Baron - Mr Red
14613
Evaluating my Rolex collection
The last three years have been a period of transition for my watch collection. Three years ago, I took the decision to reduce the size of my collection of vintage Rolex and increase the size of other manufacturers in my collection. Three factors drove that decision. First, i investigated in some detail, the risks of owning watches with high radioactive emissions. I published those risks on this forum. The risks are, in my view, considerable. Hence, any radium watch in my collection (Rolex or otherwise) was to be sold. Second, the capacity of the ability of unscrupulous dealers to provide counterfeit vintage Rolex has risen enormously (along with the price of vintage Rolex, it would seem). I was told by a couple of friends who are also very good dealers that they are no longer confident of evaluating a genuine vintage rarity from one that has been "manufactured" to look like a vintage rarity. The conmen have become so good that their watches are beating the experts. That makes me feel very uncomfortable. Thirdly, as the price of vintage Rolex has risen exponentially, so too has an unhealthy "capitalist spirit" that typically accompanies such price moves. Put another way..... dealing in vintage Rolex has become an unpleasant business. Dealing with other collectors always remains my preferred route to either buy or sell, but inevitably, the broad dealer/collector base gets involved and its never particularly pleasant. Numerous law suits fly around as unscrupulous dealers get taken to court for abusing their position of trust. I don't need to name names.....they are all readily available to see on the internet.
So....my decision three years ago was to reduce the size of my vintage collection.
The question I faced was which watches to keep and which to sell? (As well as which watches to buy in their place!)
These six now represent the core of my vintage collection. Right or wrong, these are the ones I decided to keep for various reasons. 
A 6239 PN Daytona, a Mk2 Patent pending DRSD, a 1675 Panda GMT, a 1019 Milgauss, a 16660 Sea-Dweller and a 1655 straighthand Explorer II.
These six cover the bases.....but they also carry with them a lot of great memories.
I will add too that in most cases, I get a tremendous thrill from wearing them. When a watch can call me from the safebox so much that I need to travel into London to get it, then the watch has a good future with me.
Evaluating my Rolex collection
The last three years have been a period of transition for my watch collection. Three years ago, I took the decision to reduce the size of my collection of vintage Rolex and increase the size of other manufacturers in my collection. Three factors drove tha...
Lovely collection Baron...
I\'m not sure if you decide to sell them bcos you look for new or only bcos of the 3 points you\'ve stated. At any point, external situation is not in our control - so if you like your watches, jus hold on to them... they\'re wonderful ! If you\'re worrie...
Thanks Mahesh....
...not sure why you think there is an ulterior motive.... .....i was being genuine in giving the reasons for the rationalisation process. Without any doubt, the radium issue led me to sell any watch i had with radium on its dial. I think those that know m...
Surely not...
not doubting your intent, my thoughts are only if you\'re worried about the bubble. I just see a wonderful collection & the effort/time behind - just felt it is worth holding to Best, mahesh.,
no.....the bubble...if there is one....had no bearing on my decision....
.....if it had, and i was influenced by it...then plausibly yes, the PN would be a candidate for selling. But the PN carries some great memories for me.....so is effectively on a no-sell list.
Knowing your collection"before" and "after"
it looks like you had more radioactivity than Chernobyl Some excellent points as always dear Joe but I was sure you will not part with that exclamation Sub...that one was a killer Yours D
I admire your consequence in executing this
knowing how emotionally hard it must have been. Knowing some of the watches you added recently, I surely think it was overall a very good move and you still have the essential bases covered on Rolex. Pleasurable read. CC
CC...that is correct
Letting some of them go was truly hard. But basically, it had to happen. And like you say, i had some fun finding treasures in other manufacturers! Actually a lot of fun!!!
What can I say? You have a superb selection of 6 great vintage Rolex.
I hear your arguments very well. Add the bubble and the price some watches reach, and you don't have the means nor the will to go further. Among those which have left your collection, I had a sweet spot for the 6200. I know why you sold it. I understand, ...
in truth....
....it was extremely hard to let some watches go. The 6610 red depth...aggghhh..... but radium. 6200....the same. 5508...the same. Much of the decision to sell a watch was based on that issue. It is also very discomforting when a dealer tells you that fak...
Could have, would have, should have?
So why not going for the grails? Because once you get a grail it\'s not a grail anymore? Because the dream is nicer than the ownership? Because it is very hard to say goodbye to the other ones? This is a huge topic (thread) on it\'s own. And discussed bef...
i am not a fan of Day Dates....I just don't like them.
....on the other issue...why not go for the grails? In a way...i had several. 6200, 1665 Omani, a pair of 1665 Mk1 patenmt pendings (consecutive serial numbers..ahhhhh). 6542.....6262PN, 6610 red deprh...... watches that have come and gone. In the end, it...
The first part was indeed aimed at Nico, but
I love learning from the \'old-timers\' so I\'ve read your answer with great interest. It is very intriguing to me to (try to) define the magic number of watches to own. This year my conclusion was 12. But it seems I will be braking my own magical number ...
LoL
yep....when my son started to be able to sprint faster than me, i knew the tide had turned......
yes......
.....i need to really enjoy a watch...it needs to call me from its box if it is not on my wrist. Watches that call me....stay. It is always premature to say..."i'm done...my collection is complete". There is a finality to that which is not necessarily rea...
its not a specific number...its more a position.
If you have 50 watches, but you know every one...you wear every one...you appreciate every one...then that is a collection of 50 watches. If you have 5 watches, but you really don't care about two of them...don't really wear them etc etc...then you have a...
its so easy to keep buying watches ...
.....one sees a watch...likes it....buys it....puts it in the safebox......and three years later get surprised when you see it at the bottom of the safebox....unworn. Accumulation and collecting are two very different things. I used to be an accumulator. ...
Glad I've never had that :-)
I'm wearing and using everything just as much. Well apart from the Planetarium, but that's not because I'm saving it but because it is a dress watch. And when I pick a watch it does have to suit my mood that day.
The point you made about watch accumulating is a great one!
Personally, I have recently decided that I need a very small collection. I have 3 luxury watches and a Seiko diver I use for the gym and occasions when I need a beater watch. I used to use a 214270 for that, but I sold it because it just wasn\'t \'me\'. I...
You indeed kept a wonderful collection and...
...to be honnest I remember a few but not all the ones that you let go but what I remember very well is all the wonderful vintage PP acquisitions you made instead ! Of course such a move is neither good nor bad, it is simply a very personal and brave deci...
That was a big change in your collection...
I must say that the once you have left still cover a lot of ground! Stunning collection! My favourites would be the double red and the Milgauss. IF you should shrink even more, I would let go of the 666 and the 1655. Then you really down to the core... Be...
enough shrinkage.....
......i can't see a point in losing any more from the core 6....they each cover such a different area of the vintage arena. If i had to put an order to it, it would be 1665, 6239, 16660, 1019, 1655, 1675.
Breaking up is hard to do
But making new friends is fun too..... I just love your "new" vintage collection and it takes a lot of work, investigation and research to rationalise any collection Collections are personal and yours is no different- keeping and buying is a personal deci...
Among the 6 remaining, what's your fave?
Thanks for sharing your paring experience or should I say sparing ... Just like the rest, I had this comment in my head that went, "wow, what a good representation of what is vintage Rolex". That double red is vintage perfect! If I had to pare this down t...
Absolutley great choices.
What a magnificent collection to represent your Rolex wristwatches. Very sad that vintage Rolex has become the new cash cow for some very unsavory dealers.
I don't know what you had before
but I would say your keepers form a wonderful collection as they are.
at one point......
seven different Sea-Dwellers.... There needed to be some consolidation!!
sixsome to admire
watch collecting is a journey and along the way we pick some up and let some go. to rationalize what to keep is most personal as value is derived from subjective notions and we all value things differently. the remaining six are to a third party each an e...
many thanks.....
.....yes, rationalising is a logocal but also emotionally tricky event. I am quite sure i could have ended with a different six and also been very contented with the result. Ultimately, it boils down to a few simple equations. Once those equations are set...
Hello Joe! Very interesting to read your post and to learn about...
... your motivations and changes being made to your collection. I see this well resumed in the words of Nicolas: "evidence of maturity". Every collector builds his collection around his desires, tastes, style and personal philosophy. To mantain a line and...
Thanks Abel......
.....i think the 80:20 rule works quite well. 80% of the pleasure from my collection came from 20% of the watches. Working back from there helps the rationalisation process. Of course, I do have more Rolex than these 6, but these are the core and also the...
My pleasure Joe. Agree with your view. I feel I need to focus in a rationalisation process
... with my own collection... some day... I just need the courage! Very interesting to read you! Thanks a lot again! Hagwe! Abel.
Not only respect your well founded reasoning, J.. But your Rolex choices are superb examples of Best.. what additionally confirms to me, is that you've got several other brands' timepieces,..
.. and excellent, if not perfect ones, AFAIK. Admire your consequent condensations ! - Thx for letting us participate in your deliberations ! Cheers & Best, dear friend, hs
We all move on
Cool post. I just started to thin the vintage Rolex herd earlier this year and although I let a few "hard to get pieces" go, am much happier with the collection at the moment. Mel
Thank you Baron.
You post strikes an echo in me. I feel it takes courage to write what you write. I have been feeling the same urge to reduce my collection since the passing of a very dear watch collector friend. We are timely reminded that this passion of ours is above a...
At the end of the day....
....i try to be rational. Decisions that need to be taken, get taken. Yes, you are correct....some decisions are hard....and many of teh decisions on which watches to lose were very very hard. I always have this quote in my mind when faced with hard decis...
Enjoyed this post tremendously
I think diversification within watch collecting is always a good thing. Like you, I\'ve been stifled by the \'ugliness\' of vintage watch collecting and have moved on. Prefer to look at what the neo vintage or modern segments of the watch market has to of...
Yes.....life is too short to engage in something which does not bring what it is supposed to bring.
One can often deliberate about change. Procrastination is not something I enjoy. And oddly, i rarely find change a bad thing. With many of the vintage Rolex, it was sad to let some go. But with every cloud......
Thank you
For this post! It was a very enjoyable read, and pretty inspiring too. Have to say that I am considering a similar process down the line myself. Could not agree more with the sentiments about vintage rolex - they make me happy to have what I own, but very...
well.....
I owned a lot more Rolex than any other manufacturer. My aim was to create a more balanced collection between the manufacturers. And also, I have discussed here only the vintage component of my Rolex gang. I still have a few modern Rolex. Yet, after the r...
I have to ask....
Out of your old collection my favorites were the triple 6 COMEX and the gold Omani SD. Why did these not sing to you as much or was it just a financial decision? Also...why is dealing with the dealer community growing more unpleasant? Just wanted a more d...
brief answers....
.....i guess we all have different tastes. The Mk2 Patent Pending has always been my favourite Rolex. At one point I owned 7 Sea-Dwellers....i saw no need to own so many...in teh end i kept two.....and the Comex was actually right at the bottom of my pref...
So many insightful thoughts....
I have by no means a collection like yours, even with the few pieces you have left... mine is mainly spread around other brands with a few Rolex\' that I wear. And actually are not vintage watches. I like the 80/20 rule. 20% of the watches gives you 80% o...
There's never right or wrong...
In the decision on which watch to keep or let go in the collection.. In my opinion, watch collecting supposed to be fun and makes us happy not by any mean uncomfortable. I really think that you have made a tough transition and drastic changes in your coll...
Interesting about radiation...
Hi, I'm just a little interested to know what you were informed about the radiation effect from Radon on the dials. Most people are exposed to 1,000 mSv/yr and nuclear workers approximately 20,000 mSv/yr. If you travel frequently, you may be absorbing 5 m...
Radiation....
.....i will attach a couple of previous articles that discuss this issue. If you use the search engine, you will find others. www.watchprosite.com www.watchprosite.com My personal experience with radium dials has varied. I have owned radiu...