Vintage GMT in the Wild

[SavGADawg]

I had a cool experience last night at at restaurant. I noticed an older gentlemen, 75+, dining with his wife. He was wearing a BLRO. I complimented him on it and he proceeded to tell me the full story...

He is a US Naval Academy graduate and became a Marine infantryman upon graduation. He was shipped overseas almost immediately after graduation and spent much of his youth in various corners of the world. Regarding his watch, he purchased it in 1970 while aboard the USS FDR, where he was stationed. The watch came from the ship's PX and he said he paid $49 for it.

You could tell that he was happy to tell the story and quite flattered that I noticed it. I hesitated to say anything but am certainly glad I did so!

[SavGADawg]

struggling to post the pic I took! ;(

[skipstar]

Love it! Great story

[JJGreen]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing.

[Largoshark]

Great story! Thanks for sharing. And he let you take a pic too? What a sport! Hope you figure out how to post it - that I would love to see.

[CarlOver]

Maybe he is not recollecting the price accurately? Either price or year is incorrect.

In 1978, the price for the GMT-Master 1675 was $795.

Anyways, fun story!

From Crown and Caliber, discussing 1675 prices:

In 1957, the stainless steel Rolex GMT-Master 1675 was priced at $240 ($2,027 with inflation). Just a few years later, in 1978, the price for the GMT-Master 1675 increased to $795, or $2,984 when adjusting for inflation. In 1986, the 1675 had a price of $1,450 ($3,092 with inflation). The price of the 1675 in 1996 was $3,300 ($5,010 when adjusted for inflation). This model was in production from 1959 – 1980.

[MichelleP]

My dad was in the navy and picked up a Speedy in 1970 for super cheap. I have the watch now. So cool

[MichelleP]

Originally Posted by SavGADawg

struggling to post the pic I took! ;(

Easiest way is to download taptalk

[GMTmatt]

.

[THC]

Love the elderly with a story to tell… rapidly becoming same

[B2 Stealth]

Stories like these make me wish I were a one watch guy and that watch would be a BLRO. Thx for sharing. Nothing cooler than a military veteran with a cool GMT acquisition story. Thx for sharing. Hope to see a picture.

[ingoodtime]

cool story. I was at brotherhood winery with family and wearing my 116710ln ceramic gmt.They had a restaurant on site and the manager came out to talk with us as we were a large group. He was wearing an old rootbeer gmt Ifigure he purchased in the 1960s or early 70s.He said it was on his wrist for the last 35 years anad only off when he sent it in for service. He said his daughter already had dibs on it when he passes away. I thought that was awesome that he had it for so many years.

[SavGADawg]

Downloaded Taptalk. Thanks for the tip!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Little machines]

Great post !Nice watch ,thank you.

[travisb]

I love hearing these stories. Thanks!

[brandrea]

Great story, so great that you and he could talk about it

[1William]

Cool story.

[Rolexken]

Great picture and story

[MrMercedes]

Great story! Thx for sharing!

[Onequik135i]

Cool story, watch is in great shape too it looks. Original dial & hands if I’m not mistaken.

[davek35]

Thanks for the story and pic!

[Doug5551]

Thanks for the pic!!

[hutch300]

Vintage watches like this are just so cool.

[JJW]

I have a similar story. I was in Costco and spotted the same watch on a man's arm. I commented "Nice watch". He proceeded to tell me that he had bought it at the PX while in Viet Nam. He told me he paid $650.00. I asked him if he knew what is worth now. He said " Probably about $1,500.00". I told him that I was going to make his day and told him the value of the watch. It did make his day... and mine.

[sski]

box and papers bro!!!!!!

[Rafeeq]

Nice story, Dawg--it's really good to be able to chat with someone like that, and like you say, his acquisition in the service makes it even more meaningful.

[Porschen]

Very cool story - thanks for sharing.