Unknown Provenance- Pandora's Box?

[JennyFurLynn]

No Box, No Papers.

Amazing the things a newbie doesn't consider when purchasing a Rolex from the internet (ie. fleabay) - I wish I knew who my vintage 1970's ladies datejust belonged to! Could it be a business woman who paved the way early in the corporate world? A socialite wife? A gift to a mistress?


From a member on the forum I found the price of my watch new (below)-it was either $1,500 or $1,900! According to research of 1979 the Average Cost of new house $58,100.00
and the Average Income per year $17,500.00.


This little watch was a chunk of change at that time (like the new ones are today- quite the investment!)

This brings me to my dilemma- I am too afraid to ever dig deeper to find out where my little love came from! What if the parting from the original party was not as joyous as I would imagine?

My imagination says: socialite wife sells watch to spite the fact she found her husband had purchased a like watch for his mistress, she uses the cash to buy books for her first year of law school..... and somewhere in there my watch has a story....

My fear is there could be the slightest chance the watch was separated from the first party by other unhappy means- and much like finding out you are adopted- once you you go there you can't go back.

Well, tell me if you've ever "gone there" and what the outcome was! ::X:

[Speed]

Not sure I follow...but if your question is would I try to find out from whom a used watch came from...the answer is no.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Speed

Not sure I follow...but if your question is would I try to find out from whom a used watch came from...the answer is no.

Have to agree all I want is a genuine watch once the warranty period is up don't matter.Rolex themselves would not care a hoot who owned it, as long as it was not on there stolen list,and will only be too happy to take your money for service or repair then you will have service papers.

[Dr. Robert]

You have a wild imagination!
I'm just happy to be able to read the serial # to see when it was made, etc.

[Mockingbird]

No, I think it would sort of depress me if the watch was sold under bad circumstances.

Welcome to TRF btw!

[Yazo]

huh?

[JennyFurLynn]

LOL! I guess I lost you guys in my visualization! We need more chicks on the TRF!

[Mockingbird]

Originally Posted by JennyFurLynn

LOL! I guess I lost you guys in my visualization! We need more chicks on the TRF!

Yeah... I suppose you came at a bad time for that... Yesterday there was a lot of drama concerning how many women had already left TRF for certain reasons.

I'm not going to go on because I don't wanna get banned!

[Watch Professor]

Originally Posted by JennyFurLynn

LOL! I guess I lost you guys in my visualization! We need more chicks on the TRF!

Definitely. We also need more chicks interested in mechanical watches.

[nowzen]

Originally Posted by JennyFurLynn

LOL! I guess I lost you guys in my visualization! We need more chicks on the TRF!

Agree with the above!
I guess I'm mildly interested in the history of my Sub, but then I'm probably not as imaginative as you, or own a watch with potentially as interesting as your visualization.

Hmmmm, maybe my sub was the same one worn by Sean Connery in...

[nickriebe]

Im sure my next Rolex will be used, but as far as the history behind it? I could really care less honestly... Love your imagination though! Welcome to TRF! Post pics of your new/used watch when you can!

[sakuraba]

I try not to think about my watch's history.

Way too much like finding out about your parents' teenage years. Too much information!

As long as I know my babies were not stolen, that's enough info for me.

[PeteNYC13]

I understand your story, the visualization and the concept... I guess I am better at understanding women then the rest of the guys on here!

I like the idea of a scorned woman paying for law school etc...
My fear - like you said, it's likely a lot less glamorous than that.

It would be cool to find out the story of your Rolex, but could you still love it if you found out it had a "checkered" past?

Welcome to TRF, enjoy!

-Pete

[GregWormald]

My vintage 1680 (Submariner Date) was bought in 1971 by a young man who was learning to SCUBA dive and wanted a watch that, while underwater, he could trust with his life. He paid $270 Canadian for it--about a month's net wages at the time.

He wore it for many years, and dove on wrecks in the Great Lakes, and tropical reefs in both New Zealand and Australia. He wore it through his post-graduate education, and his career as a psychotherapist, studying and working with some of the great names in the field.

He still wears it today.

Greg
Give your watch the provenance it deserves.

[ETT]

Hi Jennifer
I like the idea of a watch having a history, especially when, as you point out, the financial cost of a Rolex makes it a significant purchase, for some of us anyways.
My father lost a Pepsi when I was kid and I always wonder about who found it. I have no claim to it, just curious about when and how it was found. I'm doing the research now to buy one like it.

[Dr. Robert]

I like to think my sub was once worn by Jaques Cousteau.

[Singslinger]

I've never bought a used watch but if I did, I wouldn't really want to know who, what, when, etc. As someone before me said, it'd be too much info...

By the way, welcome to TRF!

[gregmoeck]

It's neat to think where things have been. I remember there was a dollar tracker someplace. You could put the serial number in and see where it's been and it was amazing to see how far a dollar travels.

[JennyFurLynn]

[Dr. Robert]

Very sharp lady datejust. A very cool bezel.

[CoopJr]

You're gonna fit right in here!