So here’s little bit about myself and this strange weird addiction I have to Rolex and especially the 16610.
Now i’m not a rich guy, i’m comfortable and I could afford a genuine Rolex if I paid it off over the next 3 years or so but I really want one when my business says to me…”you know what you’ve worked bloody hard and we are now making a good healthy profit, so heck, why not? Go out and spoil yourself and buy that watch you’ve always wanted! That’s the way I want to buy my Rolex.
I’ve always had a fascination for replica watches, when holidaying in Asia many, many years ago i’d trawl the markets and buy crappy Canal street rubbish and when they’d fail in the trash they’d go. Fifteen years ago I bought a Swiss Made Nixon, a nice watch with an eta inside and waterproof, I paid quite a bit for it at the time and because of this it stayed on my wrist for 10 years, until one day it died, that’s when I started lusting over Omegas and the only way to I could have one back in the day was to buy a rep, so I did, but as is all to common in this hobby I quickly got bored of the first one a Speedy, so then I bought a CRPO, then got board of that, so I sold it and bought a LMPO, which I have to say for a rep is an absolutely stunning watch, but I eventually tired of this beauty and now it sits in my watch winder quietly ticking away in the dark! (do you see a pattern emerging here?)
I then somehow (I’ve no idea what snapped in my brain) progressed to an obsession with the 116610 and to scratch that itch I purchased another top quality rep (the Noob V9) and it surely was a beautiful thing and I thought i’d found my grail. My grail being the watch I will purchase gen and have on my wrist forever… i know forever is a long time eh! And I was happy… until, I came across another rep on a local website here in Oz, it was a 16610 and it was cheap but I could tell from the photos that it was a good one so I bought it.
When it arrived I knew instantly that this was MY watch, the shape of the casing, the small indicies, the beautiful crown lugs, I love the aluminium dial, it oozes class and harks to the days of the 5513. I took my 116610 off and never put it back on, in fact I sold it here to another member.
Even though it has than flimsy sardine tin bracelet and no glide-lock clasp i still love it. So I bought a water pressure tester and it tested nicely up to 6 bar, so now I swim with it… fantastic!
But, and there’s a big BUT, and surely i’m not the only one… sometimes I feel uncomfortable wearing it out because it’s not real, I feel like i’m a fraud, I haven’t worked hard enough yet or become successful enough yet to warrant wearing such a beautiful timepiece. I have a friend who has a beautiful 5513, he received it from his wife brand new on his wedding day, paid 1100 pounds for it, when I told him its worth $15000 now he nearly fell over! I do wear my watch out and he knows its a rep and he’s cool with that, but sometimes I’m not, so what’s a man to do?
I’m in a predicament, I love my Rollie but it doesn’t have a 3135 inside! I want to go diving next Christmas and i’ve no idea if it will survive. So I’m do some nerding on the Gen Sales Forum and up pops a Ginault Ocean Rover for sale, I’ve never seen this watch before and in a split decision (after a couple of wines!) I buy it. Now on first impression this watch has everything I need to satisfy my 16610 itch, it has an identical case, beautiful sword hands remnant of the vintage subs, a red second hand that says I’m not a Rolex but I am a genuine dive watch, it has that lovely Oyster bracelet and geez it even has a glide-lock clasp!
Now this watch is being sent from Switzerland and i’m in Australia, so this gives me plenty of time to do the search that I should have done BEFORE I bought it! I’m sure most of you on this site know what i’m talking about, for those who don’t and who are interested, search Ginault and Thomas Caddell. And to be honest I think I have even posted here that this is one of the reasons why I purchased it, you know, for the controversy, which actually is not true but I felt a little foolish not doing my homework and so I fibbed a little to make myself feel a bit better about my rash decision!
So eventually the watch arrives and to be sure it is a beautiful piece of work, the sand lume is beautiful but I prefer the white of my 16610, the red second hand, well what can I say it’s red! The sword hands - I miss my Mercedes. Thank god I didn’t get the one with the Maxi dial, I hate the Maxi. Those SEL’s are amazing as is the brushwork and the glide-lock works flawlessly, but there’s a little coronet missing on the clasp that screams I’m a Rolex rip off! And this particular version doesn’t have a cyclops, what’s the point of a date wheel without a cyclops if you’re in your fifties! So now it’s kinda like “ah is that a Rolex?” and i’m like “nah it just looks like one”, which in my opinion is even worse than trying to carry off a Rolex rep.
So i’ve put it up for sale locally, I must say at an inflated price because I’m still torn, which is why it’s not on the forum, but if it goes then the proceeds will go in my Buy-a-gen Fund! So for now i’m back to my trusty 16610 rep and until the time comes when I buy an intrim TC or I can swap it out for my grail, there it will remain.
And has been pointed out here many times, no one gives a stuff what is on your wrist, so I will continue to wear it and carry it off as best I can.
Oh and as a footnote does any one else here have a wife that simply does not understand this weird and wonderful watch fetish? It’s taken me three years to get her used to the idea that one day I will spend ten grand or so on a bloody watch!
Now i’m not a rich guy, i’m comfortable and I could afford a genuine Rolex if I paid it off over the next 3 years or so but I really want one when my business says to me…”you know what you’ve worked bloody hard and we are now making a good healthy profit, so heck, why not? Go out and spoil yourself and buy that watch you’ve always wanted! That’s the way I want to buy my Rolex.
I’ve always had a fascination for replica watches, when holidaying in Asia many, many years ago i’d trawl the markets and buy crappy Canal street rubbish and when they’d fail in the trash they’d go. Fifteen years ago I bought a Swiss Made Nixon, a nice watch with an eta inside and waterproof, I paid quite a bit for it at the time and because of this it stayed on my wrist for 10 years, until one day it died, that’s when I started lusting over Omegas and the only way to I could have one back in the day was to buy a rep, so I did, but as is all to common in this hobby I quickly got bored of the first one a Speedy, so then I bought a CRPO, then got board of that, so I sold it and bought a LMPO, which I have to say for a rep is an absolutely stunning watch, but I eventually tired of this beauty and now it sits in my watch winder quietly ticking away in the dark! (do you see a pattern emerging here?)
I then somehow (I’ve no idea what snapped in my brain) progressed to an obsession with the 116610 and to scratch that itch I purchased another top quality rep (the Noob V9) and it surely was a beautiful thing and I thought i’d found my grail. My grail being the watch I will purchase gen and have on my wrist forever… i know forever is a long time eh! And I was happy… until, I came across another rep on a local website here in Oz, it was a 16610 and it was cheap but I could tell from the photos that it was a good one so I bought it.
When it arrived I knew instantly that this was MY watch, the shape of the casing, the small indicies, the beautiful crown lugs, I love the aluminium dial, it oozes class and harks to the days of the 5513. I took my 116610 off and never put it back on, in fact I sold it here to another member.
Even though it has than flimsy sardine tin bracelet and no glide-lock clasp i still love it. So I bought a water pressure tester and it tested nicely up to 6 bar, so now I swim with it… fantastic!
But, and there’s a big BUT, and surely i’m not the only one… sometimes I feel uncomfortable wearing it out because it’s not real, I feel like i’m a fraud, I haven’t worked hard enough yet or become successful enough yet to warrant wearing such a beautiful timepiece. I have a friend who has a beautiful 5513, he received it from his wife brand new on his wedding day, paid 1100 pounds for it, when I told him its worth $15000 now he nearly fell over! I do wear my watch out and he knows its a rep and he’s cool with that, but sometimes I’m not, so what’s a man to do?
I’m in a predicament, I love my Rollie but it doesn’t have a 3135 inside! I want to go diving next Christmas and i’ve no idea if it will survive. So I’m do some nerding on the Gen Sales Forum and up pops a Ginault Ocean Rover for sale, I’ve never seen this watch before and in a split decision (after a couple of wines!) I buy it. Now on first impression this watch has everything I need to satisfy my 16610 itch, it has an identical case, beautiful sword hands remnant of the vintage subs, a red second hand that says I’m not a Rolex but I am a genuine dive watch, it has that lovely Oyster bracelet and geez it even has a glide-lock clasp!
Now this watch is being sent from Switzerland and i’m in Australia, so this gives me plenty of time to do the search that I should have done BEFORE I bought it! I’m sure most of you on this site know what i’m talking about, for those who don’t and who are interested, search Ginault and Thomas Caddell. And to be honest I think I have even posted here that this is one of the reasons why I purchased it, you know, for the controversy, which actually is not true but I felt a little foolish not doing my homework and so I fibbed a little to make myself feel a bit better about my rash decision!
So eventually the watch arrives and to be sure it is a beautiful piece of work, the sand lume is beautiful but I prefer the white of my 16610, the red second hand, well what can I say it’s red! The sword hands - I miss my Mercedes. Thank god I didn’t get the one with the Maxi dial, I hate the Maxi. Those SEL’s are amazing as is the brushwork and the glide-lock works flawlessly, but there’s a little coronet missing on the clasp that screams I’m a Rolex rip off! And this particular version doesn’t have a cyclops, what’s the point of a date wheel without a cyclops if you’re in your fifties! So now it’s kinda like “ah is that a Rolex?” and i’m like “nah it just looks like one”, which in my opinion is even worse than trying to carry off a Rolex rep.
So i’ve put it up for sale locally, I must say at an inflated price because I’m still torn, which is why it’s not on the forum, but if it goes then the proceeds will go in my Buy-a-gen Fund! So for now i’m back to my trusty 16610 rep and until the time comes when I buy an intrim TC or I can swap it out for my grail, there it will remain.
And has been pointed out here many times, no one gives a stuff what is on your wrist, so I will continue to wear it and carry it off as best I can.
Oh and as a footnote does any one else here have a wife that simply does not understand this weird and wonderful watch fetish? It’s taken me three years to get her used to the idea that one day I will spend ten grand or so on a bloody watch!