Your Rolex Story

[kerrison]

I 'borrow' this thread from the Watchuseek Rolex forum, which I am sure many of you are familiar with. I enjoyed reading it and since I do not see a similar thread here after doing a search, I thought maybe it's a good idea to start one?

Here is my story:

I grew up in Hong Kong during the late 70's and 80's. My father is a chartered mechanical engineer and both he and my mother have Rolexes. As a young child I did not really know what Rolex was about other than a very well known watch brand popular with grown-ups.

My own interest in mechanical watches did not start until a couple years ago when I went into a jewellery shop and saw the Oris Big Crown Pointer Date and the sales lady showed the watch to me with its display caseback and told me that it was a automatic watch. I had no idea what automatic was! Up till that point I thought all watches use batteries. I went home and began to look it up myself and that was the beginning of my love of mechanical watches. I bought a second hand Oris Big Crown and I was quite happy about it.

One time when my parents came to visit, my mother noticed my Oris and we got chatting away about watches (which we had never done before) and my dad said, quite matter-of-factly, that if I really like mechanical watches I should consider a Rolex. Like a good daughter I kept his advice in my heart but considered the price I felt that it was too expensive for me. At the mean time I sold my Oris after I became interested in Omega and bought a second hand Aqua Terra automatic. I love it and thought I would be content with it.

However as a mother to a young child my thoughts began to turn to passing something down to her. I know that my daughter probably won't care less if the watch she gets from me is a second hand Casio (don't get me wrong I love Casio and I have a Baby G!), she might not even be remotely interested in watches! However I just want to pass down something that I love and use regularly to her. I wanted to get a brand new watch, even if it's more costly, so that i would be able to develop some history and memories with it from the beginning and give it to her when the time is right. I also wanted the watch to be able to hold its value over time so that if my daughter decided she does not want keep it she can sell it for something else (I am realistic, it's only a watch). I remembered what my father said about Rolex--its history, constancy in style and quality, and value. I also wanted to continue a little tradition that my parents had started.

So when my husband and I went up to London few weeks ago we visited the Rolex showroom at Old Bond Street and we were served by one of the salesmen there. We had no intension to buy, it was just an 'intelligience-gathering' exercise for me. We were there for half and hour, I tried on all the different variations of the DateJust, and were thorougly impressed by the superb service provided as well as the quality of the product. After that I did some thinking and realising that since I am probably now in the best financial situation to purchase, and with Rolex adjusting their pricing regualrly, it is perhaps a now-or-never opportunity to bite the bullet. So I went down to my local AD, pull out my card, and ordered my DateJust. From the shop manager's facial expression I think he didn't know what hit him at first. So anyway this is my long-winded story of how I came to acquire my Rolex.

By the way, my daughter is only four and a half. She had never noticed my watches before. Here is a little conversation we had on the afternoon after I came home with my new watch:

Anna (touching my Rolex): Is this your new watch mummy?

Me: Yes.

Anna: I like it, it's very nice.

Me: Is it because it is shiny?

Anna: (A little nod)

(a little pause, still facinated by the shiny bracelet)

Anna: Are you going to give it to me when I grow up?

Me (surprised, and not wanting her to assume too early): Hmm...maybe.

Anna (thoughtfully): No mummy, I think I am going to buy my own when I grow up.

I could not help but smile!