closing tag is in template navbar
timefactors watches



TZ-UK Fundraiser
Results 1 to 18 of 18

Thread: The ones that got away....

  1. #1
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Malta (Europe)
    Posts
    1,721

    The ones that got away....

    Do you ever look at photos of a watch, from a bygone era, that you were close to buying but never did? And now you really kick yourself for not doing so at the time!?

    For various reasons they are very hard to get now. Their modern offerings just don't do it for me and I feel that their classic beauty, will not be repeated.

    While there has been quite a few, there are less than a handful which for me, have always stayed indelibly in my mind.

    Unfortunately for me I don't buy old/used watches and certainly can't afford to pay x2 times RRP on any watch.

    My list in no particular order:

    Seiko SBDX005
    Rolex 16610LV
    Omega SMP 2220.80.00

    Do you have any?

  2. #2
    Master ozzyb123's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    London
    Posts
    1,027
    Quote Originally Posted by buddy13 View Post
    Do you ever look at photos of a watch, from a bygone era, that you were close to buying but never did? And now you really kick yourself for not doing so at the time!?

    For various reasons they are very hard to get now. Their modern offerings just don't do it for me and I feel that their classic beauty, will not be repeated.

    While there has been quite a few, there are less than a handful which for me, have always stayed indelibly in my mind.

    Unfortunately for me I don't buy old/used watches and certainly can't afford to pay x2 times RRP on any watch.

    My list in no particular order:

    Seiko SBDX005
    Rolex 16610LV
    Omega SMP 2220.80.00

    Do you have any?
    Every time I see any Rolex GMT selling between £9-15k I remember hesitating pulling the trigger when they were going around the £4-6k mark. Not because I could've made a few quid, more because the entry price would be beyond me (and there's no chance of getting a new GMT from an AD...)

  3. #3
    Master Dr.Brian's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    California dreamin'
    Posts
    1,002
    The only two that I was actually going to buy but talked myself out of before passing the credit card across the counter that I regret are an AP ROO End of Days in 2000 (At at discount!) and a final run Pepsi GMT at retail in 2008. The EoD was sitting unloved and unwanted at the AD in La Jolla CA for a long time. I liked it, but my wife didn’t. Both of them would have been a great return on investment if flipped. Though I wouldn’t have sold the AP during the crazy price hype, I’d still be wearing it. The Pepsi would have probably gone though. I picked up a Sea Dweller instead at the time and use the bezel infinitely more than I would have used the GMT.
    Last edited by Dr.Brian; 12th September 2019 at 03:00.

  4. #4
    Master Dr.Brian's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    California dreamin'
    Posts
    1,002
    Just remembered another one. One of my medical school friends was pretty flush with old family money. He traded in his 2tone submariner for a Patek Aquanaut when they first came out, not long after he offered it to me, the only other watch guy he knew, for $6k. He thought it was too small and thin after wearing a sub for several years. I don’t know what the original MSRP was, but I remember thinking I should take it. I would have bought it, but I had just bought a new car and didn’t have the extra loot at the moment. I was on a military scholarship which paid my tuition and gave me a generous monthly income so money wasn’t much of a problem. Asking my parents for a $6k loan for a watch wasn’t going to happen though. Lol. Of course in retrospect I should have just asked for the loan and paid them back over the year. I’d probably still have that as well, even though it was “only” 38mm.

  5. #5
    Master senwar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Sheffield
    Posts
    3,769
    Not really a bygone era but these:

    Kept it 6 weeks, wore it once, couldn't get on with it (PCL). Sold for RRP. Yes, I don't mind saying the crazy ££ makes me regret this one but saying that it would have gone long before we got to today's values. But would have been a great investment



    And regret not buying both of these when I had the chance. Went with the date version (also now gone and replaced with a few Tudors)


  6. #6
    Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Lancashire
    Posts
    2,562
    Only three and all Omega

    1)Omega 2254 upto a few weeks ago although now i have a Rolex SD43 the itch has gone.

    2)Omega Silver Snoopy...i knew when these came out 5 years ago they would fetch silly money but i wanted one for personal reasons connected to the wife.Refused one at £8000 and now well over £16000.

    3)Omega Seamaster Quartz...sold a LNIB on here a few years ago and should have kept it as a grab and go.

    Nothing else so far.

  7. #7
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Malta (Europe)
    Posts
    1,721
    Quote Originally Posted by senwar View Post
    Not really a bygone era but these:

    Kept it 6 weeks, wore it once, couldn't get on with it (PCL). Sold for RRP. Yes, I don't mind saying the crazy ££ makes me regret this one but saying that it would have gone long before we got to today's values. But would have been a great investment



    And regret not buying both of these when I had the chance. Went with the date version (also now gone and replaced with a few Tudors)

    Also sold my 114060M & 116610 crazy cheap myself. Must have lost near to 1K Euro on each one, as I bought them new at near retail.

    Those who bought them made a great investment.

    However, apart from the investment aspect, there is also the issue that the watches from my list are very expensive or very hard to find in unworn condition or that the design of their modern counterparts keeps veering in the direction which I do not like.

  8. #8
    Grand Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    North
    Posts
    18,926
    Blog Entries
    2
    Ive always wanted a JLC tribute to deep sea alarm, particularly the american dial variant.

  9. #9
    Craftsman
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    East Midlands
    Posts
    659
    I was in Canada in 2014 and found a Rolex 116600 in an AD. I ummed and ahhhed over it for a good while but walked away. I had the chance to buy the same watch in Goldsmiths a short while later in the U.K. and flapped again.

    The 116600 is the only watch I had a chance to buy and didn’t that I regret. I want one now but the price of them today versus then is just silly.

  10. #10
    Master murkeywaters's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Near the sea
    Posts
    7,122
    For me it was a gold Day Date with diamond bezel on a croc strap, not my sort of watch back 3 years ago but it was at a local auction and nobody bid so I asked about it, the house said the owner wanted £2k so with fees about £2.5k, I offered £1.7k and nothing came of it.

    Looking back I could have had it serviced by an independent and swapped the diamond bezel for a fluted gold, would have stood me at way less than £3k and I now like the DD, why didnt I man up and pay the asking..

  11. #11
    Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Berkshire
    Posts
    5,105
    Breitling Navitimer and Omega Speedmaster back in the 90’s. Especially the Navitimer - it was around £500 at the time for a decent one from a dealer and was a lot easier to get.
    The Speedmaster less one that ‘got away’ as they’re quite plentiful.

  12. #12
    Nearly bought a GMT LN from an AD last year, but was holding out for the BLNR.

    Ended up with neither in the end!

  13. #13
    Grand Master jwg663's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    21.5 km From Moscow
    Posts
    16,881
    Always fancied a Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk II.

    I should have bought one when I could, but I didn't & wouldn't buy one now...
    ______

    ​Jim.

  14. #14
    Master
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    5,412
    Yes. Fancied a blue Tudor snowflake more than a decade ago, didn’t get one. Also didn’t get the Vacheron Constantin 222 I fancied, or a Royal Oak 15202 - I recall looking at the older jumbo style models with the logo at 12 which were a bit less. Both of those seemed pretty pricey at the time at a little over £10k, so I never summoned up the courage. Now it’s £25k for the RO and £35k for the 222. D’oh.

  15. #15
    Master
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    London UK
    Posts
    1,224
    A 16600 new from a Greek AD in around 2008 which I tried on but wasn’t in a position to buy. Then the same watch in 2009 just as they were being discontinued which was new in the AD in the U.K. and would probably be worth quite a bit now!

    Other one was an Explorer 1 I looked at loads of times in a jewellers pre owned section around that time for just over £2k. Shortly before I decided to actually go for it-hopefully with a discount they sold it!

    Did buy both of them in the end several years later which makes it worse but of course paid more than I could have done if I got those ones!

  16. #16
    I turned my nose up at a 116710LN unworn in stickers for less than retail, I think it was £3750? I planned to buy that and a 16700 Pepsi at the same time. I didn’t like the GMT but bought the Pepsi for £1900!


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  17. #17
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Malta (Europe)
    Posts
    1,721
    Guess many of us have similar experiences....and I used to wonder why people were buying half a dozen 16600 SD's 7 or so years ago!

  18. #18
    Craftsman Tabs's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    Liverpool, UK
    Posts
    300
    Just a few days ago but I'm sitting here now in my hotel room thinking I should have bought it. We're in Gran Canaria for a couple of weeks and staying in Meloneras, which has two AD outlets. Got here Sunday and thought I'd just check the nearest of the two AD's Window for a laugh. What's sat there.... But two SD's - one 44mm and the other Bi-Metal.

    Headed in and enquired the availability, the AD gladly pulled it out of the window and commented the price was €11070 (about £700 over list). It was sized perfectly to my wrist but immediately after sliding it on it just felt too big for my liking. Did the usual umming and arring but decided to pass. The dealer was great and said both watches wouldn't be round for long. I gracefully made my excuses and said I'd be back later in the day for another look after a think. But both I and the AD knew it would be sold withing the hour.

    Strolled past an hour later and both were gone from the window.

    Plenty other stock in their window though with DJ41's, Air Kings, OP and even a Yacth Master II.

    Anyway, time for a beer and hopefully a clean start to Liverpool's CL Title defense 😀

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Do Not Sell My Personal Information