Appreciating asset?

Seriously? Even the brochure is appreciating in value?! 

RubbadubSUB

A gorgeous pic of the black sub date courtesy of mr. google

BND $1x.xk was the offered prices after discount for the black sub date at the one and only local AD.  I suspect however if one plonks 10k cash, it'd go. But hey, ya never know.

After wearing the Green Sub for a while now, it really is a no nonsense kinda watch. Fits in seamlessly in my daily life. Novelty of the green bits have slowly but surely worn off somewhat. But every so often when a shimmer of light hits it, it reminds me why it was bought ... Spectacular! Then it's back to business as usual. Oh how quickly we all get bored of things in general ... and it's the next summink that we look forward to for some very short excitement... abit like sex... so sad!

Baselworld 2015

As I was watching Baselworld 2015 on Li channel Astro, whose coverage was mediocre by the way because it focused more on the event rather than what's new being released, I was caught by this statement made by some geezer who was being interviewed, from what I remember: 

A prestige timepiece is not just something that tells you the time. It is a means to communicate. It communicates your status, your wealth, how you feel, how you want to be perceived. If you just wanted it to tell time, you might as well get a $5 watch which can do the same thing or simply look at your smartphone which does it for free.

A little horology humor

I remember I used to think like the guy on the left and I hardly even wore a watch. I have seen the light... Or should that be, seen the bling.

Milgauss 116400 GV

Other than the GMT's and dateless submariner, the latest milgauss appeals to me even though it doesn't look like a conventional Rolex sports watch.

Its appeal to me obviously is the geeky aspect of the magnetic shielding being an ex-Engineer by profession, not that I worked in such an environment. It's nice knowing, in the event that you do get exposed to high magnetic fields you'd be safe in the knowledge that your trusty Rolex would still work to tell you accurate time whilst all your other devices fails.

Makes you feel like you've prepped yourself good & proper for any impending, dare I say it, doomsday. Now all you need is to sort out the rest of the necessities required for human survival.

Bug: Chomp!

Ok someone explain to me why I want one of these now?

Rolex Submariner 14060 "no date"

or

Rolex Submariner 114060 "no date"

Kambomambo, you don't happen to have one lying around for me to take off your hands like the GMT?

To Buy or Say Goodbye

Am still somewhat unsure about ref. 116520. The latest reiteration has had a number of  updates from it's manufacturer, albeit quite ones. For decades, nothing visually has changed. But the internals has been updated (2000) as time progressed - Rolexes own movement 4130. Their mechanical prowess has found its way into it by means of 'osmosis', as it isn't loudly advertised --- which is odd. Other makers of fine watches would have jumped at the opportunity of technical breakthroughs and take appropriate marketing positions to sell their products. Then again, the Daytona is the least marketed product line in the Rolex catalogue and sells without the need for any marketing. Sick!

What bothers me is the excess shiny bits. Looks more dressy than tool. Fair enough that its probably as such so prospective owners are given are harder time making sure that it is 'babied'. I would have preferred the bezel in Rolexes proprietary black cerachome, that would make the face look bigger than it really is. It already is on it's precious metal variants so whats stopping them from doing so?

A pic from monochrome has a photoshopped stainless variant in Rolexes cerachrome bezel to depict what it would look like in white face ala panda dial. Beautiful! That looks so classic referring to the yesteryear Paul Newman look, which aficionado's fall over themselves. This new bezel has only found its way onto the platinum and everose gold model only thus far. Question is will it find its way to the el-cheapo stainless variant? The current reiteration as above has been around for a while, and it has not changed visually with the exception of seeing (or not seeing) Rolexes own caliber 4130 movement from the Zenith's modified 4030. 

Ponder and ponder some more funny guy!  

Bye Bye ref. 16710

ref. 16710

Bye bye coke! Hope your new home treats you well. Serve your new boss well as you have with your former. Am sure you’re happy getting  plenty of wrist time now that you're are out from the dark cold storage. You will be dearly missed but its time to move on. Ciao!

Rolex GMT Master II 16710 Black & Red "coke bezel"

"Cause I'm happy..." As the song goes.

Well, here it is finally. My first ever lolex. Not a new one but one bought with prudent spending in mind. Much like how the government wants us to be mindful of nowadays.

Not much to say for now really, I'm still trying to get used to wearing it after adjusting the bracelet to suit my wrist. I'm literally swapping the watch on both wrist every few hours. Maybe I'm not used to it & need to wear it "Ah-beng" loose style. 

Incidentally, the photo was taken while stationary, so you know, as indicated in the somewhat similar looking rev counter to the bezel of a Rolex... 

Wotta Nice Pair of TOTOs

Brand new Rolex will have to wait for now. 

Necessities of daily life have to be attended to. New pair of Toto sink taps to replace the cheap Showy brands before this, one of which was leaking. So following the "change in pairs" rule like with tyres, suspension bits & rolexes... Whaa... 

Hulk-Mania!

Last week, after waiting to ‘book-buy’, I now have in my possession the much sought-after Sub 116610 LV ‘Hulk’

ref. 116610LV

--- only after recently buying a pair of friggin' Explorer II’s, in both colors! 

ref. 216570

Not that the ‘Hulk’ was offered, but more like ‘book-to-buy’, if it ever came round to our shores. The local AD knew I was seeking for much-sought-after models well before buying the pair of Explorer II's. Having met their assumed prerequisites, only did the AD start offering me access (more like view) to available-but-hidden models --- the illusive yet slightly less popular white Daytona! (Asian’s prefer the black versions whilst the Europeans the white model). Apparently it arrived as a pair in both black and white, but the more sought after black was bought the moment it arrived. Told them I needed to see both watches (Hulk and white Daytona) to decide. To my surprise they mentioned that a ‘Hulk’ was on the way and that they will call me back in when it arrived for my consideration. Best part is, 2 weeks past and the Hulk arrived with a black Daytona! 

It didn’t help that another gentlemen before me had just enquired about the Black Daytona however they decided to allow me to do a once over (black and white Daytona) together with my ‘Hulk’. So how is it that I ended up getting the Hulk instead of the supposed more illusive Daytona? As I was holding the ‘Hulk’ in my hands, a walk in customer (a local pilot) was looking for the same watch and wanted to buy ‘today’ if they had it. Apparently he had returned from Switzerland and Singapore and has been looking all over for this model and the GMT II BLNR. As he left, and with the reassurance from the AD that this was ‘the’ now to get version of Sub family and with my very generous lovely wife who after seeing me admiring pictures of both watches day in day out literally on a regular basis decided to buy it as an advanced wedding anniversary gift right then! phoarrrrrr!

So why didn’t I snap up the Black Daytona at the same time you may ask? … Competing attention from both cool watches, plus I would feel guilty spending all that dough on two friggin’ illusive Rolex models on the same day (well correctly not by me but for me).  However, I didn’t let it go as I still needed time to mull over the purchase of it. Buying not 1 but a few Rolexes in the time span of a few weeks in between each can wreak havoc in one’s bank balance… hello!

The AD weren't seemingly too pleased for holding back the black Daytona as that meant that they probably figured that I would try haggle for it later…. Which of course is a must! They did mention that they would prefer not selling two of their prized watches going to the same person. I brushed their excuse off as if it didn’t matter, because I thought that their excuse was rubbish, and still think its rubbish!

I have till early next month to purchase the Daytona, which is inexcusably long for any AD. Having read many articles/ forums on the WWW, it seems 3 days max to hold is permissible… but over 3 weeks?! Hahaha. We’ll see … we’ll see …

Hot Potato

All 'special' iterations of Rolexes need a lil' patience. Luckily for us, Brunei's AD is not as bonkers as those in Sq, where typically even standard stainless sport models won't even get you a discount, even if they had it. They would try to milk the maximum from any buyer willing to part their hard earned mulla for a lil’ luxury. This happened to me personally in 2008 when I bought a black GMT-Master II ref. 116170 LN that retailed at SGD$9,500.

Fantastic alternative to the Sub!

Having visited a good number of AD's, many mentioned that it was hard to find, hard to get, not available for walk-in buys but for bookings only... yada3! The best excuse they came up with was, ‘we have it but the market has dictated the price’. Cheah, whatever that means! After many months of looking around I eventually managed to get one at a ‘decent’ SGD$1k over-retail at SGD$10,500. I literally had to beg to get it at that price. To be fair this was the first time that Rolex came out with the ‘cerachrome’ bezel for any of their watches (2007). Even as one year had passed since launch, it was still a sellers market for the then coveted ‘cerachrome’ bezeled watch. 

Back to Brunei’s AD --- although they do try to exercise the typical Rolex VIP client privileges where they only offer regular return clients hard-to-get special iterations of their coveted sport models, I do however believe their efforts to exercise that bad habit is somewhat ineffective as it all boils down to our limited market size, neighbouring AD's are only a hop away and that tourists are few and far between.

It seems that if they notice that you're a serious buyer and not the kind that just asks and compare prices, they may entertain you well. Funny thing is, you still have to offer your contact and show keenness in buying for ‘bookings’.... yes bookings! It doesn’t work the other way round where one would be offered to be contacted if the product has arrived. Even then, the 1^st thing they would tell you, if asked, is ‘their’ retail price for the asked model. Discount?, then ask again… typically today’s standard is the recommended no-more-than 5%. But that is only for the standard pieces. Special coveted models? --- Retail price is the order of the day. You really must have bought a few pieces in the last short moments beforehand/ regular buyer/ VIP cockaspanial types to be offered one to buy, let alone be considered for a discount. 

My Ultimate Rolex Sport Watches

Firstly, welcome Kambomambo to the blog. Finally, after nearly a year we see a post. All because of a small matter of activating the "Author" email that was sent by me but never clicked on. So Vaperine, you know what to do now, the authorization I resent is still languishing waiting for you to click on the link. Get to it! Now on with the show... my first post of 2015.

 Rolex GMT Master-II 116719 BLRO (aka Pan Am aka Pepsi)

This has to be the ultimate Rolex for me. Granted there will be others which holds it's value better or rated better. However, I have never been big on watches but if I had to own one, the "Pan Am" has always been my childhood fantasy. Sadly, this current iteration with the dual color cerachrome & in white gold to boot is not only rare but well outside of my means. Gone are the days when it was still in the 4 digit price range.

Rolex GMT-Master II 116710 BLNR (aka Batman)

This has to be the closest dual color bezel GMT I could afford to acquire, at least in current generation form. Actually it makes more sense in this color combination, black for night time sky & blue for day time sky as represented on the scale. There is of course the rarity issue which is the next hurdle that needs to be overcome in order to get one. Now if only Rolex would issue out the Black & Red "Coke" iteration, just to make life more interesting, or more complicated! I wonder what the price differential would be for that.

Rolex GMT-Master II 116710 LN

So if I can't get either of the above, how do I convince myself to get this? Yes it looks very sharp in all black, it's similarly priced as a Submariner with the date, has the 24 hour functionality. But it's not the one I really want, even though it looks quite handsome. The niggling thing on the back of my mind would be the lack of the dual color on the 24 hour bezel which I'm so preoccupied with. Knowing that my first Sports Watch from Rolex would probably be my one and only purchase I don't want to rue the day if I make a regrettable decision. It is after all just in the five digit figure purchase. Which is the most expensive I would have ever paid for a single item that isn't a car. 

Rolex Submariner 114060 (no date)

Honestly, I should have just bought this and be done with it. My 1st Rolex should be this entry level sports rolex. At least it's still in the four digit price range (by not much) and it possibly might not be my last Rolex, but that ship has sailed. So now I'm still timepiece-less... not considering the Tag Heuer as on now izzit... yup it's like that now! But that isn't the point. The point of this fairly long post is to decide on which Rolex Sport Watch I should go for... I thought it was clear the "Batman" would be the best balance... but it isn't readily available, unless I get it from Hong Kong. Last chance to decide before the ship sails again... hmmm, maybe that's a metaphor for me to settle for a Submariner instead of a GMT.

Images courtesy of your friendly neighborhood google

2012 Rolex Price list

Rolex price list (Singapore) in SGD for reference as at Dec 30, 2012:

Milgauss
116400 $10020
116400 GV $10710

Explorer 1 214270 $8520

Explorer 2 216570 $10580 

GMT Master 2
116710 $10980 'black bezel'

Submariner
14060M $8520 'Sub - no date'
116610 $11120 'Sub with date'
116610 LV $11810 'Hulk'

Hope it proves useful for those looking for a bargain! For those interested with current lemming events wrt to Rolex being snapped up like chicken feed, see 'Rolexes snapped up in Singapore after Swiss franc appreciation' - http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/rolexes-snapped-singapore-prices-climb-20150120