My first Rolex (...and what its REALLY worth)

[alexsabour]

Dear ladies and gentlemen of The Rolex Forum,

I hope you don't mind, but this is my first post on on your forum. Like so many others, I am guilty of selfishly reading and enjoying your many posts and discussions from afar, without taking part or contributing in order to create content. For this I must apologize. I guess the obvious reason, is that I have never owned a Rolex before, and also (as embarrassed as I am to admit it) I never could find a good way to "jump" into a discussion. I guess I just thought that my first post should be meaningful. I also thought that this post might serve to start a healing process. So Rolex Forum, I hope you will allow me to share my (watch) story with you.

I was born in 1984 to a young newly wed couple in Tehran whom were struggling to keep their family together during a savage war that had killed so many of their close friends and relatives… My father, fled to Pakistan , and my mother and I were sent to the United States with a small suitcase and 500 dollars. My mother who was only 20 years old at the time, did not speak any english, she had no education, and worked the "graveyard" shift at the local diner for tips while I slept in the studio apartment across the street. Now I won't bore you with more dramatization, I refuse to victimize my mother, or myself for that matter. We were poor, but with honest hard work, education, a frugal lifestyle, and good morals and values my mother slowly made a decent living and upgraded our living standards…

I was 6 years old when I received my first watch, it was a Casio. I don't remember much about it, but I do remember it had a button that I could press that would make the watch face illuminate indigo green. I remember the price was around 30-40 dollars, and I also remember that in 1990 that was a lot of money for my mother to spend on such a "superficial" item, but she still bought it for me, and I wore it with pride. I wish I still had it, or at least remember what happened to it. Nevertheless, every few years or so, I recall getting a new watch from my mother, it remains one of the few fond memories from my childhood.

I met my father when I was 14 years old. He had received political asylum in Denmark in the late 1980's and the wounds of war and the painful regrets of the past had helped him become addicted to more substances than I care to count. He was a shadow of the man that I had imagined for so many years in my thoughts. Now I won't bore you with more dramatization, I refuse to victimize my father, or myself for that matter.

It was the winter of 1997 that I chose to move to Denmark to live with him, because I knew, without any doubt that I would never be able to afford an education in the United States, and I couldn't bare the thought of being uneducated, unemployed, and risking that I would end up having to struggle paying bills for the remainder of my life while i chased the "American Dream". My father is a hoarder, so our tiny apartment with no shower (not uncommon in Copenhagen) was filed floor to ceiling with oddities, antiques, and trinkets. One day I found a watch amount those, a gold colored Breitling on a blue leather strap, after the find my father gave me that watch and told me all the stories of where he had bought it from, and how expensive it was. I was young and impressed, and my mind raced with how impressed my friends would be… I wore the watch watch with pride, but this time with more appreciation for the cost of such an item. You can imagine the shame and embarrassment I felt when at a random family dinner I was laughed at by a random family friend who was also a "watch enthusiast". He explained that my father had lied to me, and that the watch was an obvious fake. I took that watch off that night, and I never wore it again.

I moved out of my father's home 2 years later.

I perused a career in the music industry for the 8 following years. I struggled to survive for the first few years, but I ended up doing quite well for myself. I also bought (and sold) many "fashion" watches during this time - primarily lesser known brands with quartz works, but covered in diamonds… Though none I kept for very long.

In my mid 20's I decided I would leave the music industry to peruse a formal education, I got my bachelors, I opened various companies. I got married to an amazing woman, did well enough to pay cash for our wedding. I was blessed with a beautiful daughter, who will have everything I never had. I bought my first home cash without a loan, I furnished it with all the high tech ifruit gadgets one could dream of. I take 12-18 weeks off for vacation every year. I'm taking my MBA just because. I help others to help themselves. I give back to my community. I engage in philanthropy. I'm a great golfer (okay, maybe not that great) :-)

I also stuggle everyday to enjoy it all

The countless years of 18+ hour work days and stress have broken me to the point I get constant anxiety and panic attacks. I suffer inside. Would you believe dear friends, that after all this, my only watch was a 20 dollar quartz Armitron that I bought from a department store on sale?

Maybe it's because I found myself thinking of the happiness I felt when my mother bought me watches, or the shame I felt when I was laughed at because I had a fake watch. Maybe it's because I was brought up to believe I would never amount to anything in the 1980's when a Rolex watch was considered to be the milestone of success. Maybe its because I look at my little girl, and I realize I have nothing to hand down to her and no existing traditions in my family to "pass on" items. Maybe its because I'm thinking of how wonderful it would have been if I had gotten a watch from my estranged father that I could cherish. Maybe its because my iPhone ran out of battery in the middle of a panic attack and I couldn't time it to see how long it lasted. Maybe.

I don't want to make a big deal out of this occasion, but it is a big deal in the little universe known as my existence. I don't think my wife really understands (though she supports me 110%), and I assume most of the people around me think I'm trying to make an impression, but I assure you nothing could ever be farther from the truth.

So, I bought a Rolex.

An absolute mint 1971 Rolex 1601 Datejust cal. 1570. My local AD said it was an impeccable example, and that it was almost that the original seller bought the watch in 1971 and never wore it. Now I know its not the norm to have a DJ on a leather strap, but the combination of fine brown alligator and Eugene's (Etur) legendary end links proved to be just in my taste. I love the size, 36mm - sits perfectly on my wrist, its not heavy, but it feels solid. Its not bulky yet it wears like a larger watch. I can wear it with a suit, I can wear it on a casual day at the beach, I can wear on the golf course. It is not flooded with diamonds, but the fluted white gold bezel sparkles. It is a simple watch, a classic watch, a timeless watch, that with all its perfection still looses around 2 sec. a day. It is handsome, reliable, repairable, inexpensive to service, inexpensive to maintain. A true everyday Rolex, that I can wear with no reservations, and no worries. It has no need to scream any message, rather it chooses to whisper its heritage and story with the world. The sense of pride I have wearing it is immense. It is a symbol of all that went wrong in my life, and all that went right. It is the reminder that my time is ultimately limited, and the time remaining is valuable. I wear my watch with the understanding that it will survive even when I don't. Everyday it loses seconds, and everyday I do too… But unlike my rolex, I can't be serviced back to "mint condition".

Obviously there are more expensive watches, rarer watches, I read somewhere on the forum that 1601's are the "dime a dozen" Rolex. Perhaps, or maybe whoever wrote that quote missed the whole point. I enjoy the forum, but I'm afraid that many times the watch itself surpass the individual stories that give them real value. The feelings, the emotions, the struggles, the victories, the experiences one went through with that crown on your wrist… So what is this the watch worth? Is it worth the 1700 dollars I paid for it? No. This Rolex 1601 is absolutely priceless, worth more than any Rolex in the world.

...I'm sure I can find at least 1 one other person who feels the same way.



Thank you for reading my post,

Kindest Regards,
Alex Sabour