What time is it? Watches and horology

I was in Winchester over the weekend, they've still got that PloProf in the window, no mention of the issues that the chap who wrote the book on them identified of course.

He offered to call the shop, talk them through the points he'd identified (serial number of the movement meant it was a service part, issues with the dial and so on) - but they told me that they'd pulled it from sale so I never put them in touch. Clearly that was code for "this isn't going the way we wanted", as it's in their window!

Yeah, I mean, you’re a vintage guy so you’re always going to lean that way, I’m the opposite... those snowflakes are deeply cool watches though.

I just feel something Rolex like a DJ/DD/OP makes sense as an end gamer - neutral enough to dress up or down, tough, waterproof, will age well, etc. But I’m probably projecting my preferences onto you...

true about the Tudor, i think i will save up for the Cartier, if i'm impatient i'll go for a speedy or FOIS.

They guy at the Tudor AD had one of these on. Looked so much better than the 58. the plexi and the square markers made all the difference.

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Looking at selling my GMT to pay for mooring feess till I can sell my narrowboat.

I intend to take it in for a service/ light polish prior to selling but if anybody is interested and would prefer it just serviced I can arrange.

I've owned for last 14 years and worn it most of that time. Comes with black bezel fitted and spare 'coke' bezel (small scratch) and all original paperwork/ boxes

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My Turdor Hydronaut doesn't seem quite right when I'm adjusting the time. The hacking doesn't always work and sometimes it feels like it's slipping a little. It hasn't been serviced for some time so I guess I should get it looked at before anything worse happens.

It's an ETA 2824 so I imagine it shouldn't be overly complicated. I assume Alsal would be the recommendation, any ideas how much a service is there?

Classic, my dad has the exact same which kinda precludes me unless it’s mega bargainz. GLWS

@regal I think I know you’re right, it should be a new watch that gets worn daily but literally nothing I’ve tried has made me jump up and down. I haven’t tried the new Rolex releases other than @ChainBreaker and I’d deffo need a 36mm.

Wow how much are you thinking?

They should really only use snowflake hands with block markers (like on the Pelagos). It’s a weird mix with dots.

Well yeah, I think I’ve said before but you def need to try and find a black dial OP34 to try on. That’s the “vintage” 36mm size really, the size that your hummer and KS are. The lugs might still look a bit thick next to the old watches though.

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Honestly, I don't know. Just tried to look at prices on Ebay (sold) and Chrono24 and they seem to vary dramatically...

Classic, my dad has the exact same which kinda precludes me unless it’s mega bargainz. GLWS

Not exactly the same, this is a GMT-Master II rather than the I. Lovely watch!

Fair enough, me too tbh so I won’t make a potential low ball offer and insult you. Maybe you can get a valuation with the service? Feel free to PM me once you have a figure in mind.

Does polishing make it less desirable? I see a lot of ads saying ‘not polished ‘.

In my fairly uneducated opinion somewhere between £7-8k with all the gubbins but needing a service. I wouldn’t polish it, let the next owner decide.
Just out of interest, what did it cost in 2005, £3.5k?!

@jv some people like shiny, some people like original (me), but once you choose to polish, that’s it.

will let you know a price when I've worked something out

thanks, I was thinking around £7k but didn't know if I was being greedy - the couple I can see on eBay have gone for approx. that but some with no boxes or papers which I assume add value?

I bought it second hand but unworn from the 'for sale' section of a Subaru forum (owned an Impreza at the time). Had to drive to Carlisle (from Manchester) and meet a chap in a car park with £2k in cash under the drivers seat! Not sure I'd do it now

Damn. Bargain. Yeah, papers and box and that bezel make a huge difference.

Also, this. I tried on a 34mm OP at the weekend and the size is awesome. Though FWIW, the flat black dial has now been discontinued(!) and they've updated it to a sunburst black :-( Nowhere near as nice.

They actually didn’t do a black dial for a while, which seems weird for Rolex. The one in that pic is the sunburst one, I’ve not seen it IRL, is it more dramatic than it looks in pics?

Oh, surprising. The women in Wempe said 'this dial is new for 2019. They changed it from a flat black to sunburst black' and yes, it's very not black. The white one is a totally flat white. The black is 100% sunburst to my eyes. I was really surprised, but the olive green is actually really lovely.

My partner wants a 31mm OP but for some reason, Rolex are now only making the 31 with horrid Roman numeral dials and there seem to be hardly any second hand Arabic numeral 31mm's on the market. Don't really wanna buy a Rolex grey market either as the saving is so small. Such a weird move. Roman numerals >>>>

Interesting. I’m fairly sure they only just brought black and white back to the OP last year, and the black was definitely a sunburst then, so maybe they’ve turned it up to 11 for this year? Or the boutique lighting was exaggerating it. Or she was talking shit.

Agree on Roman numerals, train tracks etc - that can all do one. That’s why the new DJ 36 is a real peach. Nice and simple.

So nice to see a Rolex without the gash chocolate box script inside the bezel wall...

Perhaps she was just chatting shit. And yeah, the way she made it out was as though the 'new' black dial was changed for a 'new new' sunburst.

The dial choice on the DJ in 31mm is far superior, too, but $6+k seems a lot to spend on a watch when she's never owned a watch before outside of an Apple Watch. Tried to convince her to get a Nomos/Tudor but she's a self confessed and in her words 'brand whore.'

Aren’t we all.

So nice to see a Rolex without the gash chocolate box script inside the bezel wall...

Zoom in buddy 👻

The GMT.