Heavy Incoming(s)!!

[CHRONOLEX]

Well, I have been talking about the platinum Daytona on here for some time - wondering if it was too late (or perhaps too soon depending on your perspective?) to acquire that, given the huge run-up in prices. Back in April, I started a thread called "Platinum Daytona - Unsuccessful Search + Conclusions," in which I asked for feedback on this exact question:
https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=800409

From this discussion, I decided to talk to my favorite AD to try the list lottery and see what happens. At that time, they asked my preference on dial (I chose the baguette - because why not, if you're getting to choose?) and placed my deposit with timing guidance of 6 months. To be honest, based on some of the (seemingly not infrequent) experiences on here with people who registered interest in a watch, left a deposit, were given long time estimates - and yet got the call within a week - I thought it was possible a platinum Daytona was sitting in their safe and I would get the call rather quickly. However, the 6 months passed with no result. Over that time, I kept in touch with the AD about my other interests - and I also talked to other ADs about their platinum Daytona availability, also with no luck. In every case, I was told they received very limited allocations of this watch (1 per year?) and they were booked years into the future. But, since I was well on my way with the current list, I continued my patient wait.

At nearly the 7-month mark, I got a text from the AD letting me know a platinum DD40 had arrived (their first platinum receipt in a year), which they offered to me. I visited the next morning and decided to buy it, and although I was curious whether buying this one would impair my efforts on the Daytona, I really liked it and pulled the trigger. This watch is the subject of another Incoming thread - but posting again below.

While we were completing our transaction on this watch, the AD went ahead and applied my deposit on the Daytona to this purchase, which alarmed me. "Wait wait wait - I still want the platinum Daytona, too," I said. They indicated they thought perhaps this one would satisfy me, as prospects for the platinum Daytona looked bleak. Nevertheless, I asked to remain on the list in the same position.

However, with this new worrisome information, I resumed my search elsewhere and during my travels over the next couple of weeks. No luck at any turn, unfortunately.

In the end, I decided I had no choice but to go grey on the platinum Daytona, as I had wanted the watch for some time and I would be really annoyed if it were to be discontinued before I could acquire it from the AD. The only choice that remained was whether to stick with the baguette dial, or switch to the standard. After some thought, I decided to go with the standard dial because IMO it most "looks like" a Daytona, the brown subdials help balance the bezel, and since I've never been much for diamonds on a gent's watch, I thought it was the safer option. A quick look around produced the below new platinum Daytona - INCOMING!

While I was at it on the Daytona, I picked up my first Patek (new Aquanaut 5167) and also a new WG DD36 with silver dial - both pictured below. I've always been a fan of the traditional WG DD36 and find that it's a comfortable watch to wear in most any circumstance. INCOMING x 2!!

Anyway, I feel very fortunate to have finally found this and absolutely love it even more than I had hoped. Although I had only seen a platinum Daytona a few times (mostly 5-7 years ago when they were everywhere), I was a little nervous about the brown. For those of you on the fence, it goes beautifully with the glacier dial and exceeds my every expectation.

Thank you to this wonderful community for all of the input on this topic! Wish everyone a great weekend!