Bracelet after 20 years of daily use.

[subtona]

Submariner TT 16613 Bluesy. The watch was purchased new by me in 1991.

just came across these pics i took of my bracelet, if you ever asked how do they get so worn...

i wore it as my only watch for exactly 20years, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

just wanted to share the wear and tear after all that time.

the watch never came off my wrist regardless of the activity & work, it was cleaned only in the shower with me, occasionally i would use a toothbrush for the crevices.

it was previously polished once during a visit to RSCNY

[SohAIS]

wow amazing. Kudos for sticking to it for 20 yrs

[Clay]

I love it...

[schinie]

do you have pictures of the whole watch?

[subtona]

Originally Posted by schinie

do you have pictures of the whole watch?

cant find pictures of whole watch before, it cleaned up pretty well though

this is after a service and with a new SS bracelet... i sold watch a couple of years ago.

and the bezel wear (rounding out) was done courtesy of RSC, NOT 20 years of wear

ps if you look close in the straight on pic with the white background, you can see the inside lug wear from the point the old style 93150 bracelet would rub.

[SohAIS]

oh yes i would like to see that too

[ray0750]

looks great

[cop414]

Wow Gus, gotta ask, do you regret getting rid of it!

[subtona]

Originally Posted by cop414

Wow Gus, gotta ask, do you regret getting rid of it!

Tim,
I regret bringing it to RSC where they butchered it.... They tainted it enough that the magic was lost... But thats another story

& since then i have found some satisfactory replacements, thanks to TRF & the never ending supply of enablers

[stockae92]

Polished off too much metal?

Originally Posted by subtona

Tim,
I regret bringing it to RSC where they butchered it.... They tainted it enough that the magic was lost... But thats another story

& since then i have found some satisfactory replacements, thanks to TRF & the never ending supply of enablers

[subtona]

Originally Posted by stockae92

Polished off too much metal?

*Rounded the bezel
*Replaced insert with luminova , vs tritium.
*Bezel insert also used a different color gold for the numerals
*Removed caseback sticker
*Scratched & replaced original dial

I call it butchered.


All the things are minor, but if i can take care of it for 20 years, its a bummer when someone alters it, when they were only supposed to service it.
Live & learn

[cop414]

Originally Posted by subtona

Tim,
I regret bringing it to RSC where they butchered it.... They tainted it enough that the magic was lost... But thats another story

& since then i have found some satisfactory replacements, thanks to TRF & the never ending supply of enablers

Gus, that's a crying shame. You loved it for two deacdes and in one fell swoop they totally screwed things up. If you don't mind me asking who do you use now for any service or refurbishing?

[c.rod]

Originally Posted by cop414

Gus, that's a crying shame. You loved it for two deacdes and in one fell swoop they totally screwed things up. If you don't mind me asking who do you use now for any service or refurbishing?

because it was so bad, maybe they let the apprentices' have a go at it?lol

[rolex75216]

Originally Posted by cop414

Gus, that's a crying shame. You loved it for two deacdes and in one fell swoop they totally screwed things up. If you don't mind me asking who do you use now for any service or refurbishing?

Good question. I would also be curious on who you recommend for service type work these days. I think it is awesome that you stuck with the watch for 20 years. I bet you have a lot of great memories and amazing stories to go along with it. Would love to hear one.

[Billywiz]

Originally Posted by subtona

Tim,
I regret bringing it to RSC where they butchered it.... They tainted it enough that the magic was lost... But thats another story

& since then i have found some satisfactory replacements, thanks to TRF & the never ending supply of enablers

Sorry to hear that...I too dont trust RSCs...much rather use someone I know , listens and you trust.

[Rags]

Looks great with a SS bracelet..

[floater156]

Originally Posted by Rags

Looks great with a SS bracelet..

x2

[JohnAndrew]

Originally Posted by Rags

Looks great with a SS bracelet..

X3

[c.rod]

what did they do to the bezel? looks weird

[Daytona-Dan]

Thanks for sharing! It's very cool to see how the gold centre links have worn much faster than the SS outer links. I know they were not solid, but it shows the main reason Rolex ditched the hollow links. Would love to see how sold links would hold up after 20 years..

[stockae92]

I agree with you. they made it into a different watch

[rolio]

That is a beautiful watch. Now I know why JJ loved his so much.

[Rolex-10]

Love that old bracelet.


Looks kinda cool on new SS too.

[Sous]

I gotta ask, Gus--did you wear the bracelet tight, or loose?

[Bangel]

Thanks for the pictures.

Given your experience when it returned from service, I can completely understand why some of the magic died for you.

[nick c]

GREAT

[greekbum]

Gus I like the look on the SS bracelet

[GradyPhilpott]

Did I understand you to say that Rolex put an SS bracelet on the watch?

I'm sorry they butchered the watch and I do understand your disappointment, not that that word captures your true sentiment.

[Andad]

Looks good.

Is that a replacement Tritium dial?

[subtona]

Originally Posted by cop414

Gus, that's a crying shame. You loved it for two deacdes and in one fell swoop they totally screwed things up. If you don't mind me asking who do you use now for any service or refurbishing?

Originally Posted by directioneng

Looks good.

Is that a replacement Tritium dial?

Tim,
Havent had a watched serviced since... Likely to use the recommends here on trf when needed...
I belong to the, if it ain't broke don't fix it camp.

directioneng,
In its life the watch was serviced twice, 1st time was around 1998, that was where they replaced the dial, after the watch came back from service with a scratch on it. The replacement dial did say tritium on it but it never had the same brightness as my original, i suspect they may have cut down their quantities of tritium in the manufacture by that time? The font on the new dial also had somewhat raised lettering on it vs the original which appeared printed.