Rolexes and the holiday, may 2012 bring you all bliss.

[CMT]

It's been a Rolex-heavy very happy holiday chez CMT.

First I gave my wife my early 90's Datejust after fitting it with a pink MOP diamond dial and having it fully serviced/refinished by a trusted watchmaker here on Hilton Head Island. While I love the Datejust, I knew I would rarely reach for it over my 16613 where my wife Jess could enjoy the Datejust daily.

I gave it to her in my Submariner box in order to give her the "full effect," and since she basically tossed the box aside to get to the watch itself I am quite glad in retrospect that I did not purchase a proper box for the Datejust as I'd originally planned.









She loves it and has yet to remove it from her wrist. She rarely wears a watch around the house but I've caught her staring at it beyond that of a simple glance to tell the time, and I heartily welcome her to the affliction.

Another treat was the appearance of the new 42mm Explorer II when one of my closest friends (and TRF member himself) Chris Z showed up wearing one.











Chris wanted to meet the island watchmaker who worked on my Datejust, and who is also a Rolex fanatic, so we took a trip down island to hang out at what I've always referred to as HHI's "Rolex Central."

My mother moved to Hilton Head 20 years ago when I had just graduated from high school, and I used to spend a lot of time at the below shop looking at all of the killer new and vintage Rolexes he'd have on display. I am constantly impressed by his dedication to the marque and it was awesome that the shop owner always humored me when I'd get back on-island.























And then we went next door to get beer. This is a new store, or at least new to me, and I'm still in awe at the variety of options they have. Enough so that I am including the pics here:















Thanks for checking out the thread, and a happy new year to everyone!

[Oyster Junkie]

Thanks for sharing. I wish I had a dedicated shop/watchmaker like you have locally. Happy New Year and here is to more Rolex purchases for 2012!

[Zed Homme]

It has been a great weekend so far. Happy new year everyone!

[Wehtiko]

OMG is that Explorer beautiful!

[threemonkeys]

That was a nice read. I think I would find myself hanging out in your watch maker's store as well. It looks very inviting.

Congrats to your wife on her new watch. It really looks brand new.

[HL65]

Great post and interesting read! Looks like a great shop too!! Happy New Year!

[BealeAss]

Happy New Year's guys! The 42 Explorer looks sweet!

CMT, I'm loving the DJ on Jess, looks absolutely perfect and the MOP dial is very cool.

[hdrazor251]

Thanks for sharing. Happy New Year

[J. Alan]

Excuse me while I clean the drool off my mouse and pad. O.K., done!

Very interesting post with great pictures. The women sure love those diamond dials, eh? - including my wife who has 2 Rolexes with diamond dials and other brands with rocks.
Love your 16613 - I have one myself and IMO is one of the best looking Rolexes ever.

Happy New Year to you and all!!

J. Alan

[BoomerSooner]

Enjoyed the pictures and story!

I hope you don't mind my attached pic too. This Christmas, I gave my wife a Datejust as an early anniversary gift/ Xmas combo. Saw the Explorer pic which reminded me of mine, so hope 2012 will be great for you two.

-Steve

[watch watcher]

Sorry for the hijack, , but I love the Fiat 500! Nice car.

[dddrees]

Great PICs and real nice story. Thanks for sharing.

[thewatchguy93]

Great! Love the pics in the 500

[mailman]

Your watchmaker has an amazing shop

[mike]

WOW!! Fantastic.

[Andelain]

Great pics! Wish I had a shop like that near where I live.


I see what looks like an oyster bracelet for an older Datejust in one of the pics. Do you know if he sells them online? I'm hunting one of those for my T-Bird.

[liptonnr]

Great pics! Looks like you had a great holiday!

[Zed Homme]

Originally Posted by Dingoo93

Great! Love the pics in the 500

The 500 was a fun car. Sure it is slow and uncomfortable, but it is such a novelty in the states that I couldnt help but have a huge shit eating grin on my face while cmt was kind enough to let me drive it.

[CMT]

Happy New Year guys! Thank you for the positive responses to my thread, it is a pleasure to be able to share a piece of my personal history in such a well-received manner.

Originally Posted by BealeAss

Happy New Year's guys! The 42 Explorer looks sweet!

CMT, I'm loving the DJ on Jess, looks absolutely perfect and the MOP dial is very cool.

What's up man! I hope you and Kristin had an awesome New Years.

Originally Posted by J. Alan

Excuse me while I clean the drool off my mouse and pad. O.K., done!

Very interesting post with great pictures. The women sure love those diamond dials, eh? - including my wife who has 2 Rolexes with diamond dials and other brands with rocks.
Love your 16613 - I have one myself and IMO is one of the best looking Rolexes ever.

Happy New Year to you and all!!

J. Alan

Happy New Year J. Alan! Thank you for the photo compliment.

I haven't worn anything else since picking up my 16613. I have loved this watch since the 80s, and it's one of the reasons I'd always return to this watchmaker because he always had one for sale at any given time.

Now that I have one, I cannot seem to stop taking photos of it as well:



I absolutely adore it.

Originally Posted by watch watcher

Sorry for the hijack, , but I love the Fiat 500! Nice car.

Originally Posted by Dingoo93

Great! Love the pics in the 500

Thanks! The 500 was a recent impulse purchase but I'd honestly been wanting one since our July honeymoon in Italy where they were everywhere. We rented a Fiat Panda and I always found myself remarking on the 500's aesthetic to the point where I knew I wanted one. For me it's a fun, cool little novelty car with a lot of style and technology at a reasonable cost.



I wailed on it during the 935 mile run from CT to SC, sitting around 80-90 mph on the highway and it still averaged 35 mpg. This far exceeds the mileage rating of any other car we own, especially since two of them are performance cars, and I'm enjoying the decreased gas bills.

Originally Posted by Andelain

Great pics! Wish I had a shop like that near where I live.

I see what looks like an oyster bracelet for an older Datejust in one of the pics. Do you know if he sells them online? I'm hunting one of those for my T-Bird.

His online presence is contained to the same Web site that he's had since 1997 or so, and that sadly isn't set up for E-commerce. I will PM you with his site and contact info, since I'm pretty sure that he either has or can access exactly what you are looking for, but I am fearful of running afoul of forum rules by inadvertantly turning this into a commercial post.

Originally Posted by Zed Homme

The 500 was a fun car. Sure it is slow and uncomfortable, but it is such a novelty in the states that I couldnt help but have a huge shit eating grin on my face while cmt was kind enough to let me drive it.

I'm glad you enjoyed it my man. It's certainly not going to win any drag races and the upright seating position is its greatest detractor, but so far the benefits out weigh the negatives for me. It should be interesting to see how this thing develops long-term, but like we said I should be able to get at least 6-10,000 miles out of it before I turn the key and it blows up in the garage.

I hope everyone is enjoying the first day of 2012!