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Old 22 August 2013, 04:46 PM   #1
MAJSmith
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Quick and interesting story...

I met a 60 year-old Lieutenant Colonel today who's part of my Army Reserve unit here in Hawaii. I noticed he was wearing a GMT Master II, so I asked him about it and he said he bought it in 1989 and wore it intermittently until Desert Storm kicked off in 1991. Not wanting it to get damaged overseas, he placed it back in the original box and shoved it in the closet... where it stayed until last year! 21 years in the dark!!! He said after he turned 60 he figured he might as well break it out and start wearing it again, so he sent it for a check-up and it's now his daily wear watch. This watch looked brand new. It's an almost a new-old-stock Rolex. I wonder how many more are out there hiding...
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Old 22 August 2013, 05:07 PM   #2
Bangel
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..... and it's just as stylish now as it was then. Great story!
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Old 22 August 2013, 05:42 PM   #3
Vincent65
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Cool - try to get some pics!
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Old 22 August 2013, 05:55 PM   #4
orork
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They're precious Cap! Thousands are keeping good company in sock drawers.......
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Old 22 August 2013, 06:05 PM   #5
Piloto
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Awesome story.

Hard to believe DS/DS was 21+ years ago. I'm feeling even older now.
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Old 22 August 2013, 06:10 PM   #6
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Nice story!
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Old 22 August 2013, 06:33 PM   #7
bonbonson
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Im pretty sure there are a good number of hidden watch treasures out there! Heck even a buggati type 57 was hidden so why cant a simple watch be?
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Old 22 August 2013, 06:43 PM   #8
nickng
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Proven yet again that Rolex is a timepiece that one will never fall out of love with.
Thanks for sharing.
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Old 22 August 2013, 07:19 PM   #9
Cc1966
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Great story
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Old 22 August 2013, 08:50 PM   #10
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I wonder if it came to life when he picked it up....I bet it did or with some movement.
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Old 22 August 2013, 08:51 PM   #11
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nice story, would love to see some pictures of the watch!
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Old 22 August 2013, 08:56 PM   #12
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Yeah. Super cool. Lets see some pics!!!
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Old 22 August 2013, 09:16 PM   #13
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Great story.
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Old 22 August 2013, 09:20 PM   #14
mikkolopez
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Classics are forever. Rolex are really in style anytime all the time.
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Old 22 August 2013, 10:54 PM   #15
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Very cool but it's kinda sad that he hasn't been able to enjoy it all this time.
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Old 23 August 2013, 12:37 AM   #16
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I bet he'd have sold it to you if you doubled what he paid for it... and you'd still be under what it would cost you today.
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Old 23 August 2013, 03:09 AM   #17
MAJSmith
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kilyung View Post
I bet he'd have sold it to you if you doubled what he paid for it... and you'd still be under what it would cost you today.
He did say when he bought it many years ago he was a little apprehensive about the cost, but after he started wearing it again last year he took notice of how they have increased in value and realized he'd made a good decision. He said it's already in his will to go to his oldest son. I'll try to grab a quick pic of it today.
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Old 23 August 2013, 03:12 AM   #18
Trouble15
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Nice story!
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Old 23 August 2013, 03:14 AM   #19
rolex75216
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Great story.
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Old 23 August 2013, 03:18 AM   #20
Lucky777
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Great story. Nice to see the men and women serving the USA sporting great timepieces.
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Old 23 August 2013, 03:20 AM   #21
SWISSAHOLICS
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Cool story!!
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Old 23 August 2013, 04:05 AM   #22
SohAIS
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great story! thanks for sharing.
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Old 23 August 2013, 04:23 AM   #23
zeuloa
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Great story!
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Old 23 August 2013, 04:51 AM   #24
mrhy
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My eye doctor has a GMT pepsibezel really aged,he bought in Geneva in 1973 for $175.00,will take picture next visit
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Old 23 August 2013, 04:57 AM   #25
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Great story! But why did he leave it a closet for 21 years??? That's the "Paul Harvey " ending I'm interested in hearing! Just saving it for the big SIX O? Gotta be more to it!
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Old 23 August 2013, 01:18 PM   #26
MAJSmith
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beef View Post
Great story! But why did he leave it a closet for 21 years??? That's the "Paul Harvey " ending I'm interested in hearing! Just saving it for the big SIX O? Gotta be more to it!
He says he picked up a cheap watch for Desert Storm and just kept wearing it all the way through his next deployment and so on, until last year. I stopped him for a pic on the way to a briefing, but I could only delay him for as long as a Captain can delay a Lieutenant Colonel, which is not very long, and could only grab this one blurry pic.

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Old 23 August 2013, 01:32 PM   #27
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Love me some coke, nice watch, priceless
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Old 23 August 2013, 01:55 PM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Piloto View Post
Awesome story.

Hard to believe DS/DS was 21+ years ago. I'm feeling even older now.
Tell me about it. 22 years ago now. A fellow lieutenant from back then is looking to get promoted to general. I have no doubt he will make it. Time flys.
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