Picked up a new piece...

[morgman]

After much deliberation, I picked up a 116610LV.

I looked at the TT Blue sub, SS YM-II, BLNR, and a few others. The TT sub was really calling at first, but in the end, I (err, and my wife :-) found it a bit too dressy/blingy for my daily lifestyle. Maybe in a few more years :-) The BLNR did absolutely nothing for me for whatever reason? I’ve had the standard GMT-IIC for around 10 years (OMG, time flies) and found the new one sort of off-balanced and not necessarily an improvement. Ceramic Pepsi I would get. :-) The YM-II still calls though, but I want to wait that one out a bit more. The left side of my brain says I’ll never use the regatta timer, and not sure if it’s too much red/white/blue. The Deep Blue was also on the list, but they didn’t have one to try.

I had an original 16610LV for a few years, before the rehaut engraving, and with the 7-UP color bezel. I find the new model a big step up. While I really enjoyed my original LV, I always wished it was one of the early ones with the more olive-green bezel and wide O, or even the later version with the dark forest green bezel. I did swap the bezel out for a black one at one point, but IMHO the larger hour markers looked much better with the original green bezel.

The new ceramic bezel, buttery smooth clicks, solid bracelet, the neat blue-green lume… It’s all an upgrade.

The dial is amazing like everyone knows, going from black to different shades and patterns of green. I find that the bezel also can look different under different lighting, going from a more powdery/pastel green to something a bit richer. (I hope the color of the bezel wears well over time..)

The one huge letdown though: the glidelock clasp. I have a Deepsea, and the glidelock on it is truly awesome. It actually “glides” smoothly and you can do it without taking the watch off. I was actually expecting the same clasp. On the LV, it’s more like a scoot, overshoot, back up, oh it’s twisting and getting stuck..twist, grind, finally snap. Is this normal? So far not a fan.

The second, but minor, complaint is the supercase lugs. I think Rolex got it right on the GMT-IIC and SD4000, but the Sub seems just a bit much. It does give the watch a more modern appearance though. I think I’ll just need to get used to it.