Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

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Styles Bitchley
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Re: Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

#81 Post by Styles Bitchley »

That's the one, Conch! The true Magnum watch (although presumably from a few years earlier). A very nice example, eh?
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

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Re: Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

#82 Post by ConchRepublican »

That's a crazy amount of money for a watch .... the only thing that makes it special to me is the connection to Magnum, otherwise it just doesn't have "it" for me.
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Re: Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

#83 Post by Styles Bitchley »

ConchRepublican wrote:That's a crazy amount of money for a watch .... the only thing that makes it special to me is the connection to Magnum, otherwise it just doesn't have "it" for me.
Actually, it screams "it" for me. Truly love it. Not that I can afford it, however!
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Re: Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

#84 Post by ConchRepublican »

Styles Bitchley wrote:
ConchRepublican wrote:That's a crazy amount of money for a watch .... the only thing that makes it special to me is the connection to Magnum, otherwise it just doesn't have "it" for me.
Actually, it screams "it" for me. Truly love it. Not that I can afford it, however!
I'll stick with my Tag Aquaracer . . . it's enough watch for me.

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Re: Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

#85 Post by Higgins (aka Bondtoys) »

If I may add a little expertise here.

1. The Hodinkee watch has The wrong dial glossy and with the incorrect whitegold parts around the lume plots
2. The watch in question has heavily polished lugs, there is almost no meat on the bones...
3. US$ 6800 is not very much money for a 16750. Good examples are selling for 8-9000 $

This is a good example (-fortunately mine ;))
Image
Last edited by Higgins (aka Bondtoys) on Sat Jul 15, 2017 11:56 am, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

#86 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Bondtoys.de wrote:If I may add a little expertise here.

1. The Hodinkee watch has The wrong dial glossy and with the incorrect whitegold parts around the lume plots
2. The watch in question has heavily polished lugs, there is almost no meat on the bones...
3. US$ 6800 is not very much money for a 16750. Good examples are selling for 8-9000 $

This is a good example (-fortunately mine ;))
Image
Hey Bond. I follow you on points 2 and 3, but how do you know about the dial being matte and the lume plot details? We've never really gotten a super close view of Magnum's watch.
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Re: Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

#87 Post by Higgins (aka Bondtoys) »

.... if you have to ask.... 8)

The shape of the whitegold-surrounded plots is pretty different (I call them fat compared to slim and long).
Under certain light condition the surrounded lume plots appear to be pretty small.

Having seen a lot of Rolex and 16750 in my life, I can 100% tell you that Magnum's watch has a matte dial with slim and pure lume plots.

Additionally, I've received a pic of the screen-used watch (at least that's what my contact said....) and that watch had the matte dial with the pure plots as well.
Unfortunately I am not allowed to share that pic...

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Re: Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

#88 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Uber-mysterious! Nevertheless, we're getting even more precise about Magnum's Rolex and that's awesome. I'd like to know similarly specific details about his Chronosport if anyone can offer some expertise. I know there are some details scattered around the forum.
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

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Chronosport Sea Quartz 30

#89 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Okay, so I did a bit of research myself on Magnum's Chronosport and it's certainly more difficult to find information than his Rolex. There is a decent thread here on the forum, but not much detail on what to look for. The Chronosport Sea Quartz 30 and Chronosport UDT were more financially accessible "tool watch" that guys in the US military tended to use. Apparently divers in the navy at one point were actually issued Rolexes but the military started experimenting with more cost effective watches as battery operated watches (like the Chronosport) became more reliable in the 1970s.

Choosing the Chronosport for Magnum made sense and he wasn't the only military-type guy on screen to wear one. John Rambo and Steven Segal's character in Under Seige both wore the Chronosport UDT model. MacGuyver wore a Chronosport Navigator.

Image

As for Magnum's watch the Sea Quartz 30, I've found four variations in font: One with "Quartz" only in italics; one with "Quartz" only but not in italics; One with "Sea Quartz 30" in italics; and one with "Sea Quartz 30" not in italics. I don't know what chronological order these came out in, but I believe Magnum's to be around 1978 as the ad below is from that year and appears to show the dial with "Quartz" only in italics.

Different fonts on the dials:
Image

Here's a Chronosport advertisement from 1978, which shows the price at the time and reveals Magnum's to be the Chronosport Reference 3206 (with Tropic strap):
Image

Screen grab of Magnum's Chronosport:
Image

Here's a great shot of a version that is pretty much exactly the screen worn version Magnum wears:
Image

Chronosport also made a gold plated version with a gold dial they called the "Champagne Sea Quartz 30 and a "Mini Quartz 30" (ladies) version, which doesn't feature the day of the week (below):
Image

Chronosport UDT (the Rambo Watch)
Image

Now the tricky part is finding one for sale. In 1978, the watch sold for US$149.99 with a "Tropic" strap (Magnum's) and US$164.95 with the steel bracelet. Recent ones for sale online, however, have sold for around US$750-$900 (Example 1, Example 2, Example 3. I can't find one for sale online at all just now...

Chronosport went out of business in 1999, but there is a company called Chronoserv that was named as the official service company for the watches and they still seem to be in business.
Last edited by Styles Bitchley on Mon Jan 22, 2018 3:40 am, edited 13 times in total.
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

- J.Q.H.

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Re: Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

#90 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Man. Photobucket seems to have sabotaged my post! They don't allow 3rd party hosting anymore unless you pay... Anyone using something new?
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

- J.Q.H.

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Re: Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

#91 Post by ConchRepublican »

Styles Bitchley wrote:Man. Photobucket seems to have sabotaged my post! They don't allow 3rd party hosting anymore unless you pay... Anyone using something new?
Photobucket link below . . .

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Re: Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

#92 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Weird. Wonder why mine aren't displaying! Have to do some (more) damn research.

Edit: I managed to find different places to host my images. Facebook actually works. Photobucket doesn't like me any more!
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

- J.Q.H.

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Re: Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

#93 Post by ConchRepublican »

Styles Bitchley wrote:Weird. Wonder why mine aren't displaying! Have to do some (more) damn research.

Edit: I managed to find different places to host my images. Facebook actually works. Photobucket doesn't like me any more!
Could it be a problem through mobile app vs. desktop?
CoziTV Superfan spot
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Re: Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

#94 Post by Styles Bitchley »

ConchRepublican wrote:
Styles Bitchley wrote:Weird. Wonder why mine aren't displaying! Have to do some (more) damn research.

Edit: I managed to find different places to host my images. Facebook actually works. Photobucket doesn't like me any more!
Could it be a problem through mobile app vs. desktop?
I did some googling and it seems many people on different forums are encountering this. Photobucket has essentially changed the way it does business. A bit off topic, but here's some context: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/3 ... party_pgs/
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

- J.Q.H.

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Re: Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

#95 Post by ConchRepublican »

Funny, viewing on my phone now and I can't see my logo.
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