TRIUMPHS & TRAGEDIES - Tudor Oyster Prince 34 (long) >
The story goes like this:
Shortly after I was bitten by the vintage watch bug, I got it in my head that I couldn’t be a serious collector without some sort of Rolex in my collection. After browsing Rolex auctions for several days, I came to realize that even old Rolexes were out of my price range. My “price range”, such as it was, would surely have elicited chuckles from most Rolex owners. But I am what I am, as Popeye once said, and I know what I can and can't afford. Luckily I discovered the lower priced Tudor line, and I saw some vintage Tudors going for $250 and less.
Some months later, in looking back at the auction I zeroed in on, I had to wonder what was going on in my head. The seller’s picture looked awful – the dial had some aging, and it was obvious that the crown threads were stripped. It was obvious that is, if you knew what a screw down crown was.
The seller, a fellow of Chinese extraction, living in Scarborough, Ontario, did an honest job, in his very fractured English, of describing the watch’s problems. It was not running, he said, and had not run for some time. The case was worn “a little”, particularly in between the lugs, where someone had once installed a cheap bracelet, the kind that didn't have a fixed lug insert. The movement was loose in the case, and the crown’s “pipe” was stripped, he said. The term “pipe” meant nothing to me, so I plunged ahead, winning the auction at $192.50.
When it arrived a couple weeks later, I promptly hustled it off to my local megabucks jeweler, who kept a Rolex certified repairman on staff. Their watch guy took one look at my watch and did that “sigh/head shake” thing that always precedes the news that you are about to be relieved of a big chunk of cash. He’d be able to fix it, he said, but the work was going to set me back $375. He warned me that he wouldn’t be able to do much for the case, which was worn more than “a little”.
At this point emotion had submerged reason in my feeble mind, and I told him to proceed with the work. After all, for a total of only $567.50, I was going to own a Rolex. Oops – make that $592.50. I’d be needing a Hirsch strap, too!
Well, here’s the finished product:
The work took longer than I anticipated – about six weeks. But I didn’t complain. I mean, I wanted my $375 worth of repair, right? So best not to rush the guy, I thought. When I went to pick it up, he informed me that the movement was a caliber he had not worked on before, definitely not ETA. A Rolex in house movement he thought, but one he wasn’t familiar with. I’ve since ascertained that the movement is probably the fairly rare Rolex/Tudor cal. 390, and for this reason, I’ve had a hard time letting go. To the watch guy’s credit, he did nice work, replacing the crown, crystal, hands, winding stem, and completely taking down and lubing the movement. I have to confess though, in retrospect, I can't believe I ever spent that much on a watch repair job (even though some people have told me that they didn't find the charges unreasonable). The whole experiance has colored my attitude about Rolex prices, both sales and service, ever since.
I’ve worn the watch a few times, but I find I’m not getting the thrill out of owning a “stealth” Rolex that I thought I would. It’s not nearly as much fun when you have to tell people, “It’s a Rolex... no, really, it is!"
Cheers,
Jeff
Answer:
: I promised to post about this watch if we ever had a theme day along these lines. I’m not certain if : it qualifies as more of a triumph or more of a tragedy, but I guess I’ll let you be the judge.
:
:
:
: The story goes like this:
:
:
:
: Shortly after I was bitten by the vintage watch bug, I got it in my head that I couldn’t be a serious
: collector without some sort of Rolex in my collection. After browsing Rolex auctions for several days, I
: came to realize that even old Rolexes were out of my price range. My “price range”, such as it was,
: would surely have elicited chuckles from most Rolex owners. But I am what I am, as Popeye once said, and
: I know what I can and can't afford. Luckily I discovered the lower priced Tudor line, and I saw some
: vintage Tudors going for $250 and less.
:
:
:
: Some months later, in looking back at the auction I zeroed in on, I had to wonder what was going on
: in my head. The seller’s picture looked awful – the dial had some aging, and it was obvious that the
: crown threads were stripped. It was obvious that is, if you knew what a screw down crown was.
:
:
:
: The seller, a fellow of Chinese extraction, living in Scarborough, Ontario, did an honest job,
: in his very fractured English, of describing the watch’s problems. It was not running, he said,
: and had not run for some time. The case was worn “a little”, particularly in between the lugs, where
: someone had once installed a cheap bracelet, the kind that didn't have a fixed lug insert. The movement
: was loose in the case, and the crown’s “pipe” was stripped, he said. The term “pipe” meant nothing to
: me, so I plunged ahead, winning the auction at $192.50.
:
:
:
: When it arrived a couple weeks later, I promptly hustled it off to my local megabucks jeweler,
: who kept a Rolex certified repairman on staff. Their watch guy took one look at my watch and did that
: “sigh/head shake” thing that always precedes the news that you are about to be relieved of a big chunk of
: cash. He’d be able to fix it, he said, but the work was going to set me back $375. He warned me that he
: wouldn’t be able to do much for the case, which was worn more than “a little”.
:
:
:
: At this point emotion had submerged reason in my feeble mind, and I told him to proceed with the
: work. After all, for a total of only $567.50, I was going to own a Rolex. Oops – make that $592.50. I’d be
: needing a Hirsch strap, too!
:
:
:
: Well, here’s the finished product:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
: The work took longer than I anticipated – about six weeks. But I didn’t complain. I mean, I wanted
: my $375 worth of repair, right? So best not to rush the guy, I thought. When I went to pick it up, he
: informed me that the movement was a caliber he had not worked on before, definitely not ETA. A Rolex in
: house movement he thought, but one he wasn’t familiar with. I’ve since ascertained that the movement
: is probably the fairly rare Rolex/Tudor cal. 390, and for this reason, I’ve had a hard time letting
: go. To the watch guy’s credit, he did nice work, replacing the crown, crystal, hands, winding stem,
: and completely taking down and lubing the movement. I have to confess though, in retrospect, I
: can't believe I ever spent that much on a watch repair job (even though some people have told me that
: they didn't find the charges unreasonable). The whole experiance has colored my attitude about
: Rolex prices, both sales and service, ever since.
:
:
:
: I’ve worn the watch a few times, but I find I’m not getting the thrill out of owning a “stealth”
: Rolex that I thought I would. It’s not nearly as much fun when you have to tell people, “It’s a Rolex...
: no, really, it is!"
:
:
:
: Cheers,
:
: Jeff
Jeff: I find it hard to believe your watchmaker when he says that
he doesn't know the movement and then changes a stem (a very
calibre specific item). Most of those really early Tudor movements
were reworked Felsas. Very good movements. Just think, you're
halfway to the real thing; you can feel semi-exclusive.
DHH