Rolex Horror Stories...

[SteyrAUG]

Death of a President

It would have been the late 1970s when we went diving that day. I was in my youth and one of the few who was snorkeling rather than using a tank. This meant I was party to a few of the deep dives of the day. But as a couple of my Dad's buddies were new to SCUBA we weren't necessarily in deep water either.

And as most of my Dad's buddies had a "Dr." in front of their name there were several Rolex's on peoples wrist. And while Submariners were clearly in the majority I still remember the sight of that big 18k Day Date Presidential.

I'm not sure what Dr. Name Withheld actually did to cause his DD to unclasp and slip past his hand but I do remember seeing it fall through the water and land right down there in a puff of sand. Problem was I was the only person to actually see it land and I was on my way up for a refill of O2.

And when I got another lung full I couldn't exactly say where "right there" was. I was pretty sure of the general area, and you can bet we looked around till those tanks all ran dry, but we never did turn up that watch which was probably covered with less than a 1/2 of sand.

We returned with several lobster and some red snapper, but there was one guy who just wasn't really thrilled with the day. Not that I can blame him.

But I did learn one thing that day. If you can afford a 18k DD, you can afford a Submariner. And it is probably wise to wear your Sub on certain occasions and leave your DD at home.

[Attila]

That would be such a horrible feeling..

[OYSTERMANN]

Originally Posted by Attila

That would be such a horrible feeling..

That is such an ironic story - the President was only under 1/2 inch of sand, but it may as well have been under 6ft of it.

Just think, it's probably still down there - waiting to be rediscovered . . .

[sherwin]

anyone up for a diving adventure in Sydney Harbour? Plenty of Rolex's down there too all looking up at their careless owners who stuck their hands over the bridge and dropped their watches

[OYSTERMANN]

Originally Posted by seiko.citizen

anyone up for a diving adventure in Sydney Harbour? Plenty of Rolex's down there too all looking up at their careless owners who stuck their hands over the bridge and dropped their watches

Wouldn't that be a amazing, if it were true - it isn't true is it.

Better book the boat now

[sherwin]

Originally Posted by OYSTERMANN

Wouldn't that be a amazing, if it were true - it isn't true is it.

Better book the boat now

i hear from my friends, and that is what they were told. no idea how credible is their source. according to them it is a guide in the city who told them that, though im sure somebody would have fished out the watches if it was true, maybe you are not allowed to dive there.

honestly this is a real problem, once i saw a watch that dropped from a 2nd floor in the shopping mall. too bad it wasnt a rolex, and it was just a plasticky watch, i threw it back up to the owner (their instruction). it was a g-shock to those who are interested

[OYSTERMANN]

Originally Posted by seiko.citizen

i hear from my friends, and that is what they were told. no idea how credible is their source. according to them it is a guide in the city who told them that, though im sure somebody would have fished out the watches if it was true, maybe you are not allowed to dive there.

honestly this is a real problem, once i saw a watch that dropped from a 2nd floor in the shopping mall. too bad it wasnt a rolex, and it was just a plasticky watch, i threw it back up to the owner (their instruction). it was a g-shock to those who are interested

Maybe only the Mayor of Sydney is allowed to go diving in the harbour, but joking apart, there must be some down there, I'd have thought. They'd make a killing on local diving licenses, especially if the Harbour Authority don't allow the truth to interfere with a good rumour.

Unbelievable about the G-Shock bouncing down from the 2nd floor.

[GoISU]

I almost lost my week old YM Platty snorkeling on my honeymoon. I felt the clasp "pop" and the watch sliding off my hand, I splayed my fingers and managed to keep my new toy. Getting that clasp lock fixed was priority number one when I got back to the US.

It's still in the back of my mind when I go swimming.

[OYSTERMANN]

Originally Posted by GoISU

I almost lost my week old YM Platty snorkeling on my honeymoon. I felt the clasp "pop" and the watch sliding off my hand, I splayed my fingers and managed to keep my new toy. Getting that clasp lock fixed was priority number one when I got back to the US.

It's still in the back of my mind when I go swimming.

That must have been one hell of a scary moment, Kevin

[sherwin]

that is scary having your clasp pop open. i had that happen to my seiko SD lookalike, and it was scary as hell

[Johno]

Hey Stey that is a funny story for about the whole world except one guy. For him that would be like working for $1,000's and then throwing it off the edge of the boat.
I hope he got over that experience without too much mental scaring.

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Originally Posted by OYSTERMANN

That is such an ironic story - the President was only under 1/2 inch of sand, but it may as well have been under 6ft of it.

Just think, it's probably still down there - waiting to be rediscovered . . .

The gold would probably look just fine, too. However, I'm not sure how the movement would be by now. That depends on how well the seals and gaskets coped with it being under water for so long.

[BiG JeEzY]

Originally Posted by GoISU

I almost lost my week old YM Platty snorkeling on my honeymoon. I felt the clasp "pop" and the watch sliding off my hand, I splayed my fingers and managed to keep my new toy. Getting that clasp lock fixed was priority number one when I got back to the US.

It's still in the back of my mind when I go swimming.

Wow that is a close call!! I would be scared too.

Just curious but how did the clasp suddenly just pop open Kevin? Isn't it a double-locking clasp? That should take A LOT of force from the water just to open both locks.

[OYSTERMANN]

Originally Posted by SPACE-DWELLER

The gold would probably look just fine, too. However, I'm not sure how the movement would be by now. That depends on how well the seals and gaskets coped with it being under water for so long.

Wouldn't it be amazing, Bo, if it did ever resurface after so long . . . .

I wonder if anybody's actually found a Rolex like this, that was thought lost for ever, brought back from the depths?

That would be amazing.

[etp095]

the moral of the story should be to "buy insurance".

[marshallr47]

Ouch! I couldn't imagine.

[SteyrAUG]

Originally Posted by seiko.citizen

anyone up for a diving adventure in Sydney Harbour? Plenty of Rolex's down there too all looking up at their careless owners who stuck their hands over the bridge and dropped their watches

I'll tell ya a good one that involves much better luck.

Had my brother and his wife down here on vacation and we decided to stroll out on the pier at sundown. While leaning over the edge and enjoying the view she lost a ruby and diamond bracelet into the drink. As it was a gift from my brother we knew we had to at least try for it. So we counted how many light posts were up to where she was standing and came back at 5am the next morning.

Got permission from the pier to look for it (mostly so they knew to not let anyone fish that side while we were down) and we hit the water. I had no illusions of finding a bracelet 12 hours after the fact in 20 feet of water (especially after the Rolex incident in my youth) but I also knew my brother had to give it a shot.

Almost as soon as we were out the correct number of light posts my brother comes up with the damn thing on the first try. It was draped over a piece of coral. So we popped the bracelet in a ziplock bag and stuck it in our float. We then went over to the reef and yanked about a dozen lobster within the space of a half hour.

That was a good day.

[Gurmot]

Great story.

In the late 90's, I was with a bloke jet-skiiing in the Red-sea off from Saudi Arabia and when he came in he noticed his nice new bluesy TT Sub was no longer on his wrist. Needless to say that the local dive club spent a few weekends in the area but nothing was ever turned up. At least nothing was "declared".

I guess that sometimes, Triplock just isn't enough.

[GoldenBear]

I climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge about 6 mos. back. They made us take all jewelry off, would have been a cool wrist shot. Use your imagination..

[topcat30093]

I hope that they had insurance!!!!!

[Smoak352]

how much is it to insure a rolex?

[Terry Newton]

Originally Posted by Smoak352

how much is it to insure a rolex?

Check with your homeowner's policy holder. I have all of my watches insured as well as Elizabeth's watches and jewelery. We have riders which cover everything. I could even destroy them in a bicycle accident and they would be covered except the cost for the deductible. Someone damaged theirs this past week by dropping it. The estimate is over $1,500 worth of damage to a month old watch. I say it is worth every penny insurance costs to cover your valuables. I work too hard for my money to watch it go up in smoke.

For the one that lost it in the water that must've been a "sinking experience".

Oh God, I couldn't help myself.



Terry Newton

[hbbfam]

I have been very pleased with the insurance offered through AARP. It is underwritten by the Hartford. I have my son's Gibson guitar and my ExpyII on writers. It is called All-Risk and covers any kind of loss. It costs about $100/year to cover the ExpII at current MSRP. The key phrase to ask is for "all-risk".

[stevemulholland3]

Originally Posted by SteyrAUG

Death of a President

It would have been the late 1970s when we went diving that day. I was in my youth and one of the few who was snorkeling rather than using a tank. This meant I was party to a few of the deep dives of the day. But as a couple of my Dad's buddies were new to SCUBA we weren't necessarily in deep water either.

And as most of my Dad's buddies had a "Dr." in front of their name there were several Rolex's on peoples wrist. And while Submariners were clearly in the majority I still remember the sight of that big 18k Day Date Presidential.

I'm not sure what Dr. Name Withheld actually did to cause his DD to unclasp and slip past his hand but I do remember seeing it fall through the water and land right down there in a puff of sand. Problem was I was the only person to actually see it land and I was on my way up for a refill of O2.

And when I got another lung full I couldn't exactly say where "right there" was. I was pretty sure of the general area, and you can bet we looked around till those tanks all ran dry, but we never did turn up that watch which was probably covered with less than a 1/2 of sand.

We returned with several lobster and some red snapper, but there was one guy who just wasn't really thrilled with the day. Not that I can blame him.

But I did learn one thing that day. If you can afford a 18k DD, you can afford a Submariner. And it is probably wise to wear your Sub on certain occasions and leave your DD at home.

what part of florida?
not clearwater I hope.