Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

[Pahonu]

Just wanted to give a counter-opinion to the usual "I don't have the money for a real Rolex" talk here.



Bought it some years ago for US$ 4.400,-- (In the 90s, those could be had for less than $ 1.000)
If I'd be selling it now, it'd be north of 10.000.

Smart purchase imo

Hey Bondtoys.

I agree with you completely that the purchase is indeed a smart investment, however, it doesn't really refute the argument of not having the money for the initial purchase. There are lots of great investments, in real estate, stock, art, antiques, etc... I have few myself. However, if you simply don't have the money up front to buy that potential investment, that's something very different. The initial buy in to an investment is an obstacle for many.

[Styles Bitchley]

Just wanted to give a counter-opinion to the usual "I don't have the money for a real Rolex" talk here.

Bought it some years ago for US$ 4.400,-- (In the 90s, those could be had for less than $ 1.000)
If I'd be selling it now, it'd be north of 10.000.

Smart purchase imo

Hey Bondtoys.

I agree with you completely that the purchase is indeed a smart investment, however, it doesn't really refute the argument of not having the money for the initial purchase. There are lots of great investments, in real estate, stock, art, antiques, etc... I have few myself. However, if you simply don't have the money up front to buy that potential investment, that's something very different. The initial buy in to an investment is an obstacle for many.

Especially with prices what they are these days. They may have built their reputation by making extraordinary tools for servicemen, but these days they’re just toys for rich guys. I still deeply appreciate the design and quality but when they started encircling the hour markers with white gold in the mid 80s they fully acknowledged that their target audience had changed.

Don’t forget about factoring in the cost of insurance and regular service. It diminishes your return!

[Danno]

Yep. Most of these mechanical watches in 2018 are either romantic things (be it the due to design heritage, history as a heirloom) ... or something to flash around showing off how much money you have.

Richard Mille watches are the most revolting things I've ever seen. Money does not account for taste.

BTW- Vintage Chronosport Sea Quartz 30 on eBay! Best condition I've seen...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Chrono ... Sw3pZbBxIv

[Mad Kudu Buck]

Richard Mille watches are the most revolting things I've ever seen. Money does not account for taste.

Yes - thick, blocky hunks of crap that cost the price of a house (a good house) and you can barely read what time it is. But I guess if you're that rich, it doesn't really matter what time it is.

BTW- Vintage Chronosport Sea Quartz 30 on eBay! Best condition I've seen...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Chrono ... Sw3pZbBxIv

I notice the seller says, "No overseas delivery." I wonder... does that mean he won't ship to Hawaii - which is technically "overseas" (...or one sea at least), but he will ship to Canada - which isn't "overseas"?

I used to look at American listings and see "No overseas delivery" and say, "Oh good, he'll ship to Canada then", but the seller nearly always said he wouldn't ship outside the US. I don't know why so many American sellers use "overseas" to mean anywhere outside the US. The US isn't surrounded by an ocean.

[Styles Bitchley]

BTW- Vintage Chronosport Sea Quartz 30 on eBay! Best condition I've seen...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Chrono ... Sw3pZbBxIv

Nice, but not exactly Magnums, which has only "Quartz" printed on the dial. I think these ones that say "Sea Quartz 30" were produced later. By the way, I found out recently that Chronosport procured their cases from Heuer (before they became Tag Heuer). Good article here: https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/marki ... mble-heuer (forgive me if I've posted this before).

[perfectlykevin]

Yep. Most of these mechanical watches in 2018 are either romantic things (be it the due to design heritage, history as a heirloom) ... or something to flash around showing off how much money you have.

Richard Mille watches are the most revolting things I've ever seen. Money does not account for taste.

BTW- Vintage Chronosport Sea Quartz 30 on eBay! Best condition I've seen...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Chrono ... Sw3pZbBxIv

For that kind of $$$ I'd buy an Aristo auto diver or the CWC style diver and pocket the rest. They use the same case, and have an auto movement, then pocket the other several hundred

[Styles Bitchley]

Yep. Most of these mechanical watches in 2018 are either romantic things (be it the due to design heritage, history as a heirloom) ... or something to flash around showing off how much money you have.

Richard Mille watches are the most revolting things I've ever seen. Money does not account for taste.

BTW- Vintage Chronosport Sea Quartz 30 on eBay! Best condition I've seen...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Chrono ... Sw3pZbBxIv

For that kind of $$$ I'd buy an Aristo auto diver or the CWC style diver and pocket the rest. They use the same case, and have an auto movement, then pocket the other several hundred

But what could you sell it for in five or ten years? Zip. The Chronosport will likely hold its value or appreciate.

[perfectlykevin]

Yep. Most of these mechanical watches in 2018 are either romantic things (be it the due to design heritage, history as a heirloom) ... or something to flash around showing off how much money you have.

Richard Mille watches are the most revolting things I've ever seen. Money does not account for taste.

BTW- Vintage Chronosport Sea Quartz 30 on eBay! Best condition I've seen...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Chrono ... Sw3pZbBxIv

For that kind of $$$ I'd buy an Aristo auto diver or the CWC style diver and pocket the rest. They use the same case, and have an auto movement, then pocket the other several hundred

But what could you sell it for in five or ten years? Zip. The Chronosport will likely hold its value or appreciate.

True, if the movement is working. I had one with a shot movement, which was replaced with a replacement by Chronoserv. They had to use different hands etc. Totally changed the look of the watch and resale value. The other options won't resell for as much but they are just as fun when swimming in the tidal pool

[Pahonu]

I have lots of other things sucking money away like my 50 year old sailboat and 30 year old VW Westphalia, oh and two kids, so I keep the cost of my watches looow. That and I seem to bang the hell out of them. I had a Seiko quartz I got in the early 90's that was bulletproof until I lost it snorkeling in Catalina several years ago. Best watch I ever had, even all banged up. I've had a few as gifts that didn't last either. I still have a Casio that runs great, but I put a big crack in the crystal when I hit it on the door handle of my van about two years ago. I still take it camping. I was quoted $80 to fix it by two different jewelers. Not bad, but I didn't even pay that much for it so I got this about a year and a half ago for the same price.

https://www.amazon.com/Invicta-8926OB-S ... B000JQFX1G

It's my first automatic and it works great. It's been underwater many times, and it looks nice (for now ), I think. I can't justify spending more on watches with what I do to them, even if it's a good investment. On the other hand, my VW van is actually appreciating in value, which I never saw coming when I bought it 11 years ago to camp in. I've put quite a bit of money into it and really enjoyed it over the years. I paid $5200 for it and a British guy recently offered me $16,000 cash for it at a VW show in Huntington Beach! He was out here looking for solid rust-free vans to ship back to the UK, where I guess they're quite popular.

Got a little off topic, sorry!

[perfectlykevin]

I have lots of other things sucking money away like my 50 year old sailboat and 30 year old VW Westphalia, oh and two kids, so I keep the cost of my watches looow. That and I seem to bang the hell out of them. I had a Seiko quartz I got in the early 90's that was bulletproof until I lost it snorkeling in Catalina several years ago. Best watch I ever had, even all banged up. I've had a few as gifts that didn't last either. I still have a Casio that runs great, but I put a big crack in the crystal when I hit it on the door handle of my van about two years ago. I still take it camping. I was quoted $80 to fix it by two different jewelers. Not bad, but I didn't even pay that much for it so I got this about a year and a half ago for the same price.

https://www.amazon.com/Invicta-8926OB-S ... B000JQFX1G

It's my first automatic and it works great. It's been underwater many times, and it looks nice (for now ), I think. I can't justify spending more on watches with what I do to them, even if it's a good investment. On the other hand, my VW van is actually appreciating in value, which I never saw coming when I bought it 11 years ago to camp in. I've put quite a bit of money into it and really enjoyed it over the years. I paid $5200 for it and a British guy recently offered me $16,000 cash for it at a VW show in Huntington Beach! He was out here looking for solid rust-free vans to ship back to the UK, where I guess they're quite popular.

Got a little off topic, sorry!

Not at all off topic. I've been a wrist watch nut for awhile and thankfully have never gotten the automobile bug! I figure a wristwatch might cost some but cars are even more! Congrats on the appreciation, I've never had that happen with any car I've owned, I pretty much drive them into the ground.

Seikos are pretty much bomb-proof and will last decades. I've a soft spot for the auto divers as they can survive whatever mishap I find myself, and you won't feel bad if you bang up a $200 watch vs several grand.

[Styles Bitchley]

I have lots of other things sucking money away like my 50 year old sailboat and 30 year old VW Westphalia, oh and two kids, so I keep the cost of my watches looow. That and I seem to bang the hell out of them. I had a Seiko quartz I got in the early 90's that was bulletproof until I lost it snorkeling in Catalina several years ago. Best watch I ever had, even all banged up. I've had a few as gifts that didn't last either. I still have a Casio that runs great, but I put a big crack in the crystal when I hit it on the door handle of my van about two years ago. I still take it camping. I was quoted $80 to fix it by two different jewelers. Not bad, but I didn't even pay that much for it so I got this about a year and a half ago for the same price.

https://www.amazon.com/Invicta-8926OB-S ... B000JQFX1G

It's my first automatic and it works great. It's been underwater many times, and it looks nice (for now ), I think. I can't justify spending more on watches with what I do to them, even if it's a good investment. On the other hand, my VW van is actually appreciating in value, which I never saw coming when I bought it 11 years ago to camp in. I've put quite a bit of money into it and really enjoyed it over the years. I paid $5200 for it and a British guy recently offered me $16,000 cash for it at a VW show in Huntington Beach! He was out here looking for solid rust-free vans to ship back to the UK, where I guess they're quite popular.

Got a little off topic, sorry!

Not at all off topic. I've been a wrist watch nut for awhile and thankfully have never gotten the automobile bug! I figure a wristwatch might cost some but cars are even more! Congrats on the appreciation, I've never had that happen with any car I've owned, I pretty much drive them into the ground.

Seikos are pretty much bomb-proof and will last decades. I've a soft spot for the auto divers as they can survive whatever mishap I find myself, and you won't feel bad if you bang up a $200 watch vs several grand.

Amen. Seiko divers like the Prospex are probably much more in the spirit of the old Rolex tool watches. Accurate, reliable and pretty much indestructible. Cant say the same about Westphalias...but they’re charming as hell and I’ve always wanted one. What year is it?

[Styles Bitchley]

That Invicta watch looks familiar Pahonu! Amazing that they can get away with selling pretty much a copy of the Rolex Submariner.

[Styles Bitchley]

It’s not often that two Sea Quartz 30s are up on eBay (except for the ugly gold ones) but this one just came up too. https://m.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1970-s-C ... noapp=true

Interestingly it has a dial that I haven’t seen before (it doesn’t have the numerals at 6,9,12).

[Pahonu]

That Invicta watch looks familiar Pahonu! Amazing that they can get away with selling pretty much a copy of the Rolex Submariner.

All of the watches I mentioned were pretty much the same type of divers watch, but the Invicta is remarkably similar. I don't know too much about trademarking etc... but the actual knock offs using the Rolex name itself seem pretty common. Who knows!

My Westy is an '88 full camper. I know they've gained a reputation for being a bit cantankerous, but I've been very happy with the reliability of mine. In fact, it's only stranded me one time on a trip in 11 years! it was an electrical problem with the voltage regulator that blew out all four headlights at once during a drive home at night. We ended up just pulling off the highway and sleeping until morning. I drove home in the daylight and fixed everything that day. By the way, it's my daily driver, and I've only been towed once in that 11 years. That was a wheel bearing problem caused by my shop over-tightening one and it gave out. They fixed everything no charge.

That being said, you do need to be quite vigilant and routine maintenance is critical. Also, finding a good shop is critical and I've been fortunate that there are several here in Long Beach specializing in VW's. That maintenance includes some things that are just not necessary in modern cars. For example, I flush and refill the cooling system every two years because the engine is aluminum. The front wheel bearings also tend to wear quickly, as I mentioned above, so I keep an eye. There are a few other things as well. If you just want to jump in a car and never think about maintenance, which I understand is desirable to many, then this is not the vehicle for you. But I love it. There's nothing else here in the US like it anymore. VW hasn't imported their newer models of camper vans since the early 2000's, so there aren't many other choices besides larger RV's.

Lots of people I know have the bigger RV's, but I don't like their size limitations. By that I mean I can take my westy anywhere and park it anywhere. It turns like a forklift because of the short wheelbase. It's not 30 feet long. In fact it's exactly half that, at 15 feet. On many long trips we've taken, we both camp at campsites and enjoy the natural environment, and go into town to explore the city. I can whip it into tight parking spaces like in San Francisco or Seattle and take in the sights. Anyway, I can ramble on, but I'll call it quits for now.

[Styles Bitchley]

Island Hoppers paint scheme?? I can relate to wanting a so-cal car. The salt on the roads through the winter up here rots cars to hell. Arizona cars are even better!