Friday, 25 May 2018

E-mail from Reader : To Buy Or Not To Buy



This was a query from a reader. A bit of a been-there-done-that as he was a one-watch-chap and wanted to retain a Rolex in his collection; but was tired of seeing everybody under the sun sporting a stainless steel Rolex Submariner or GMT-Master ii. I don't have much information; but from his brief description of the watch that he had, it would most probably be the 114060 or Submariner Non-Date, which was amongst the most basic of the sports family sans any complications.


I recently flipped a BNIB 114060 for some RM29k; so I could understand why would he be bored of this watch. Had it been the 116610, there would at least be a bit of complication in the movement. But then again, I did liked the 114060 for its symmetrical dial.

Now, I have no idea about his age; but judging from his concerns raised, he would probably be in his late 20s to early 30s. So, we might have someone between 20s-30s, whom wanted to keep 1 Rolex watch in his collection. That would also meant that he would likely be flipping off his 114060 to raise the cash towards the 116523.

So, would I encourage him to give up his 114060 to go towards the 116523? Probably not.

For starters, the 114060 was probably his 1st Rolex watch. It would make sense getting the 114060- one would get to start off on the Rolex route yet have a lower cost of entry. I wrote about this @ http://andywristwatches.blogspot.my/2018/05/e-mail-from-reader-first-rolex-watch.html. If this was his starter watch, it was a memorable piece and worth to keep for a bit more. I know that I would be proud to be able to own a Submariner in my twenties, when my disposable income was nowhere near now.

Further, while he made logical sense about paying extra for a watch that truly had precious material i.e. gold instead of a premium price for a stainless steel piece, he was in fact worried about the depreciation hit. This meant that he was probably not ready to go into the TT ownership. A stainless steel piece would have higher demand, as the demographic would include both the younger generation to the matured ones; whereas the TT piece would have a more limited scope. I know that I appreciated the TT more after I aged into the late 30s; as I could then carry it better and it further could match my status too. Had I worn it earlier in my life, others might presumed that I was wearing a replica watch!

Lastly, he was buying towards a single Rolex piece without box or card. If it had been a vintage piece, that would have been understandable. But having a 4130 movement meant that it was from a pretty recent generation, so it would not make sense that the watch should not come as a full set. At the very least, that would have meant that it came from a very careless owner. At the other spectrum, lots of queries could came into questions.

So at the end of the day, I would deduced that the reader was in fact not ready to move up the rungs into the TT ownership. He would do better to go through the mill from SubND to SubD or GMT-Master ii or DaytonaC.

And when he started to appreciate the finer things in life, then he would know that he was ready to move up to TT and FG crowd. After all, it takes time for wine to age. So all the best, and hold on to your Sub for now, dear reader.

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