Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

[Higgins (aka Bondtoys)]

Difficult to tell from a single pic but from the bracelet (if it has not been replaced) it is a 16750

[Styles Bitchley]

Difficult to tell from a single pic but from the bracelet (if it has not been replaced) it is a 16750

The 1675 has the more narrow bracelet, right? I prefer the 16750 bracelet (the one in the photo). It's more masculine. I've wanted to get a ref. 93150 bracelet for my Submariner for a long time now...hard to pull the trigger on a $1000 watch band though!

[Higgins (aka Bondtoys)]

no, the difference is in the end link:

The 1675 has the older bracelet which has a kind of end cap:

*note that the rivets are not an indicator. The old bracelet was also available without visible rivets on the bracelet sides


The 16750 have the newer bracelet with end links



But I am not sure, if transitional models of the 1675 with the new kind of bracelet also existed.

If you have a watch in hands, it's easy to differentiate the 1675 from the 16750:

1. By the serial number on the case
2. By checking the hand stack: If the 24hr hand is the closest hands to the dial, it's a 1675. If the lowest hand is the hour hand you have a 16750.

[Styles Bitchley]

Okay, so we're pretty much settled on the fact that the GMT worn by Thomas Magnum is an early 16750 with a plexi crystal and oyster bracelet.

Wondering if anyone knows more about the Rolex Selleck is wearing in these promo photos of the time. It looks like a gold Submariner with blue dial and a jubilee bracelet. I'm sure he doesn't wear it on screen at any point.

[ConchRepublican]

wow . . .

https://shop.hodinkee.com/products/1984 ... 7103378116

[Styles Bitchley]

wow . . .

https://shop.hodinkee.com/products/1984 ... 7103378116

That's the one, Conch! The true Magnum watch (although presumably from a few years earlier). A very nice example, eh?

[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.

[Styles Bitchley]

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!

[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.

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.

https://images.bloomingdales.com/is/ima ... 0&fmt=jpeg

[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 )

[Styles Bitchley]

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 )

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.

[Higgins (aka Bondtoys)]

.... if you have to ask....

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...

[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.

[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.



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:


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):


Screen grab of Magnum's Chronosport:


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


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):


Chronosport UDT (the Rambo Watch)


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.

[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?