Mine and My Dad's 1987 GMTs

[njsteve]

Back in July of 1987 I celebrated my college graduation by wandering around Europe on a Eurail pass with a college buddy for 6 weeks. Just for fun we would price specific watches in every country we went to. I was looking for a GMT Master and he was looking for Tag Heuers. The most expensive place we found was Geneva. The cheapest was Florence, Italy on that day based on the US/Lira exchange rate. (My college buddy was an econonics major and was day-trading his currency between countries as we went along - it worked out well for us!).

Anyway, I ended up buying two GMT 16750s at a Rolex dealer in Florence, Italy for what worked out to be $1,048 each. I gave one to my Dad for Father's Day and I kept the other. We both have been wearing them for the past 35 years. Last week my 90 year-old Dad decided to give his watch to my son (his grandson) as a birthday/college graduation gift.

Since I don't think my Dad ever had his watch serviced, I brought it to my local jeweler to send to Rolex for a servicing estimate. I specifically told them the dial remains and the bracelet remains. I will not be replacing them because they are family heirlooms. It's kind of like George Washington's axe - if you changed the broken axe handle in 1800 and then changed the cracked axe head in 1810, what is left of the original axe? This is the exact watch my Dad wore and was part of his personality for 35 years. Replacing the major visual cues would remove the soul of the watch.

Anyway, while I await their estimate (and attempts to get me to replace major parts) I thought I would post the photos here. While they are not sequentially serial numbered, they are 105 numbers apart.

I had my watch serviced by Rolex in 2001 (back then they returned my original 1987 red/blue bezel and the hands in a cool little official Rolex tin) and 2010 when they kept the hands and any other parts. I refused their offer of a replacement bracelet because they refused to give me back my original if I accepted.

Here they are:

Mine and my Dad's (son's now)

[Barada7]

They look better with some mileage!

[Rebel]

Originally Posted by Barada7

They look better with some mileage!

Agreed.

[Filipão]

It doesn't get any better, does it?

Congrats and best wishes to a long lasting and happy family!

[jatco]

Originally Posted by filipão

it doesn't get any better, does it?

Congrats and best wishes to a long lasting and happy family!

x2

[indianmachine]

both beautiful and well worn!

[Stan Cooper]

Welcome to TRF; what a wonderful story! Both pieces look fantastic.

[KY..]

Very nice story

[njsteve]

So, in your learned opinions, does it look like the dial, hands, etc are the original ones? Especially on my Dad's watch. I see the "Swiss T<25" on the bottom of the dial face. (Which thanks to this forum, I just learned is an indicator of an early dial). Thanks, Steve

[Stan Cooper]

Originally Posted by njsteve

So, in your learned opinions, does it look like the dial, hands, etc are the original ones? Especially on my Dad's watch. I see the "Swiss T<25" on the bottom of the dial face. (Which thanks to this forum, I just learned is an indicator of an early dial). Thanks, Steve

Steve, the T<25 was used between 1960 and 1998, and indicates the lume is tritium and emits less than 925 MBq (25 mCi), but it's not quite that simple:
What does Swiss T<25 mean?

The hands look fine to me.

[jatco]

Originally Posted by Stan Cooper

Steve, the T<25 was used between 1960 and 1998, and indicates the lume is tritium and emits less than 925 MBq (25 mCi), but it's not quite that simple:
What does Swiss T<25 mean?

The hands look fine to me.

Interesting link.

[TuRo]

Originally Posted by Stan Cooper

Steve, the T<25 was used between 1960 and 1998, and indicates the lume is tritium and emits less than 925 MBq (25 mCi), but it's not quite that simple:
What does Swiss T<25 mean?

The hands look fine to me.

Sorry to be pedant, but '25 diallage' was circa 62 up to U/A serial late 90s

[1William]

Great story and watches.

[brandrea]

Welcome to the forum and fantastic story

I’ve never seen a box with bracelet slots like the one in your picture. Interesting

[jameslastfan]

Great story, thanks for sharing - are the serial numbers close together?

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by jameslastfan

Great story, thanks for sharing - are the serial numbers close together?

They are 105 numbers apart.

[jameslastfan]

Originally Posted by njsteve

They are 105 numbers apart.

Brilliant, and that must be pretty unique - people don’t tend to buy the same model twice in a single transaction so the chances of having close serials any other way must be very low! Enjoy them!

[Latrodectus]

Very nice. Great looking!

[jingerman]

A worn Rolex is the most enjoyable Rolex


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by jingerman

A worn Rolex is the most enjoyable Rolex


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, I do agree. I've been wearing mine for more than half my life.
We both show our mileage well.

[jatco]

Originally Posted by njsteve

Yes, I do agree. I've been wearing mine for more than half my life.
We both show our mileage well.

...kinda..!!

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by jingerman

A worn Rolex is the most enjoyable Rolex


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree. I've worn this watch for more than half my life. And we both are showing similar wear. ;-)

[njsteve]

Here's the bracelet numbers on my watch. They are the same on both of our GMTs

[TuRo]

Originally Posted by njsteve

Here's the bracelet numbers on my watch. They are the same on both of our GMTs

All good - little fun fact for the newbies, for a period in the 90's , on the 2 last links (but not the clasp) the 3 in 78360 and 93150 came with both a Flat top and a Round top to the 3.

[Bill11783]

Great story! What an awesome tradition you have created! Both of you wear them in good health.

[00Seven]

What a great story…that’s what it’s all about, folks. Thanks for sharing and I hope your son continues the tradition!

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by 00Seven

What a great story…that’s what it’s all about, folks. Thanks for sharing and I hope your son continues the tradition!

Actually his reaction when I told him the general value was: "How the hell am I supposed to walk around with something that's the value of my car, on my wrist?"

So I told him he can wear it at his wedding, when he finally settles down!

[TimeLord2]

What a great story and those are some great looking watches too! And 105 numbers apart on the serial numbers, simply amazing! Welcome to the Forum!

[drefrank]

Awesome!

[bullies]

That is awesome and what it's all about!
Thanks for sharing