Rolex

Echi
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The underrated white...

Manila, 2010

I think it's my first time to post in the Rolex forum.  I hang around the Photography forum for the most part but lurk big time outside of it.  I just wanted to share my experience with owning this garden variety Exlporer II for more than 5 years now.  I also wanted to ask why white seems to be very underrated when it looks smashing with a predominantly dark or black outfit.

I've always wanted one ever since I saw it on an ad in Newsweek (you've heard this before).  I was probably in high school then and I remember how bold Rolex used to display their dials on their ads at that time.  The brushed steel bezel together with the red hand contrasted very well with the creamy whiteness of the dial.  It was love at first sight.  Almost akin to that supercar poster that kids have on their walls.  The Explorer II was my supercar that I never thought I'd be able to afford.

Decades later I see myself being able to afford one and decided to make the purchase.  I actually brought cash with me and at an exchange rate of somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 pesos to the US dollar, we were talking about a thick wad of cash.  My friend was laughing at my "ways".  Of course, I could've used my plastic but I'm a cash kinda guy.  Anyway, I told the saleslady to count it carefully as it's going to be a b*tch to count it again.  She told me quite snottily that she's used to counting money, bragging about that time when a client walked in to buy a Rolex President and paid in cash.  Of course, I had the last smirk when she missed out on a bill and had to count all over again :p

Anyway, for some of us, that would have been a grail kind of purchase.  The watch of a lifetime.  But guess what.  Weeks after the purchase, I found myself being lukewarm about the watch.  The honeymoon never started.  I hardly wore it for several years.  My speedmaster was on me most of the time; often alternating between the steel bracelet and an aftermarket alligator strap.  A couple of years ago, my friends and I were at a watch store and were admiring a Pam0.  I immediately thought of selling my Explorer II to fund what was once a potential purchase.  My friend advised against it... "Sell your Rolex and you'll never buy another one".  Strange words to say like Rolex was THE watch :p

I'm not sure when I started wearing it again.  But I have been wearing it regularly and actually look forward to wearing it MORE than wearing my Speedy.  The details of this watch have come to life.  The brushed bezel.  The thickness of the glass.  The milky white dial.  The very simple but beautiful bracelet (which is my reference bracelet when I look at other watches).  Ok, I can do away with the "Superlative Chronometer" marking but that's Rolex for you.  So I was really glad that I didn't sell it.  The prices now are "ridiculous" more than ever and it gets harder by the year to justify a Rolex purchase.

Having said that, I have been looking at the white dialled Milgauss :p  I did a search here and found the watch underwhelming like how underwhelmed I was when I bought my Explorer II.  But looking back on my experience with the Explorer II, I'm almost certain that it's a good idea to buy the Milgauss.  What's holding me back (yes, aside from the usual price) is the steel bezel that just adds to the seemingly tepid presence of the white dial.  Unlike the Explorer II where the 24 hour markers in black mitigate the potential of the white dial to disappear, the Milgauss has that vast expanse of nothing.  And while the orange markers and the orange lightning second hand can be seen as an affectation, it can also be viewed as something that's flimsy for the price you pay.  The old Milgauss would've been more like it but I'm not a vintage kind of guy. 

Well, I'm letting all this swirl in my head for the moment.  Quite fun to think about it.  Not sure why white is quite the underrated color of choice.  I realized that it's quite harder to look for a nice white dialled watch than it is black!!!  Maybe it tends to disappear.  Heck, I've had friends who say that the white Explorer II doesn't look like a Rolex!  Add that statement to the possibility of your watch being taken for a replica and it just makes it funny altogether

Thanks for reading through this post.  I felt the urge to share when I realized how underrepresented or underrated white Rolexes are in general (Nicolas, I also read your post on your underrated Explorer II, hence my inspiration for this title).