A New Appreciation for My Vintage 1981 DJ TT 36mm

[lencap]

Greetings -

I've posted before about my 1981 DJ TT 36mm Jubilee that I bought new along with my wife's matching Ladies DJ. Mine had a champaign dial originally, but shortly after buying it I bought a black dial with gold stick markers. At that time Rolex allowed you to keep the original dial, which I still have, but the black has been on it for 40 years.

Recently I had it serviced by the local Rolex dealership, asking him to keep it original and to not polish it. He did as I asked, and replaced the scratched crystal. He suggested replacing the gold winding stem, but I asked him to leave it as is if the watch was still watertight. It was, and he kept it as is.

I then bought a new DJ Oyster white stick dial 41, expecting it to become my new everyday watch. I intended to buy the Sky Dweller (I just love the combination of features on that model), but after trying one on I realized it was too large for me. Surprisingly I found that the more I wore the new DJ41 the less I liked it. The clean white dial is great, and I found the smooth bezel and Oyster bracelet a nice "under the radar" look. The price, especially in the overheated market of recent years, was fine. The issue became the size/weight.

I then began wearing my vintage DJ and found that I fell in love with it again. The 36mm size, combined with "hollow link" bracelet design and 7 adjustment sizing holes (more adjustable than the newer bracelets), provided a very comfortable lightweight wearing experience. The vintage crystal (hesalite?) adds to the classic vibe, and because my watch was originally delivered with a champagne dial the date marker has black numerals on a gold background - a perfect compliment to the black/gold stick markers and two tone case/bracelet. It's overtaken the BB58 as my most worn watch (but the BB is still worn often).

Even more surprisingly I sold the DJ41 to a friend (for less than I paid for it - I don't like scalping), and despite having second thoughts, I find that the vintage is getting lots of wrist time, and the BB58 fills in the rest. I thought the fully adjustable bracelet on the 41, and the clean dial/face would be the winner, but I found that the added weight and size was less comfortable than I expected. And despite still being in love with the Sky Dweller it's clear that size won't work.

So, despite being nearly 44 years old my original DJ TT still reigns supreme. And my wife's matching watch has been on her wrist continuously during all these years, only coming off for service - six times in total. It still looks and runs great, and like me she prefers the lighter weight and smaller dimensions compared to the more contemporary models.

I still scan watchrecon for a "bargain" every now and then (I am smitten by the VC Overseas, a JLC Duoface, or a classic Calatrava), but so far have resisted the urge to make a significant purchase, and likely won't. I did buy a Timex Q GMT (Pepsi color copy) and a Citizen Ultra Titanium small second hand white dial (both watches cost less combined than the sales tax on the DJ 41).

Over the years I've owned Grand Seiko, Omega and more but I wound up selling all of them. My rekindled romance with my vintage DJ made me realize why Rolex has been the most desired brand for many years - they design watches to work well forever, and despite new technical advancements each watch remains special regardless of age or model.

I feel strangely content with what I have, but I wonder what I'm going to do with all the extra time I'll have from not obsessing over my watch collection?

[Tbird]

Maybe try to find out more how it works? The movements in these watches are fantastic little machines which always run for almost half a century in your case! Nice story of you to read though!