My Vintage Submariner 1680: The Story and Pictures
So I have this 1680 that I adore and wanted to show it off a bit. It also has a somewhat interesting story which I'll share but if you'd like to skip right past that, there are a bunch of pictures below so just scroll on ahead, :)
So here's the somewhat interesting story...my father got me into Rolexes. He's always had a great eye for design and quality so obviously a Rolex was perfect for him. A couple years before I was born (1979-1980), he got himself a Rolex Submariner. Growing up I always remembered seeing this watch on his wrist. I had no idea of its value, history or really what it was. Just knew it was always there. When I was in high-school, my father told me that when I graduated college, I could get a Rolex of my choice as a commemoration gift (my parents did not pay my college tuition as they wanted to teach my financial independence and money management this way). He also told me that in the late 80s, he came to a realization that he didn't want luxury items in his life and sold his Sub for what he paid (in other words, he sold it for way too low). He posted an ad in the local newspaper and was gone within hours. This is a huge regret in his life. He replaced the watch around 2000 with a 14060 and that is his daily wearer today.
Fast forward to 2002 as I enter my final year of college. As motivation, I have a GMT (16710) as the background wallpaper of my computer; the watch I decided I wanted once I graduated. The plan was that my father and I would travel to Switzerland together. Pick up the watch and also have a nice father/son vacation. But as the year went along, I was expecting my father to start bringing up the trip to start our planning but he wasn't. Now we're in 2003 and just weeks away from my graduation and I assumed the trip wasn't happening. I never brought it up as I know my parents have had ups/downs financially and was afraid this may be one of the "downs" and I didn't want them to feel bad about it. June rolls around and they fly down to California for my graduation. We're at dinner the night before graduation (my aunt/uncle are also in attendance as they lived in the city I went to school and were like parents to me while I was in school) and all of sudden my dad stands up, reaches into his pocket and pulls out a watch and hands it to me. It's the 16710 (Coke) I had as my computer wallpaper for the past year. I was flabbergasted. I had so many questions! I had a Rolex in my hands! MY Rolex! Then my father reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a 16610 and gives it to my uncle. He's equally flabbergasted. He said it was a gift from my parents for taking care of me so well while I was in school (my uncle also got me an internship at a start-up while I was in school that helped me kick off my career once I graduated). My dad had flown to Switzerland for a single night and purchased both watches without telling anyone (he wanted to buy them in Switzerland as the dollar was a bit stronger and he wanted to "buy them at the source")....obviously my father didn't know about DAVIDSW, :)
(And for those of you wondering, my dad had all the boxes/papers...he just likes giving gifts VERY casually. Every piece of jewelry my mom has received was from his pocket wrapped in a napkin.)
So that's the background on how I got introduced to Rolex and how I got my first Rolex. If you've read this much, stick with me just a bit longer...
Now fast forward to Jan/Feb of 2015. My parents are visiting me in San Francisco and one of the things on our agenda for the weekend is to go to the Antiques Faire which is one of the largest on the west coast (only behind the Pasadena/Rose Bowl one I believe). We get up early and attend ready to walk around and visit the hundreds of vendors. I had recently started learning more about Rolexes (thanks to this wonderful forum) but knew VERY little. I come across this stand where this older gentleman has a number of watches in a case. I immediately notice a few Rolexes and within those, a Submariner 1680. I ask to look at it so he takes it out of the case and I think it's too good to be true. How can a 1680 be in such good condition? He mentions that he is selling it for the wife of the original owner who seldom wore it and it sat in a safe most of its life. Still, I had no knowledge real/fake so I take some pictures and send them to a watch buddy (MetersFirst) and he gives me the thumbs up. While I'm removing the bracelet to check between the lugs, this gentleman comes up and asks why I'm looking at the watch and the vendor tells him that the watch is still for sale. He had inquired about the watch earlier that morning but didn't put a deposit down or anything and just said he would think about it. In that moment, the vendor asked me if I was going to purchase and I said "yup". I had no idea what a fair price was for it but the vendor was asking $4,400 so that's what I paid (I found out later that I got a pretty good deal. Okay, a REALLY good deal). My parents are walking around and they find me and I tell them that I just bought a vintage Rolex. They were pretty surprised and was wondering if I knew what I was doing which is completely fair. I had planned to meet the vendor the next day to pick up the watch (and give him the balance of what I owed him) so my father came along and once he saw the watch, he goes "that's EXACTLY the same watch I originally had!". All this time I thought he had a 5513 considering how much he loves simplicity and the no-date design (remember, he wears a 14060 now). He said back when he got the watch, he didn't know there was a no-date option and just bought the 1680. After I looked up the serial (6.2M), I realized that it was a '79-80! Although my father doesn't know what the serial was for his watch, he bought it in '79-80 so this watch was likely very close in serial to his first Rolex. Of course we weren't thinking THIS was his watch but all of a sudden this watch had sentimental value to me for that reason and that he was there when I found it.
My son was born just a few months after so I *think* I may give it to him and tell him the same story I just shared with you all. We'll see, :)
If you read through all that, I commend you and thank you for the time. They say "every watch has a story" and it certainly is the case with this one.
Here are some pics of the beauty:
So here's the somewhat interesting story...my father got me into Rolexes. He's always had a great eye for design and quality so obviously a Rolex was perfect for him. A couple years before I was born (1979-1980), he got himself a Rolex Submariner. Growing up I always remembered seeing this watch on his wrist. I had no idea of its value, history or really what it was. Just knew it was always there. When I was in high-school, my father told me that when I graduated college, I could get a Rolex of my choice as a commemoration gift (my parents did not pay my college tuition as they wanted to teach my financial independence and money management this way). He also told me that in the late 80s, he came to a realization that he didn't want luxury items in his life and sold his Sub for what he paid (in other words, he sold it for way too low). He posted an ad in the local newspaper and was gone within hours. This is a huge regret in his life. He replaced the watch around 2000 with a 14060 and that is his daily wearer today.
Fast forward to 2002 as I enter my final year of college. As motivation, I have a GMT (16710) as the background wallpaper of my computer; the watch I decided I wanted once I graduated. The plan was that my father and I would travel to Switzerland together. Pick up the watch and also have a nice father/son vacation. But as the year went along, I was expecting my father to start bringing up the trip to start our planning but he wasn't. Now we're in 2003 and just weeks away from my graduation and I assumed the trip wasn't happening. I never brought it up as I know my parents have had ups/downs financially and was afraid this may be one of the "downs" and I didn't want them to feel bad about it. June rolls around and they fly down to California for my graduation. We're at dinner the night before graduation (my aunt/uncle are also in attendance as they lived in the city I went to school and were like parents to me while I was in school) and all of sudden my dad stands up, reaches into his pocket and pulls out a watch and hands it to me. It's the 16710 (Coke) I had as my computer wallpaper for the past year. I was flabbergasted. I had so many questions! I had a Rolex in my hands! MY Rolex! Then my father reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a 16610 and gives it to my uncle. He's equally flabbergasted. He said it was a gift from my parents for taking care of me so well while I was in school (my uncle also got me an internship at a start-up while I was in school that helped me kick off my career once I graduated). My dad had flown to Switzerland for a single night and purchased both watches without telling anyone (he wanted to buy them in Switzerland as the dollar was a bit stronger and he wanted to "buy them at the source")....obviously my father didn't know about DAVIDSW, :)
(And for those of you wondering, my dad had all the boxes/papers...he just likes giving gifts VERY casually. Every piece of jewelry my mom has received was from his pocket wrapped in a napkin.)
So that's the background on how I got introduced to Rolex and how I got my first Rolex. If you've read this much, stick with me just a bit longer...
Now fast forward to Jan/Feb of 2015. My parents are visiting me in San Francisco and one of the things on our agenda for the weekend is to go to the Antiques Faire which is one of the largest on the west coast (only behind the Pasadena/Rose Bowl one I believe). We get up early and attend ready to walk around and visit the hundreds of vendors. I had recently started learning more about Rolexes (thanks to this wonderful forum) but knew VERY little. I come across this stand where this older gentleman has a number of watches in a case. I immediately notice a few Rolexes and within those, a Submariner 1680. I ask to look at it so he takes it out of the case and I think it's too good to be true. How can a 1680 be in such good condition? He mentions that he is selling it for the wife of the original owner who seldom wore it and it sat in a safe most of its life. Still, I had no knowledge real/fake so I take some pictures and send them to a watch buddy (MetersFirst) and he gives me the thumbs up. While I'm removing the bracelet to check between the lugs, this gentleman comes up and asks why I'm looking at the watch and the vendor tells him that the watch is still for sale. He had inquired about the watch earlier that morning but didn't put a deposit down or anything and just said he would think about it. In that moment, the vendor asked me if I was going to purchase and I said "yup". I had no idea what a fair price was for it but the vendor was asking $4,400 so that's what I paid (I found out later that I got a pretty good deal. Okay, a REALLY good deal). My parents are walking around and they find me and I tell them that I just bought a vintage Rolex. They were pretty surprised and was wondering if I knew what I was doing which is completely fair. I had planned to meet the vendor the next day to pick up the watch (and give him the balance of what I owed him) so my father came along and once he saw the watch, he goes "that's EXACTLY the same watch I originally had!". All this time I thought he had a 5513 considering how much he loves simplicity and the no-date design (remember, he wears a 14060 now). He said back when he got the watch, he didn't know there was a no-date option and just bought the 1680. After I looked up the serial (6.2M), I realized that it was a '79-80! Although my father doesn't know what the serial was for his watch, he bought it in '79-80 so this watch was likely very close in serial to his first Rolex. Of course we weren't thinking THIS was his watch but all of a sudden this watch had sentimental value to me for that reason and that he was there when I found it.
My son was born just a few months after so I *think* I may give it to him and tell him the same story I just shared with you all. We'll see, :)
If you read through all that, I commend you and thank you for the time. They say "every watch has a story" and it certainly is the case with this one.
Here are some pics of the beauty:
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