Why, Exactly, Did You Buy A Rolex ??

[Tools]

OK, OK,

this is not one of those esoteric "I love my Rolex because...." threads..

It seems to me that 90% of the time when somebody talks about getting a Rolex any more, it is caveatted with the "When I sell it..", or "What will it be worth in 2010", or I gotta have a box and papers 'cause "when I sell it..."

yadda, yadda...

So, my question is ...Why, exactly did you buy a Rolex if the first thing you're thinking of is getting rid of it.. ??

[bodybump]

Ok let me go first larry...I love my Rolex because...I FOUND THIS ADDICTING FORUM AND REALIZED "DAMN I MISSING A LOT OF THINGS IN LIFE!!!!

[chicagowatchman]

Im keeping mine!

[duffer47]

I first bought a DD YG Presidential from a friend. I thought heck you cant go wrong with gold now or in the future. Then I found this forum and now I have a Sub Date that I wear daily And love it, never thinking of it as an investment.

[Ormiboy]

My ex-fiance`s father passed away leaving her a 1976 DJ (i think ). She gave it to me to wear. When we split she promptly removed it from my arm. I said fair enough ill buy my own one soon. It took ove a year but i bought a very nice sub LV in march this year as id really quite grown to like the feeling of wearing a nice timepiece. Still looking for the Millie GV now then prob a newer DJ then...........?

Happy days folks,

Willie

[Z-Sub]

I guess I would say I can feel the quality (weight of the 904L SS), the fit, the precision of it's movement and the classic and timeless design of my Rolexes.
When I put on my old Tags, Gucci...etc these days, they just don't have the solid/quality feel of the Rolex.

[gone-rolex-mad]

I blame my old man! He always had rolex and raved about then. He gave me an old DJ when i was 15 and thats when it all started. I just love Rolex, i never buy a watch with the intention to sell it, its just that some other beauty comes along and i know i'll be unfaithful!!! The grass is always greener!

[Greenring]

These watches have a long history of unparalleled duty and are little works of art you can wear daily and use to tell time , unlike stamp collecting.

[rickyslam]

Bought a Sub Date for my 21st and also for graduation. Even though graduation isn't for another 5 months.

[RossInIllinois]

Originally Posted by Tools

OK, OK,

this is not one of those esoteric "I love my Rolex because...." threads..

It seems to me that 90% of the time when somebody talks about getting a Rolex any more, it is caveatted with the "When I sell it..", or "What will it be worth in 2010", or I gotta have a box and papers 'cause "when I sell it..."

yadda, yadda...

So, my question is ...Why, exactly did you buy a Rolex if the first thing you're thinking of is getting rid of it.. ??

Well what you say is true. I have owned many Rolex watches over the years but have always sold them off after time. The best score was the 1984 18K Daytona that I purchased new for $4800.00 and sold for $30,000.00 15 years later. I never really lost money on a Rolex purchase, they hold there value so I don't really feel im "spending" money when I buy one because it really is an investment. I just recently got the itch again to want one on my wrist and already flipped one I purchased in June to buy my "new to me" GMT II and didn't lose any money on that one either. I really love my GMT II and the price I paid for it used and am content for now. I actually like the idea my GMT was from England and has a "history" it intrigues me in some strange way wondering who owned it and where it has been and the previous owner was just as excited when he bought it as I was when it arrived at my door step this last Saturday.

[SLS]

I bought my wife her DJ as a suprise, I had saved up cash for years and we went to the AD and picked hers out. About two years later, I treated myself to a SD, ...at the time, and to this day, I have no intention of selling our watches. I have several others that I have bought that I will consider selling sometime in the future, but for the time being, I am just going to enjoy my watches.
~Scott

[swatty]

I buy them because I like them . I would never think of a watch of an investment. If by chance I strike gold in 20 years , might think about selling one but its not my intention

[limbo]

I bought a DJ because I've always wanted one, and I don't intend to sell it. Have owned and sold other Rolexes, but I would not part with my DJ.

[gmtobsessed]

Fell in love badly with the look of red/blue GMT, actually 1675 is my ultimate grail, but cant afford it and get 16710 instead. Thats the only I've ever bought to date. Hopefully I can buy 1675 and 16760 in the future

[marke]

i dont blame anybody for the first few watches that i purchased, now i blame two people, harvey.eu and the addctiveness of this forum ,,,,,,,

and i love it....

marke

[Chris B]

Great thread.

It was these ad's from when I was kid that sowed the seeds, took me a bit of a while to get one but I'll always be grateful to Mr Adair

[The_Scroop]

I'm a WIS. Simple as that =p

I just love the Rolex. I can't quite understand what it is about it, but I just can't take it off my wrist!

I have to admit, I bought my PAM with the intentions of making money. Back when the AUD was at 0.95 USD I picked it up for approx $4400 AUD. Now the AUD is down to 0.70ish USD. I could sell the PAM now and make $2k...and thats selling at the price I bought it for.......BUT i can't. I just can't seperate from that watch now. I fell in love with it haha.

[frostie]

I wanted to have a high quality over engineered timepiece and the first brand that came to my mind was rolex so i started saving bought my first one and then the addiction started now i'm saving and thinking of a second one

[Jimbits76]

Two things...

Bloodline.

Triploc crown...okay I now know it's a blinking rubber O but as a kid looking in my father's Rolex books, it seemed like the snazziest ultra waterproof thing they did and that made the Sub the best of the best!!!!

J

[Jimbits76]

Chris I love those Ads...the Oil fire one is so cool!

J

[Alcan]

Originally Posted by Tools

Why, exactly did you buy a Rolex .. ??

Uh...., so I could tell what time it is?

I've spent my life working with machinery but most of it has been big, and crude by watchmaking standards. My Sub is a marvel of micro-engineering. All those precision pieces working away in harmony impresses me.

[Singslinger]

After six months in my first real job, I wanted to buy myself a first real watch. I'd seen all those fancy Rolex ads about how deep it could go and how rugged it is, so it seemed the logical choice.

[CKay]

I saw it, fell in love with it, thought about it day and night and bought it to end the mental ordeal if you will.

[pricojorge]

I buy and sell them, i wear them for a while untill i get tired and sell it for around the same i got it for or a little more.
The only watch i've kept long is my Sea Dweller, i sold it once missed it alot found another deal and bought it, and wearing it right now.

[magnet_UK]

I did loads overtime at work which made a nice pot of cash. I saw an ad for the GMT IIc in a car magazine and thought it looked great. Didn't fancy putting it towards a new car or bike, so went to a local AD and placed an order. It arrived 12 weeks later and i was hooked.

4 months and some more overtime later i bought a Sub LV.

Will i buy another Rolex? I doubt it due to the lack of availability of what i want, which is a shame... Rolex loss will be another watch manufacturer's gain.

I'll never sell them. I'll pass them down to my son who i hope will appreciate them like i do.

[BigHat]

I buy Rolex for the same reason I buy other watches and other non-essential items -- I want to.

We flip them because things change. Maybe it's not that we no longer like what we have, but we see something we like more and may need to part with assets to help raise the $$ for the new purpose.

That said, I like the last question in the OP -- why buy if you're thinking about selling? After little more than a year around here I think I see two trends. 1) People seek validation/justification of their purchase so try to quantify financially what is really a pure luxury purchase. Let's face it, watches are NOT investments and those that think they are are just fooling themselves. So maybe those that APPEAR focused on resale prior to the purchase aren't already thinking of flipping, just rationalizing. 2) If there is a downside to this site, it's the constant bombardment of new and interesting watches; mostly Rolex models, as would be expected, but others as well. I learned not to buy too quickly the hard way, but I see some of our newer members moving toward their second and third watch before dust starts to collect on the first one's box in the closet. When you act rashly, you increase the flipping possibilities and I think folks hedge a little by trying to understand the resale market.

[East Bay Rider]

Mine was an anniverary gift from my wife and I have no intentions of ever selling.

[Dan Pierce]

I finally bought a Rolex because I was tired of justifying all my other watches everytime I saw someone wearing a Rolex. I've never sold one yet and doubt I'll ever sell any Rolex or Tudor I buy in the future.
dP

[jdc]

I was looking for a good vintage watch, actually was looking for a Omega piepan constellation, when I came across this at a good price

I was really impressed by the quality and look of the watch, and did research on the Rolex brand learning enough to know that I wanted a automatic sports watch. I went for a GMT II as it was robust and had the sense of history that agrees with me.

[delldeaton]

Originally Posted by Tools

OK, OK,

this is not one of those esoteric "I love my Rolex because...." threads..

It seems to me that 90% of the time when somebody talks about getting a Rolex any more, it is caveatted with the "When I sell it..", or "What will it be worth in 2010", or I gotta have a box and papers 'cause "when I sell it..."

yadda, yadda...

So, my question is ...Why, exactly did you buy a Rolex if the first thing you're thinking of is getting rid of it.. ??

The short answer is that every time I've bought a Rolex wristwatch, it has been because of it's James Bond connection.

Sometimes that's closer than others, hence the reason I might sell. For example, my lifestyle doesn't permit me to wear a vintage watch on any sort of a routine basis. So, when I was in the market some years back for a Submariner a'la the early 007 films, I was satisfied to have a 14060M as a successor model (what I call an "M-4" grade LINK).

But once I acquired a true Dalton-era Submariner Date and that became my daily wear piece, the 14060M became of less interest. Why not simply have a vintage piece truer to the film era if it was to be worn only occasionally or not at all?

That's sorta how I do Rolex.