Going Vintage : Rolex President Day-Date 36

You might remember my blog entry about Disco Day-Date @ http://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2019/02/birth-year-day-date.html. 

3 weeks on, let me introduce you to this 1979 vintage Rolex Day-Date 36 model no. 18038, also known as the single quick-set DD.

Fancy getting a head?

This is how the full boxed set would look like.

I have had been fortunate to have quite a healthy no. of watches from stainless steel construction, some from two-tone, a couple from full white gold; but no pieces as yet from full yellow gold. And as age progressed forward, I thought that it was about time that I added in a piece of full yellow gold into my collection.

I had 4 pieces under consideration, namely the following :

Yes, fully sold-out, but I have means to get a NOS on this :)

Since I had quite a no. of sports pieces already, I thought that the DD would be an interesting addition. And between the 36 mm and 40mm DD, the former was considered the de facto gentleman piece; so it wasn't exactly a hard decision.

And I know that I want the dial to spot the Roman index, so this was the combination that I had in mind.

Any Tom, Dick, and Harry could march into a Rolex AD and get a DD, which was a model that was not exactly the hottest in pursuit by fellow collectors. I then thought about getting a vintage piece for the differentiation- and started researching about the various models. After a while, I decided that the 18038 was my preferred choice as it stayed very close to the original DD; while at the same time, was the first piece to have an upgraded single quick-set movement and sapphire crystal. The crystal was an important factor in my consideration.

I put the word out and in just a week, I was offered a piece that I thought was the purr-fect piece to get at its price.

There were 3 reiterations of the gold-Roman-index-on-white-dial, and this was the most modern-looking version that was still used in today's DD. This version of the dial was doing circa USD900 on eBay these days, while DD in this combination could fetch quite a handsome price between USD10k - USD12k.

The seller informed that the piece was newly-serviced and in good condition. I asked for closed-up pictures and the hands and case were in great condition, and the serial no of the case checked out. He wanted USD6,250 for just the watch case; and I found a period-correct bracelet that was un-stretched and quickly made a deal for it. When both items arrive in due course, I could then pair them up to make a set.

Thereafter, it was just a matter of making the TT and waiting for the shipments to come.

The watch case was the faster piece to arrive :

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

From the above pictures, the eagle-eyed collector would spot that this was not the watch that I viewed for the purchase. How so?

For starters, the dial was the 2nd reiteration with the "T Swiss Made T" instead of the 3rd reiteration with just "Swiss Made". Next, the dates were all misaligned in the pictures- which was a sign that a movement overhaul or full servicing was in the order. Turning the crown showed that the movement was relatively rough, with the crown tube slightly misaligned. And the second hand had 2 holes in the lume plot, which was different from the one shown to me during my consideration.

I thought that the seller could have shipped me the wrong watch, but checking the serial no. revealed that it was the one that was shown to me in the earlier pictures. Therefore, the only other explanation could be that an older dial, hand set, and movement were changed into the watch case pursuant to my confirmation and/or payment.

The old adage was to buy the seller and not the watch; and I have indeed learnt a valuable lesson from this experience. I had been pretty experienced in this game, and I had checked through the closed-up pictures, serial no, video, etc before making the purchase. But to be sent a lesser watch was something that I had not quite expected. Perhaps the seller had too many pieces and mixed up the orders. It could be a genuine mistake. However, one couldn't blame me for feeling slightly disappointed with such a purchase.

I had been a very honest flipper all this while, and had high thoughts about my collectors-help-collectors mentality. Truly, this experience would have me re-thinking about overseas purchases.

Still, I gave some much-needed TLC to the piece and soon had it gleaming beautifully in all its glory. Truly a piece befitting of its President watch status, no?

To get this piece into the condition that I had in mind, I would have to send it in for full servicing and replacement of dial, hands, crown tube, etc. A rough estimation would see the ballpark cost amounting to RM6k or so.

While I consider if I should invest further into the piece or bite the bullet and move on, let's take a look at the piece in its totality. As the intended gold bracelet had yet to arrive, I would pair it with a camo Nato for the pictures.

I'm still on the fence with regards to this piece. I have an in-coming bracelet, so I'd need the watch case to go with it. At the same time, to be able to get a good piece right from the start would lessen the monetary and effort that would need to be invested into a good President. Hmmm...


Update : There were a few collectors whom were interested to take up the 18038 at a discount. However, I can't flip it forward as I was not fully comfortable with the piece in its current condition and I had always stood by my watches thus far. As the seller was willing to honour a refund given the points I raised, I have shipped this back to him and he placed another advert as per below. I have since linked up the interested parties to his sale so that they could negotiate directly on the proposed purchase.