Incoming Wednesday!

[Rto]

Big congrats! It is beautiful indeed. It is on my list to get...I'm already hunting one :)

[QueueCumber]

Originally Posted by Rto

Big congrats! It is beautiful indeed. It is on my list to get...I'm already hunting one :)

A mk ii dial? DavidSW has a mk iv right now if that is of any interest to you. I think Eric Ku has a mk iv as well.

[Rto]

Originally Posted by QueueCumber

A mk ii dial? DavidSW has a mk iv right now if that is of any interest to you. I think Eric Ku has a mk iv as well.

I know David has one. He is a good friend of mine , but I'm waiting at the moment at another deal that may finalize on a 6263 Big Red and if that confirms then the DRSD will have to wait...

[Michael M.]

Superb piece! Huge congrats!

[shane0mack]

Everything about it is just...right. Congrats!

[QueueCumber]

Originally Posted by Rto

I know David has one. He is a good friend of mine , but I'm waiting at the moment at another deal that may finalize on a 6263 Big Red and if that confirms then the DRSD will have to wait...

I'm trying to convince a friend to buy it, but he doesn't like the sub look and wants a TT Daytona.

[QueueCumber]

Originally Posted by Rto

I know David has one. He is a good friend of mine , but I'm waiting at the moment at another deal that may finalize on a 6263 Big Red and if that confirms then the DRSD will have to wait...

Black with white sub registers or white with black sub registers?

[Rto]

The one available on the deal is black with white subdials.

What is your personal opinion on Daytona dials?

Black dial with whites subs?
Or
silver dial white black subs?

Even knowing is a personal choice, what is more rare or maybe desirable?




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[QueueCumber]

Originally Posted by Rto

The one available on the deal is black with white subdials.

What is your personal opinion on Daytona dials?

Black dial with whites subs?
Or
silver dial white black subs?

Even knowing is a personal choice, what is more rare or maybe desirable?






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I like the aesthetics of the black with white subs better on the 6263. The red pops more. I don't know which one is more rare.

My preference varies with the different models though.

Out of these two 6262s, I like the white dial and black subs more:



Don't get me wrong. I want both....

[southtexas]

Originally Posted by QueueCumber

What details are you interested in? I'll answer whatever questions I can about it. Marcello is an expert and can answer a lot more about them than I can!

It's a late 60s (1.7 million serial) 1165 Rolex Double Red Sea Dweller Mk II thin case on a 9315 bracelet. The dial is brown because of faulty paint used by Rolex during that time period. The bezel insert is faded from use.

I used this site a lot (among others) to research which DRSD I wanted in my collection: http://www.doubleredseadweller.com/w...ed-seadweller/

It lists many of the distinguishing characteristics between different MKs of the DRSD.

Those are the kind of details! How long did you look, or did you just stumble across it? Do you know the watch's history?

I'm very familiar with that site. I refer to it often, trying to familiarize myself with the details for that moment when I run across a drsd being sold as an old used rolex (I found my red 1680 the same way and used that site exhaustively to authenticate it).

I'm certainly living vicariously through you on this one! What an awesome watch. Excellent find!


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[Mudcat]

Simply stunning

[QueueCumber]

Originally Posted by southtexas

Those are the kind of details! How long did you look, or did you just stumble across it? Do you know the watch's history?

I'm very familiar with that site. I refer to it often, trying to familiarize myself with the details for that moment when I run across a drsd being sold as an old used rolex (I found my red 1680 the same way and used that site exhaustively to authenticate it).

I'm certainly living vicariously through you on this one! What an awesome watch. Excellent find!


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I actually started out researching the 1680 reds. I read up on them for awhile. I finally figured out which ones I was most interested in (the smaller production numbered mk i through mk iiis meters first, possibly the mk ii or iii with the faded bezel inserts and dials...), and started looking around online to see what was out there. but then started researching the DRSD as well along the way since it also has the red lettering. I really like red on black dials; it pops in a way i really like usually. The DRSD has twice as much red, so that works for me, and people say it is more rare, which is a bonus as well in my book. Likewise, the faded bezel inserts and brown dials are more rare than the regular bezels and dials, plus more unique and interesting.

I wish I could say I memorized all the differences between the 1680 mks and with the 1665 mks, but there are so many subtle differences that I have only retained a little of the info, not as much as I would like (I will just have to keep refreshing my memory as time goes on).

With the DRSD, I figured out that I was most interested in a mk ii because I wanted to find one with interesting fade and patina. I also considered looking for a "patent pending" model, but ultimately decided that it wasn't as important as the aesthetics overall.

Then I started actually picking out pieces and considering them online (at this point I was looking at 1680s still on ebay and Chrono24 because of pricing) and asking people here for help. Simultaneously, I was comparing and contrasting the pieces with online sites that provided good pictures of the pieces, to see if things looked Kosher. I started researching trusted vintage sellers next after I realized Ebay was a real crap shoot (emphasis on the word "crap") and many of the Chrono24 pieces worth buying were over inflated in price, which explains why they were still for sale and not sold already.

I called and emailed a few of the trusted vintage sellers with questions about whether they had 1680s or 1665s. People were expecting some in the future, but Eric had a 1665 mk ii ready to go. I had spent so much time seeing over inflated prices, and mutts on Ebay, that I didn't even try to bargain him down! LOL!

I loved the fade, and was a little concerned about the bezel insert being chipped near 30, but ultimately, the chance of finding one with a perfect original bezel insert is probably pretty small, and the bezel insert fade was awesome. Likewise, it might have been a sales pitch, or maybe not, but Eric had said he thinks of things like that as character, so I went with it. I could always find another insert down the road if I want (though I don't think I will considering how it looks in person...). I felt like the iron was hot, so I should strike while I had actually found one. Maybe it was fate! I also wasn't sure about the hands and dial having so little patina, which I had read online can sometimes happen, though nobody seems to know why some lumes change colors and others don't. Eric also confirmed that it was never relumed. So that worked for me.

Nonetheless, I got opinions from people here on TRF, and one of them sent me Marcello's email, whose name I recognized right away, since I had read interviews with him while doing my research (I was referring to the serial number interview constantly when looking at pieces on Ebay and Chrono24 to see if the dials were matching up with the cases enough). Marcello was kind enough to confirm the qualities of the piece for me.

After seeing it in person, I wasn't concerned anymore with the lumes being white-ish. I wouldn't want them any other color. The combination of the grey/blue bezel insert with the chocolate dial and white lumes is stunning in person. Better than the pictures I had seen of it originally, IMO! They pop in a way I find amazingly attractive.

Now that I picked a DRSD mk ii, I would probably get a 1680 mk i next, since it is the smallest production number among the different 1680 mks, unless a really special looking faded mk ii or iii comes along...

Now, if anyone is still awake after that long post....

[QueueCumber]

BTW, I don't know the watches history. I wish I did. I scuba dive, so this piece is also a fun piece for me because I am an advanced PADI certified diver (who is on his way to a master diver certification hopefully not too far into the future!) and not simply because of the historic interest of the helium escape valve. I have been thinking about it now and then today, whether the first owner was diving with this watch before I was even born. I wish I could get its history and know where it has been. Though, conversely, the story could be tragic, and the watch could be passing on an ancient curse, so perhaps it is better not to know. LOL!

[GerardoG]

Wow! Beautiful!

[woodsworth]

Did somebody say… chocolate?

Congrats QC! So purty

[paverman]

Congrats Q, another great pickup.

[mailman]

MKII, thin case, chocolate dial, very little patina... What's not to love? Congratulations and enjoy. It's beautiful

[QueueCumber]

Thanks guys!!!

[mluther]

Just read your writeup and I must say that it's threads like this that make TRF an incredible forum. Congratulations on a stunning piece. I just can't stop staring at the dial

Enjoy and make your own history with that grail.

[QueueCumber]

Originally Posted by mluther

Just read your writeup and I must say that it's threads like this that make TRF an incredible forum. Congratulations on a stunning piece. I just can't stop staring at the dial

Enjoy and make your own history with that grail.

Thanks! I didn't realize people would be interested in my obsessive compulsive research process!

Cheesy advertisements aside, I'm starting to think of this as my chance to enjoy it for awhile and to write that period of history with it until someone else has that chance after me, decades (hopefully!) down the road.

[johnbeth]

Huge Congrats!!

[mluther]

Originally Posted by QueueCumber

Thanks! I didn't realize people would be interested in my obsessive compulsive research process!

I'll think you'll find that we're all as OCD as each other when it comes to researching an acquisition

[QueueCumber]

Originally Posted by mluther

I'll think you'll find that we're all as OCD as each other when it comes to researching an acquisition

[HL65]

Beautiful chocolate thin case....Big congrats QC! Cheers,

[QueueCumber]

Originally Posted by SteelerFan65

Beautiful chocolate thin case....Big congrats QC! Cheers,

Thanks!

[Beaumont Miller II]

That watch is stunning.

[southtexas]

Originally Posted by QueueCumber

Thanks! I didn't realize people would be interested in my obsessive compulsive research process!

.

Hell yes we are interested! The hunt, to me at least, is way more exciting than the "kill".

And I think a common thread of Rolex lovers is definitely that O-C process.



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[incomplet]

Amzing! and congrats QC

[QueueCumber]

Originally Posted by southtexas

Hell yes we are interested! The hunt, to me at least, is way more exciting than the "kill".

And I think a common thread of Rolex lovers is definitely that O-C process.



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Good point!

[mjclark32]

Gorgeous piece, congrats!