wearing the hell out of this thing when I finally get it next week.

Thanks for reading.