Horological Meandering

Hi everyone, 

Or you will be disappointed.

Now,  things will be easier if you consider things under another criiteria, subjective though, the one I prefer.

Take pictures of each of these three, look at them every day, several times a day, then go and try them again and again.

At the end of one week, you'll know which one is for you.

Go to where your hear leads you,  it is safer.

Best,

Nicolas

 

... you give the most sage advice.  Before I buy anything, I'm checking with you first.  I bet you'd have told me to hold off on that Seiko Discus I just got and do not seem to be able to bond with.  Oh well.

And buy candies with the money you saved

One might be jealous.  One might have judgments about where the money for watch purchases should originate. Nonetheless, he is askng a fair question and not making any obvious effort to insult anybody.

I'm sure you didn't mean to come across with "tone," but writing on the internet is not the same as speaking face to face, and without the benefit of inflection or body language, your post begins to cross the line of being rude.

Thanks in advance for keeping the site terms of service in mind.

Best,
Daos

nt

What's on picture do not always tell a thousand words.

Achilles,

First and foremost, congrats on your upcoming graduation.

All of the choices you mention are winners, however, bear in mind your general lifestyle more than a specific set of scenarios where you would be wearing your watch.

- Do you have an affinity for water sports and or activities? If such, the JLC might not be a good choice due to its leather strap, and I am not so sure there is a bracelet option for it.

- Do you travel often? Do you party hard? Perhaps then the Day Date would be too easily noticeable and might attract bad people and your safety could be jeopardized.

As you are very young, as I too was not too long ago, this is the time when you will be partying the hardest and enjoying the spoils that come early in one´s professional life, when responsabilities are close to none, you might want to have something cooler, edgier, and tough. With that being said, I recommend to you either a Rolex Explorer 1 or a Rasta Milgauss (the one with the green crystal). If those are not your cup of tea, then the AP perhaps would be the most suited.

On a side note, a couple of my friends recieved Royal Oak´s when they graduated college, and to this date (9 yrs after) they still wear them and are their favorite among their respective collections.

Good luck with your choice!

Do please let us know.

Cheers,

Alex

of the three, get the AP Royal Oak. Among those who know watches overall, it will have more brand prestige than either the Rolex or JLC, and the Royal Oak is an iconic model even within the AP product range, yet will have less recognition among the more casual observers, which could be good thing (as Alex noted, there are some people in the world you don't want to "stand out" to.)

A more complicated answer is, it depends (which is our typical PuristS' answer)

Most important, stop and think about what is more important to you -

Is it important that others recognize your choice? prestige, impress, etc

If so, What "others?" Those who KNOW watches? the majority of others who may or may not? As a specific example (this helps if you are into cars, it might just confuse if you aren't) do you care about those who only know "Porsche" and "Ferrari" and "Mercedes" or do you care only about those who would recognize "GT3 RS" or "AMG" or "GTO?" 

I don't think anyone in their right mind would argue against the fact that Ferrari is "more prestigious" than Porsche or Mercedes,  but a good case could be made that Porsche or Mercedes is the "better" track car or street car...if to be used regularly / daily.

So how it starts to break down?

So you need to start thinking about

what is most important, utility wise - those Rolex, JLC, and RO models you mentioned are all solid watches, good timekeepers, and any problems you MIGHT have are statistical - ALL models, all products will have defective units, but purely from a statistical standpoint, Rolex is the least likely to have problems, the JLC next, the AP RO last in this PURELY STATISTICAL point of view. (we're talking about 1 in 1,000 vs 1 in 700 vs 1 in 400 just to have a GENERAL sense of scale - most likely you will NOT have any problems at all. And these are numbers out of the air, but approximations based on my privy knowledge of problems out of the box and over its service life)

what is most important, perception wise - 

If you want to be noticed for your watch by EVERYONE, go for the Rolex.

If you want to be noticed for your watch, by those who know about watches, and more likely to be impressed, go for the AP.

If you want to be noticed for your watch, by those who CONSCIOUSLY GO AGAINST THE GRAIN and find value in something "fewer others know about" go for the JLC. (this can be a compliment, or insult, depending on your point of view)

As PuristS, we tend to want to focus on "intrinsic value" of a brand, model, specific watch.  But what those intrinsic values are is actually open to discussion, and what they MEAN is even more subjective. What most PuristS will advise is ignore what other's think and go with what you want. The problem is, what is it you want? Very often this includes what others think...

Back to the original most simple answer, well open to controversy -

The AP RO is the most "prestigious" among enthusiasts (even if, to some enthusiasts, this works against it)

The Rolex is the most universally recognizable (which, again, works against it to some enthusiasts)

The JLC is the most "low key" - this can work for and against it.

The Rolex is likely the most robust and overall most reliable, but they are all good in these aspects.

Cheers, and feel free to refine and share your thoughts with us, it helps others to go through the process vicariously through another.

TM

... especially if your father is ready to drop in excess of 15k on a graduation gift.  That said, welcome to the forum - you have come to the right place for educated opinions about high-end, quality products, such as Rolex, JLC and AP.  Not to mention about every other watchmaker known to mankind. This message has been edited by elliot55 on 2012-09-28 08:51:37

Disclosure: personally, I am not a particular fan of the look of the Royal Oak. Nevertheless, I think it's the correct objective choice. It's an unabashedly top-quality watch. It's a first choice: nobody will ever assume you wanted something else but couldn't afford it. It shows you as a connoisseur. Your other choices, excellent as they are, can't do those things.

. . . to give you his watch.  

I'd still say AP RO...bought it sold it regretted it bought it again and never gonna sell it again...15300 or 15202...both are awesome. Make sure you get the black dial if you're going for either steel or RG.

Black, Blue or white... AP RO 15300.  I'm undecided on that too.. People buy the blue, then say it kills wearing it with a suit, black but too dark, white but contrast with hands isn't too great... Id go for white (classic) or blue (dark but fresh).

APs and Rolexes are fantastic watches.  They are also watches that carry a lot of baggage, given their popularity and celebrity endorsements.  JLC watches are wonderful watches, well-respected by the vast majority of watch enthusiasts.  Nobody is going to think you got a JLC because your favorite rapper has one.  Rightly, or mostly wrongly, somebody might suspect otherwise with an AP or Rolex.

I tend to share Thomas' assessment or ranking. 

The JLC has a classic design and the most complications, day, date, month, and moonphase. Plus it has a crystal sapphire case back, and the reputation of JLC for having the best quality watches is well known.The Rolex is too popular, do you want to have something everybody else has? The AP is , in my opinion, ugly, and overdone every Royal Oak looks the same to me. The same goes for the Rolex, they all look the same. Congrats on the graduation, I hope you make the right choice.
Best
SamEE

It's down to which model you buy from the respective brands. You are going to lose money in the intermediate term for all three, if you buy brand new.

AP, great story, great history, just don't get the useless generic Offshores with too many colour variations...ghost are meant for seasoned and hard core AP collectors.

Rolex Day-date...tried and trusted, but seriously " boring"....but great value, and value retention is best amongst all three. Thus if you want to move on, or give up this hobby, least downside, and secondary market is extremely liquid.

JLC, the Master control series is super robust, and the least "common" amongst the three. But worst resale, and least liquid. Also not that many fakes, unlike the above two. And if any, very bad copies. I hate to say this, but fakes and the increasingly better construction of them is posing a clear and present danger.

Like Nicholas said, think think think......dream dream dream.....if it's a keeper, as it should because of the occasion...it's a family heirloom in the making. Also, in due course you might wanna get matching pair for the missus, should you go down that route...Rolex and AP, easier to get matching ladies. jLC has ladies master control, but small range. Also, there is half a chance that that if you buy the day-date and AP RO, you might even pass it on to your partner, if yours and her view is that the size is acceptable.....and increasingly common view.

Cheers,

Horo