Ever Wanted a Watch For Forty Years? My Sub 5513. At Last.

[hayday]

Congratulations!

-hayday

[shameless]

I picked it up off Chrono24 from a dealer in Italy. You should've seen my face when I put the store's address through Google Maps and up came the satellite imagery of a dirt road. Anyhow, the seller has a Premium rating on Chrono24, but I've never sent that high an amount via bank transfer and that was the scariest part.
This seller's price seemed realistic and the condition of the watch was among the best I'd seen on the site. I spent a few days mulling it over before I made the purchase.
Six or seven pre-owned watch dealers in my town, but I would only trust two of them. The rest of them play a game that I don't like. All of them told me that they hadn't seen a late '70s/early '80s 5513 for quite some time. I must admit that I hadn't seen any on their websites for the past two or three years. These models were getting a little thin on the ground here, so I widened my search.

As for the grin, it's been more of a smug smirk, but I think as the months roll by, I'll look at this watch for the time and the grin may appear out of nowhere.

re-endorse's that old adage 'there is money where there is dirt edit -btw love that watch

[uchinanchu]

Oh man I love happy endings!! Awesome watch, congrats!!!

[mlcor]

Now comes the acid test.

What's next?

If your answer is "Nothing!", then we'll just have to wait and see.

Congrats for finally landing your dream watch.

[MHe225]

Congratulations, Mr.T - now we know what was going down .... you hinted at a big purchase in some of your posts.
Thinning the herd is going to be tough, no? I've been saying that for a few years now, but I have yet to sell the first piece. I've made a few lame attempts, but guess am not ready to deal with "real buyers".

Never wanted a watch for 40 years - I could make the cheap joke that I'm too young for that. Reality is that watches were not on my radar screen in my younger years. But I wanted a Speedmaster for more than 30 years and was over the moon (pun intended) when I got mine 15 years and 5 days ago today (hey, who is counting?).

Enjoy your Sub and we're all looking forward to pics and recounts of the adventures

[popoki nui]

Oh wow...what an absolutely beautiful Sub!! Congratulations, and I hope you enjoy that watch and the warm fuzzy feeling of a long-sought-after grail for many years.


~Sherry.

[Der Amf]

Fast-forward to 1981 and I'm calling the only store in Melbourne that carries the Rolex brand. I explain to the gentleman on the phone that I'm interested in a Rolex GMT Master and could he tell me what the retail price is, please?
"You sound a little young to be wanting a Rolex", said the salesman on the other end of the line.
I explained that I've always liked them and the conversation sort of fizzled out after that.
However, I still went into the store a few weeks later to get a Rolex catalogue;
It was a small, 34 page affair. Slightly larger than a passport, slightly smaller than a paperback novel. And on page 23 was the GMT Master, model number 16750. The salesman I spoke to even wrote the retail price down for me;

Oh my God! A thousand and fifty bucks. Ouch! Still, I filed this catalogue away.

If it still exists, you need to write to that store with this story.

[Vincent Vega]

I too waited 4 decades for a watch and wrote a long diatribe about on the other forum. Yes, indeed, they are worth the wait!

Congrats on yours and I hope the "feeling" and the "newness", never wears off!!

The object of my my 40 year search...:




Johnny Depp with 'my' watch...:

[JAGtime]

Congratulations! It's a beautiful watch and a great story. Wear it in good health!

Jane

[Little Big Feather]

Great watch.........
Have you filled the tub and played "Diver" yet?
You can, you know....