just wondering...i've had mine for 25 years, through a lot of jumps, Somalia, Ranger School, a good deal of mountaineering and eleven years of land surveying...it works fine for me...

just don't refer to me as an older gentleman...not yet...

Yes sir!

As a product of my upbringing I refer to most men as sir. This particular older gentleman probably had grandchildren older than me.

same here...southern upbringing, call most men sir, most women ma'am...except when i'm calling them a ###$#$$@%%%^^^ and stuff like that...

I guess that getting the Rolex is a matter of tradition. I know that I saved a long while for mine, and was a long way off from being able to afford one, when I came across an unbeatable deal on a new GMT-Master in the Canal Zone back in...what? 1980? It was a hell of a long time ago, and this watch has aged gracefully, and it just keeps on ticking.

I outgrew the band, at one point....and then I lost the freakin' spare links that I had saved over decades and through several moves....so it languished in a box for a few years. I tried to get it worked on, get some new links....and the snooty lady wanted like $800 for cleaning and I do not know what all.....that was more than I paid for the watch in the first place. I just laughed at her. Rolex stores are very stuffy, and apparently their clientele think nothing of just giving money away for no good reason. I can still remember how the lady looked at me when I laughed at her. Kind of goggle-eyed...and definitely offended.

:)

On a whim, I took it to Baghdad with me when I went the year before last. I guess that I figured that I might be able to get it worked on in Jordan or Dubai or someplace. I do not remember how the topic arose....but after awhile I was working with this great guy....a Sunni Arab.....and he "knew a guy"...a master watch guildsman in a bad neighborhood....and he took my watch to him.

It took awhile to come back...and I admit that there were days where I wrote it off, and I thought that I had been ripped off....but sure enough...one day, my friend returned my watch to me....it was like new. The crystal had been replaced....new sapphire.....it had been cleaned....and it had new links. Genuine Rolex links.

The bill was $45.

The watch has not been off my wrist since.

I think that wearing a Rolex is an old SF tradition. I wanted one because the guys that I idolized when I was young all wore them.

It amazes me to this day.....when I go to a watch shop here in Bangkok....and I see the prices that are charged for new GMT-Masters. In excess of $3k USD.

I paid $600 for mine.

This watch is 25 years old. It just purrs along, loses no time, gains no time....it just does what it does: it tells me the time at a glance, and the date. And for some reason....people covet them. I do not know why, but a Rolex has cachet. The manager at the Foodland on Sirinakarin Road admired it out of the blue one day, when I was consulting him on a matter of professional importance (a whiskey recommendation). Somehow, Thais can tell at a glance whether you are wearing a genuine Rolex or a cheap knock-off. I cannot tell. The knock-offs that are sold in Chinatown here look utterly authentic, to me.

When you consider the price that I paid for it....and its durability and quality....my Rolex is one of the best investments that I ever made.

:)

I've only had my Rolex GMT Master II for 17 years. I had to have the crystal replaced once and cleaned at the same time. It still looks brand new and keeps great time. I did have the work done at the dealer my wife bought the watch at. It was expensive as I reall. I get t pressure tested on occassion, when the Rolex dealer offers to do it for free.

Most of the Rolex knockoffs that I have seen were battery operated and if you watched the second hand it didn't tick like the real Rolex it moved with that jerky motion one second at a time. I was always going to buy one of them in Hong Kong when I passed through there but never did. I've seen them in Mexico too.

i had to have the crystal replaced on mine shortly after i got it...we were climbing in the Alps and i was belaying the guy above me...i had the watch in the top pocket of the rucksack, for reasons i can no longer explain (i have since used the watch as a climbing aid)...anyway, the guy knocked loose a rock, i ducked into the side of the mountain and a chunk of limestone the size of a steel pot hit the top of my rucksack, damn near sending me off the belay stand...it cracked the crystal pretty bad...when i took it to Franz Bauer's shop in Munich (he coulda been a spy for the Russians, he'd sold a watch to almost every SF guy in BT) he said he'd never seed a crystal break that badly...it still kept great time...

i wonder if i can get mine upgraded to a GMT Master II...i told my wife that when i made LTC, i was going to get a gold GMT Master and a turbo Porsche...i think that's why she insisted i retire as a major... :eek:

I don't even recall how I broke mine, it was awhile ago. Yeah, I love those Gold ones with the blue dials.

Was it you that mentioned the old "SF List?" I don't remember the whole list now, but as I recall, I collected most if not all of it. Rolex Watch (1), Randall, Knife (2), (1) SF Gold Ring w/blue Star Sapphire Stone, (1) Red Sports Car (Miata, actually my wifes.) (I don't think Porsche was on the list; however, over the years I owned (3) First a 74 Silver 914, then a Blue 75 911 Coupe and in 78 a Silver 78 Targa.) Of the three my favorite was the 75 911 Coupe it really handled good!

I drive an Audi (99 A-6) right now, so when I get it serviced I get to drool over the new Porsches there at the dealers. The prices on those things now, are way out of my reach . :boohoo

it wasn't me, but i seem to recall divorce papers were on some of the lists...

Upgraded to a GMT II ? Wouldnt they have to replace just about all the guts to do that?

Archangel - Here's your vote of thanks (or you're in deep kimchee - I haven't figured out which). (Had to do something to break in on all these FOGs bragging about their Rolexes.) Actually, thanks to everybody who has contributed to this thread. I misplaced my G-shock about two weeks ago and the thread helped me make up my mind on a replacement. I used the link you gave to get myself a ProTrek (Pathfinder) the solar powered, 3-sensor PRG50YT1VDR. Got the FedEx delivery this morning. As I feared, the instruction booklet weighs more than the watch. So far it seems fairly intuitive at the basic level, and as I expected, I'll probably never use some of the functions. I do have to say it's the nicest Casio I've ever seen though. It's also huge. We'll see how it holds up over the long run. Later - Peregrino

beats me...i ain't no watch mechanic...

Good choice Peregrino. I haven't decided on a watch yet, as there are too many things that are on my list to buy before I go back to the sandbox.
I have my eye (no pun) on some Oakley Hatchets as my next purchase. :D

http://www.sunglasses-int.com/images/items/05-883.jpg

you're just jealous...you probably never had a demo knife either... :D

Hmmm! Well I had one of those too, with the one who was with me most of my active and SF time. :boohoo

Yes - I am jealous. :p The Rolex was/is the only status symbol on the "list" that I actually wanted my first 5 or so years in Group. I was on a dive team when they were still issuing the Tudors. The status symbol for us was the Submariner w/the Helium release valve. Never understood why - none of us were ever going to do saturation diving. The one time in my career when I had the opportunity to get one, I was married and never seemed to have any money - despite lucrative TDYs. Finally wised up and got rid of the parasite that was sucking the life out of me but by then I was back in the States and couldn't begin to afford one. As for demo knives - actually I've had 5-6 of them over the years. It was an OK status symbol in the early 80's because they were so hard to find/acquire but they really weren't that great. (Personal opinion.) Most of mine went to make up shortages in the demo bags at various change of command inventories. (No - not the ones I acquired them from in the first place. :D Never steal from your own!) The rest of them were gifted to counterparts or just misplaced/lost. I'm sure most of us have had similar experiences. I finally started carrying a Swiss Army knife because it was a better utility pocket knife and nobody could accuse me of acquiring it nefariously. FWIW - Peregrino