Tag: vintage

vintage

Rolex Submariner 16800 Matt Dial Modern Vintage!

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As the title says Hands on with Rolex Submariner 16800 Matt Dial modern vintage, this watch is a cracking piece a transitional Submariner from 1980. Rolex decided in 1980 to go down the sapphire crystal route instead of the high top plexi glass (acrylic glass) on the 1680 models the previous model to the 16800. The Rolex 1680 was a stunning watch Matt dial with round Tritium hour plots, now vintage and looked vintage,  but the 16800 had some mods but retained the Matt Dial with t25 tritium hour plots.  The quickset date change with sapphire which makes the watch look modern and works and looks like the Submariners up to 2010 Pre ceramic.  Most watch manufactures moved to sapphire glass around the same time a lot tougher and more durable.

The Submariner is 64 years old now so tried and tested model in every way Rolex celebrated 50th Anniversary in 2004 with the Rolex Green Submariner 16610lv.
The 16800 with the Matt got phased out a couple of years after 1980 Rolex moved on to gloss dial with white gold surrounds on the hour plots which continued on to present day. But vintage watches have become like vintage cars very very desirable old aged patina on hour plots with plexi glass whats not to like? it only started growing on me as I got older.

But 16800 will no doubt be the Submariner if want to buy something perfectly wearable that looks modern but also has a vintage feel and look definitely a future collectible piece.  A lot of watch collectors love birth year watches so these would suit 38 year old chap. Great watch all round no downsides plenty of heritage the Submariner gone from strength to strength.

vintage16800 Vintage

where to sell your vintage Rolex ?

Rare Rolex Submariner Explorer dial Sold £230K

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Rare Rolex Submariner Explorer dial Sold for £230K at Lockdales Yesterday in Ipswich it smashed the previous record for this model. The watch is Rolex Submariner 5513 which is a great watch in itself but Rolex back in the 1960’s added the 9, 6, and 3 to dial and only made a short production run. The owner of the piece said he nearly damaged the watch when it dropped in a cement mixer some time ago but it seem to have survived the fall.

where to sell your vintage Rolex ?
Now 60 years on the watch are collectible as hell, the more original it is the more the watch does at auction these type of pieces always end up in top auction houses around the world to bring the premium when the hammer falls you rarely see one for sale in a top vintage Rolex shop.

cash for vintage 5513
The auction house estimated £7000 to £8000 which would be correct for a fantastic condition 5513, but this was the biggest sale to date since opening in 1996! The commission on this sale was £38k a nice days work for Lockdales.
Rolex Submariner explorer
The 5513 has a stunning patina on the metres first dial all matching just perfect, the bezel looks original to the watch and the lugs just look pucker for 60 years of age with the original expandable oyster bracelet. This model is slightly rarer with underline under the “Swiss” at 6 o clock. The watch had bidders in the room from all over the world in total over 100 bidders online for the watch in the end a collector from Italy won the auction to take home the stunning Rolex Submariner explorer dial.
This Rolex around the 1960,s would have been around £70 to purchase and today’s equivalent of £1000, that was great investment piece for the owner god knows what the hammer price would be with box and papers with the original sales receipt!

The Paul Newman Daytona is coming up for sale shortly and will break world records as the most expensive watch to date.

Omega Valuations

Omega Moonwatch Moonphase ST345.0809

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This is the first Omega speedmaster Professional Moonwatch Moonphase 1985 made in limited numbers 1300 in total so makes these model very hard to find and very special these days. The Moonphase reference is ST345.0809 and it based on the standard moonwatch but with a calibre 866 and nowadays is calibre 1866 after a upgrade in 1990,s which is basically a calibre 861 with a moonphase / date module added.

This model has a clear clean caseback with the seamaster logo in the middle like many of the other seamaster models. The moonphase does not have the “first watch worn on the moon” engraved or a fancy limited edition caseback as most moon watches do have either. The moonphase was re-introduced around 1999 but with a few upgrades luminova hour markers on the dial not tritium and a modern speedmaster bracelet instead of the vintage 1450 bracelet also they used a modern tachymeter bezel with slight change with a modern font.

I have owned the new and the old moonphase and the vintage one is far better tritium dial lovely patina, and can see this being the one to have as been made in such small numbers, I think a lot of watch brands made watches in the 70,s and 80,s and never realized how nice and stunning they would be in the future.

The speedmaster will always be a loved watch by many collectors and enthusiasts and something will always go down in history as first watch watch on the the moon although there was rumors that Buzz Aldrin did have a Rolex Gmtmaster on his wrist as well as the moonwatch when on the moon, but Rolex was not bothered for the lime light.

 

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rolex gmtmaster 16753

Vintage Rolex Gmtmaster 16753 Bi Metal

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Vintage Rolex Gmtmaster 16753 Bi metal 18k gold and steel on a jubilee bracelet, a great watch by Rolex the Gmtmaster loved by pilots for years great versatile watch that we all know and love.  The Gmtmaster bi metal is a variant of the steel version which came into production much after the 1st Gmtmaster in the 50,s with a gilt dial with radium then in the 60,s they switched to matt dial with tritium hour plots then on to gloss dials with tritium white gold hour markers. They finished with the glossy dials with luminova hour plots with white gold surrounds started around 1999 and used to this current day.  Rolex always did the option of a jubilee bracelet or oyster bracelet which looks more sporty.

The vintage Gmtmaster have been become very collectable over the years the older the better matt and gilt dial win win to be honest, I do not think Rolex back then realized how nice and sort after the vintage Rolex would be in the future the world has gone vintage Rolex Mad.  Love all vintage watches.

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