Rolex

With the wonders of modern Rolex just around the corner, I thought I would make one last pre-Baselworld venture into vintage. Following on from Bill’s excellent dip into horizontal versus vertical collecting - see link - I am going to address another iss...  

Horizontal selection. You covered almost all the families, and each of these budget lines are very interesting. Now, my friend, you know the problem. Frm the horizontal, you go to vertical ,and you dig into ech of the watches of the budget category, and t... 

...I agree with everything you say, but smaller budgets also have a chance to own nice vintabe Rolex watches... Here's an example...not a sportswatch, but a genuine Rolex icon.. ...  

if you had to have this reference throughout the budgets, would you still include it? My second question would be, if you wanted a 5-watch $10k budget for all 5, what would your 5 watches be?

Just bought a Rolex 6424 Precision manual winding from the 60'S that could easily be part of any collections!!!!

There are very interesting things out there. DJ and Daydate, why not Oysterquartz, bubbleback, first oyster square case, so many interesting Tudors, in higher budget some pre-daytona chronograph, Prince. Chers François

JM!!! before plunging into the deep end and realizing that it aint so deep afterall!! im sure most must have heard the story about JM and RM??!!

Whoaa... that link breaks a few of the forum rules.... but OK...I get the drift of the story!! collect he did!! and without budget too!! This message has been edited by TCKH on 2014-03-20 05:00:33

No problem...i enjoyed reading it at least!! Trust is a movable target it seems!

Twist the knife why don't ya?!

It is interesting the way you exposed the fact that by just sticking to the same reference Models you can be in a very large delta when it comes to budget. It sheds a lot of light for the new collector. Great read. Thanks Bill

it is a good way of putting it....high delta. For $30k you can get a 5-watch collection that looks awesome, touches all the key bases and is a genuine representation of the Rolex themes. I think the only issue at the lower end is the Daytona.... its a pus... 

Joe- a very nice excercise you have done. Rolex is really all about the details and it shows you that at all price levels you can have fun. Ofcourse with vintage Rolex it really is helpful to have a good budget. In this case less is not more ;) One questi... 

that will need to be for a future article.....

Baron-- Great post. A very enjoyable read. MY only complaint is that you have left out my two favorites: 1680 'Red Sub' and the 6263 Daytona. j/k LOL Thanks again for your post.

Here is my question.... the 1680 could easily find its way neatly into the middle budget collection. I can see that. But the 6263.....where would you put that? Its too low in price for the upper budget and you would have to say its too expensive for the m... 

You make a very interesting point about the 6263. I think of the 6263 as a center-piece for vintage Rolex collecting, but as prices have gone dramatically upwards, one is faced with the prospect of foregoing other very interesting pieces to get this one (... 

Amazing, amazing, amazing. I like simple and straight to the point articles. This one is tops so far for 2014 for me. I'd be happy with a 1675 and the rest moderns. What a great takeoff point you provided. Thank you!

I can definitely see why you would choose a 1675 as your vintage....some of them come with incredible patina

Is that you can choose to mix the three tiers depending on what floats your boat. You can go crazy on, say, a Daytona, but go lower end on the others. Fantastic. You I never wanted to even consider going vintage. I knew the risks, the costs. I thought I k... 

but i wash cars really well

The essence indeed for a Rolex collecting world lover or the non-sense of it for detractors….. I am somewhere in between…..but somehow attracted from the magic allure of this (to me)partially unknown universe…. Great read indeed,always a class act Joe. Mo... 

I really like your analysis of collecting! :) Best, my friend Blomman

.. newbie and "middle experienced" afficionado, alike. I like a lot your smart reasoning approach, which appears practical, as well; And last but not least, on a personal note, I've been pretty much following your 30k recipe, - but with some twists and tw... 

......and it is easy to mix and match as suits the desire. Glad you enjoyed it! J

.. let me just briefly say : as always, pure pleasure to read you ! :) :) - and also getting along these footprints - Nice directions - thx again !! Have a great WE !! PS:Apart from my Modern, which you know - Pepsi GMT covered, - same for Sub 1680 and - ... 

One of the most succinct, informative posts I've read. Thank you.

......and a pleasure

I think I may follow the guidance and advice to start building a little collection with some focus... MW :-)

That, i will look forward to seeing.

I thought you meant five of each watch... silly me! :-) :-) :-)

Awesome writeup, the 1680 red sub is also a worthy consideration that can slide up or down on the budget front between feet first to metres first to tropical!

......and boils down to a question of taste too. I definitely see a 1680 as a necessary port of a Sub collection

I'm considering adding a vintage Rolex 6542/1675/5512/5513/1665 to my collection, and found this article a really good resource.. A barrier to entry for me has been the degree to which vintage Rolexes for public sale seem to be 95% frankenwatches. Polishe... 

.....but one of the golden rules that you should observe is that whenever you buy a watch, buy the seller as much as the watch. If you know and can trust the seller, if the seller has a reputation as being an honest person who has, themself, spent time an... 

... enjoyable reading! You wisely demonstrate there is always a budget to enjoy vintage Rolex with great style if we just stop to plan ahead before taking the plunge. Thank you for a most interesting write up! Very cordially, Abel.

and thanks for all the excellent pics.

Still thinking about the Explorer II or maybe a possible red-blue GMT if they treat us this week?

thats an excellent write up