Birth Year watch suggestion
 

I'm looking into getting a birth year watch. since i'm a total noob with vintage pieces, i'm gonna look for suggestions on sport models on my birth year (1985).

anything special with the dials or done in a small production? any input would be great.

Here are the following models i saw for that year:

1016 Explorer
16550 Explorer II
5513 Submariner
16750 GMT
6263 Daytona

Good luck on your search, OP! If you have the pockets for a special piece, why not.

Being a vintage noob, it can be a minefield. I’d go vanilla with a birth year DJ. That’s just me. I have a lack of deep pockets for vintage watches.


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the daytona is definitely out due to price range. the dj is always an option.

If you don't have a preference and its about year I'd just buy a speedy.

The vintage world can be a minefield. I'd suggest starting a dialogue with Jacek at Tropical watch.

You need to narrow your field of fire, especially if new. Pick a reference first and buy the best you can find. Put in the work.
Birth year watches are also overrated.. also, what year? When they stamped the case? certified the movement? Sold the watch? The date on the clasp?

Thats going to be tough. I believe its an L serial you're looking for. You might be better off going two tone gmt or date just

Well its almost impossible to get a exact birth year watch from 1985 on, as all internet-charts serials are when the case was stamped between X&Y years. And this don't always mean the exact year when it was made, so if any paperwork would indicate year when it was sold that's your best bet. Out of your watch list myself would choose the 5513 sub a real classic, and any 6263 Daytona will be crazy telephone numbers money to buy good luck in your search..

Birth year watches were fun when you could pick them up cheap and it didn't really matter if they needed a bit of work , I'm so old now I've well and truly missed the bus :)

Go with the Daytona!

If you want something that won’t break the bank, so it’s a bit less risky getting into the vintage minefield, there’s always the 6694 oysterdate precision. You can pick them up for less than a modern Tudor would cost.

:rofl:

Explore II 16550 may be easier to trackdown since it's technically a transitional model made for 4+ years introduced in 1984-1985 (unsure about amount of left over inventory sitting at AD after 1990). Price is still somewhat reasonable compared to comparable Daytona, GMT, or even Sub. Watch out for fake spidering black dials or artificially induced cream dial though. I believe most 5-digit models can be worn daily and without significant maintenance.

My search for birth year watch took me down a deep rabbit hole - and I found out the maintenance and durability seem to be big concerns (especially after paying too much for 1680 box and paper). Sold the first one but started looking again after 5 years.

Not quite what you’re looking for, but a few weeks ago I found an example or two online of a two tone Datejust from that era with what I thought was a cool dial. I posted some here on TRF, and fellow WIS told me that it’s a boiler gauge dial. They weren’t made only in 1985, but some were. This is a cream dial example on Chrono 24. I’ve also seen blue dials from around that era which looks amazing with the gold applied Arabic numerals.

I can’t vouch for anything about this dealer, or this particular watch, and you may be able to get a better price:


https://www.chrono24.com/rolex/datej...id19991153.htm

The TT DJ to many is THE Rolex of the 1980s. What makes it an interesting birth year watch is the relatively rare boiler gauge dial. I just don’t see a ton of them online, and haven’t seen any in person. I’ve seen a lot of DJ since the 1980s!

Plus, this 16013 has the “open 9” (and presumably open 6) on the date which is one of those vintage holdovers that many (including myself) find cool.

So, if this checks out, you have a genuine 1980s watch that is recognizable as such, but “still looks good for its age” (which is what we want said about ourselves, at a certain age!).

Agreed. I ended up with one and love it.

thanks for the info!

Nice choice, I've seen 16550 that has a cream dial, those have gone up in price by a lot.

Dollars to donuts the 16550 Explorer II is the best Rolex of 1985.