Rolex

m2 · 2024-10-16T04:05:56Z

Vintage Rolex-inspired Black Bay 54 watch review, perfect for a starter with modern features, from the author's experience owning vintage Rolex watches.

Vintage Itch = Scratched

Recently picked up this Black Bay 54 for my wife as a starter go anywhere do anything watch. She doesn't usually like the idea of watches because she tends to drop/break them a lot. So figured this is a nice "starter". Of course, conveniently hoping to steal it from time to time with the microadjust

As someone that has owned a fair bit of vintage & modern Rolex, I love the styling of this watch and feel it scratches the vintage Rolex itch without the stress of a vintage watch or the price tag. Between all the wild fakes, worrying about waterproofing, accidentally destroying something kind of historically important, etc...I feel like vintage is generally too much stress for me. Less so about the cost and more so about being the idiot that is actively ruining a good example of a beautiful vintage piece lol

The modern features are great too. Watch is well made for the price point. Bezel is a little stiff yet as the watch is basically new, and the bracelet is great too. Seems to be running at ~+1 per day which is impressive! The dial has a bit of a gradient to it. In direct sunlight it looks more black-grey than black. Size wise...if this watch was for me I'd probably go for something 39mm at the smallest. My wrist is about ~6.6 or 6.7 inches so IMO it wears a little small for me. On my wife though, it's pretty much perfect.