Rolex Collector – What type are you? Vertical or Horizontal
Vintage Rolex collecting as with Modern Rolex starts with an innocent first watch. It is often the first watch that you consider a milestone. The watch you bought yourself with you own salary or the watch that was gifted to you at gradation or marriage. Often the first Rolex is a special one. Even a seasoned collector of other brands has had a Rolex at some point.
Then the bug bites and you feel the urge to get a second Rolex. While you don’t really have the excuse to say I need a more dressy or sporty Rolex because they are always both. At the point a second Rolex enters your collection you now have become a collector. The question is what type of collector will you become.
Rolex Horizontal Collector
Horizontal collector tries to catch the spirit of Rolex trying to reach the high note with a Rolex Submariner, a Rolex GMT an Explorer and a Daytona. You can also see that even starting there you start to think well I have a submariner but not a Seadweller. Or you may think ah no Milgauss I need one of those and the journey continues.
A Horizontal collector:
(1) Rolex Submariner 1680,
(2) Rolex 1675 GMT
(3) Rolex Explorer I
(4) Rolex Daytona
(5) Rolex Milgauss - GV
(6) Rolex Day Date Gold
Etc.. etc…
Then you have the Vertical collector.
I don’t think anyone really starts with this approach it is usually as a result of the horizontal collectors journey. You start to get a little more obsessed with the details behind each model. Scarcity and rarity start to come into play. You then end up being a historian and a research expert learning the nuances of every model. As you dig deeper you start to tune into the model you are most drawn to whether it the Rolex 1675 or the Rolex Red Submariner. You can have at least a dozen 1675 and still only be in a day year window or a half dozen Rolex 1680 Red sums and only hit the major themes of the model.
The Rolex Vertical collector:
(1) Rolex 1675 PCG Chapter ring Underline
(2) Rolex 1675 PCG Chapter ring
(3) Rolex 1675 Swiss only 1963
(4) Rolex 1675 Double swiss
(5) Rolex 1675 gilt swiss t<25
(6) Rolex 1675 matt dial Long E
(7) Rolex 1675 matt dial short E
(8) Rolex 1675 Radial
Etc.. etc..
I guess most of us are somewhere in between the extremes. But it does seem to reflect a lot about each personality.
How about jumping in with a little about your Rolex journey.
Bill
Is that a serious disease if we are both horizontal and vertical Collector?
I can't consider a vintage Rolex collection without a Sub, a GMT, an Explorer, a Milgauss, and a Daytona.
Having several of them, I mean several GMTs, Subs Explorers and so on, well, is just unavoidable.
How can we resist to the pleasure of owning several of thems? The variations are often more than just a detail.
For example, you mentionned a lot of 1675s, but what about the first GMT, the 6542? Here again, we have several variations, and some interesting ones!
Same for the Subs, and each of them.
My guess is that we all start in an horizontal way, but that, we time passing, we dig into a vertical way.
So, yes, quite a lot of us are both, horizontal AND vertical collectors.
Best, Bill, and, once again, cogratulations on your huge and remarkable GMT collection. I love a lot the ghost insert you put on your ealry 1675 Cornino CR.
Nicolas
The ghost insert was born with that Rolex 1675 cornino CR
And more.
It has a a military heritage as there is a serial and rank/name engraved. This is by no means a "military" watch but owned by one - UK.
The ghost is from real live action.
Bill
My problem is ...
Interesting topic, Bill!
Maybe not within Rolex (yet? 
) but in some other brands...
My problem is that I would love to be both Vertical AND Horizontal !
Hard to choose...
Best
Blomman
I think the evolution is generally horizontal to vertical
But I think if you take a refining approach as we all do at some point the vertical solution can give you a collection of five watches and you feel complete.
It is not really a good or bad right or wrong.
I think it is really our personality that dictates which way we go.
Bill
Stunning set of GMT's!
They do lay horizontal on the the table - but in my book this is a great example of a vertical collection!
Best
Blomman
I guess I´m a vertical AND horizontal collector following ...
I´m a relatively new collector, as all started for me about 5 or 6 years ago when I bought an old little bubbleback, after reading about them in a book about Rolex history my family had presented me as a birthday gift.
By that time, I already had a love affair of more than 40 years with the Rolex brand, and owned a Sub (my first love) and a couple more timepieces of this brand.
But I had never thought myself as a collector but a user and fan of the brand at that point.
The Submariner was an old love for me as my father was a fan of the brand, and I was very interested in sport Scuba diving since I was very young. My parents presented me my first Sub, a 5513 for my 18th birthday in 1966.
But that little Bubbleback fired my interest in knowing more about the brand, its history, and about the many models they had produced. I see that purchase as the starting point for my collecting trip.
Searching Internet, reading the various Forums and participating in some of them opened my eyes to a completely new world.
Purists helped so much in introducing me to models I already knew, but never had paid the attention they deserve: GMT and 1655 Explorer II, of which I became a real fan. I feel that my discovery of this place has been the most important and inspirational move in my brief collecting career. To feel the passion of our members for their favorite brands/models is something very contagious!
I presently focus in Submariners and GMT´s, but also own a few Explorers and Daytonas, and also have great enjoyment from several DJ and plain Oyster Perpetuals of the 1950/1960´s period, and of course a few more bubblebacks I added to that first one.
It has been a very interesting vertical and horizontal trip, which I have been exploring with great enjoyment and passion. My main interest and love is still Submariners but I´m so happy to have discovered so many other models as interesting and charming as this old King of the Deep!
Have a great week end friends!
Very cordially, Abel.
My collecting trip...
It all started with an old Bubbleback...
But of course there it was my first love with a 5513 before...
Well... till Vlad bite instilled the passion for GMT´s and old Explorers II! So dangerous and contagious illness!
I am like you focused now on Vintage Rolex Submariner and the Rolex 1675 GMT
I am also like you relatively new as a collector but I wore on Rolex from 1978 - 2000. Lever took it off.
Collecting came in the last five or six years and my focus became more sharp.
A pleasure to be in your company Abel and have a virtual friendship through this hobby.
Best
Bill
Thank you so much for your kind words Bill...
Very cordially, Abel.
My tiny collection is Vertical
A 16600 and a 1665. If you throw in my father's Red Sub, it would still keep my "collection" in the Diver family.
I am not sure how my collection will progress, if it will go more vertical (a CR 5512) or go horizontal (a 6239 or a 6265)? Both catch my eye. Part of me likes the contrast a silver dialed 6239 would add to a Diver collection - different model, dial, size, movement, etc. But part of me likes the allure of deepening your collection going vertically.
Time will tell. One thing is for certain - Bill has an amazing collection of GMTs (and divers, too!)
Have a good weekend, all.
Best,
-Mike
You can also allow yourself a small escapade with the Tudor 7924. ;) [nt]
Vertical...
... and with a branch coming off the tree into the Tudor realm!
I hope you are enjoying your beautiful 7924, my friend! Have a great weekend.
V/R
Mike
The beauty with Rolex vertical collecting is...
I hope it is not raining to hard where you are.
HAGWE
Bill
Very True
If you pick wisely and do your research, 2 or 3 in a vertical collection can make a collection complete and you can have some unique and beautiful watches. All these great decisions we get to make in this great hobby!
Unfortunately, we are getting some rain down here. I move all the way back out here from DC - and it rains on me! Haha! Oh well, I'd still take this over the "Polar Vortex" any day of the week.
Have a great weekend, Bill. And stay dry!
V/R
Mike
and circular too!
Now you give us a new direction - Circular collection
As you go in and out Vertical or horizontal you can always jump in at any point.
I must confess I an twice a vertical collector going Vintage Rolex GMT mostly gilt and Vintage Rolex Submariner mostly gilt era.
But I like your idea of the eternal collector that never ends but we step of the train from time to time.
Bill
The never ending
Circles, circles, circles... nice theory my dear friend! ...
Interesting to think about an alternative to horizontal and vertical approach to our game of collecting!
Have a great week end Francis! Un abrazo! Abel.
I admire and respect people who
I hope to share some other deep verticals
Bill
Now we are talking . Great Rolex Price Collection
You have to be an Rolex archeologist to make sure not to fall down any traps.
Lovely collection.
Bill
not that old but have been collecting for years.
Trouble!!!…Rolex collecting is far different than collecting other brands
Bill,
Great post! The Rolex bug bit me hard about a year ago. In 15 years collecting watches, ( poo-poo'ed Rolex as nothing of interest to me. I poured myself into Lange, IWC, Panerai, Parmigiani, UN, some independents and the like.
Oh my gawd!! I've been engulfed, not in modern, but classic and neo--vintage Rolexes. Of course, bad time to jump in as prices are rising faster than Tesla stock. But I've dipped my toes and grabbed a few pieces, nothing stratospheric, just a couple of wonderful pieces including, a 5513, a non-gilt 1675, Red Sub (mark VI) and a beautiful black nipple dialed gold 1680. Now I'll confess that I've been a bit of doofus to ignore Rolex for so long.
I'm amazed at how lovely and comfortable to wear these watches are. Besides that, I've learned to love patina, tropical and barely polished. Which brings me to my point:
I've been a serious watch collector for a long time, however, I've come to the conclusion that Rolex collectors have taken OCD to a new level, which I now call Hyper-OCD.
I have never seen the level of research, observation, analysis, and debate applied to any other brand. But what amazes is there is a unique language that Rolex collectors speak that does not translate to any other brand. Words and phrases like pearl, 5 ticks, underline, Patrizzi, kissing 4, maxi and you know what I'm talking about, since you all are here. And that is not even counting the nicknames given to the various watches (Hulk, Kermit, Batman….).
And just in case, you think I'm talking negatively, my interest in Rolex has taken my interest in watch collecting up 10 levels! I love this stuff. I'm learning something new on these forums every day. There is more research (books, videos, articles) on Rolex than any other brand. It is a WIS’s dream.
I've mentioned the compulsiveness of Rolex collectors to my friends who are not Rolex collectors and all they can say is, "thank goodness we don't put that level of scrutiny to _____. (You can fill in the blank with the name of any non-Rolex brand).
You hit the nail on the head in two ways
The culture of Vintage Rolex Collectors
I know money always sneaks in to the conversation. But when you step outside of the realm of in stock at the Rolex boutiques money is less powerful than knowledge. I mean this in two ways. The fist is if you do want a Gilt 5513 from 1964 you can't just buy one of the shelf you need to hunt far and wide and evaluate all your options and if you are luck you will land on one. The other is that people of completely different means will be shown the same Rolex Collector respect. That is to say any basic 5513 matt dial will hold the respect of another Rolex collection with $150k Daytona or Rolex big crown simply because they know and appreciate the effort it takes to hunt down and collect Vintage Rolex.
I am not sure if you caught my article on what is vintage Rolex but it ties in well.
rolex.watchprosite.com
A fun read.
Bill
Superbly written, Larry. You are right, but for an obvious reason.
Rolex doesn't have too many different watches in the catalog.
Most of them have Evolved with time passing, since their birth... For the Professional line, since the Fifties.
And year after year, due to the reglementation ( luminous material ) or to aesthetics ( Chapter ring or not, pointed crownguards or not, gilt or matte... ) these watches changed. The dial makers, too.
There is one brand which can play at the same level, but with one model, only: Blancapain, and the Fifty Fathoms.
The Pre Vendôme and early Vendôme Panerais, too.
And several Vintage JLCs, such as the Memovoxes and the Reversos.
Best,
Nicolas