Journey to my first Rolex

[chrstr]

As a new user here, I thought I would share with all of you some of my decision process in case it's helpful to others. My goal was to get a Rolex that I could wear for quite some time and eventually pass on to my son (in 30 years or so!).

I pretty much decided that I wanted a more sporty everyday watch. I looked at the Explorer II at first, but eventually narrowed my decision down to either the Submariner Date or the GMTii.

On the Submariner side, I felt like it was more of an iconic watch and something that would certainly be appreciated by the next generation. I loved the looks and loved the history.

However, I ended up picking the GMTii. The main reason was that I wanted the watch's principal function to mean something to me. Due to an inner ear issue, I can't dive for long periods of time and it's just generally uncomfortable for me. I know a lot of people will wear the Submariner without any ambitions of diving (and nothing wrong with that), but for me I wanted a to match the function of the watch to my lifestyle.

I do travel quite a bit and do maintain contact with old friends on the other side of the globe. To me the GMT function of the GMTii was something that I could use and better matched my lifestyle. In retrospect (after getting the watch), I absolutely love glancing at my watch and being able to quickly see another time zone. For my purposes, I think I definitely made the right decision.

The second thing I debated was whether or not to get the ceramic bezel. Part of the appeal of the original bezel is that it could be swapped for alternate colors, was slightly less flashy, and it would also afford me the opportunity to get an older watch (which for some reason appealed to me).

At the end of the day, however, I took a gamble and ordered the ceramic model (for reasons I am still not so sure of today). The moment I took it out of the box, however, I knew I made the right decision. Pictures don't really do it justice - there is a certain sheen to the ceramic that I absolutely love.

On a side note, I also do appreciate the new bracelet and the easylink extension system. This was a gripe I had when trying on my father's Rolex's - when it got hot the bracelet got too tight on the wrist. I love that I can adjust this on the fly and it works perfectly.

My last decision was whether or not to get the BLNR (blue/black) model or the full black ceramic LN. I really loved the fact that the BLNR could easily show day or night for the GMT function and I think the color combination is incredible. My worry was did I like the colors because it was a new model? Would I still enjoy this color combination 30 years from now?

At the end of the day, I decided to get the LN. Don't get me wrong, I love the looks of the BLNR, but I wanted this to be a generational piece and I thought the all black ceramic model would be more timeless. If I still liked the BLNR 10 years from now, I figured I could always trade up.

The watch arrived yesterday and I couldn't be happier! I love having such sophisticated machinery on my wrist and I can't wait to hand this watch down to my son in the future.