New collector/growing pains

[ZamboniPony11]

After my son was born I had decided that I wanted to purchase myself a watch, not only to mark the occasion but also to have a heirloom piece that I could pass on to him when he reaches an important milestone of his own. I put my name on the waitlist for a “polar” explorer 2 and 2 tone “Root Beer”. Knowing that the Rolex was more of pipe dream, I tried on everything the AD had to offer and settled on a Speedmaster sapphire sandwich, mostly due to the history and timeless aesthetic. My interest in watches exploded as I continued to pop into the AD every few weeks. About 6 months in I sit down after a busy day to wind my speedy and I notice that one of my pushers has fallen off, heartbroken I return to the AD and send it off for repairs. While we’re filling out the paperwork I ended up purchasing my 2nd watch, a blue dial Tudor Royal with a day-date and diamond markers to wear as a placeholder. After the Tudor purchase my contact at the AD told me that anything I’m waitlisted on would actually be attainable now that my “spend” is up. I took a week to re-examine the Rolex catalog and decided to remove myself from the waitlist until we could land either a Candy Pink OP or a Explorer for my wife to celebrate a promotion she had received at work. Within 15 minutes of going back to the AD to update our waitlist we left with the Explorer and my speedy which had returned from its servicing. Unfortunately here’s where the problems begin, I still love my speedy but I’ve lost faith in it. It seems so much more fragile than it did previously. I bought something that I’d hoped to last generations, and while it was fixed free of charge I can’t shake the feeling that it’s not up to the task of being my everyday watch. On top of that, one day when my wife wasn’t working she offered to let me test run her explorer and although I initially had some reservations about the Explorers small size I absolutely fell in love with it. It’s a perfect watch, period. After about an hour on the wrist it no longer felt small, the bracelet is far superior in my opinion and I wasn’t worried about breaking it. Being new to the hobby I’m seeking some advice, is this normal? Will it pass? Where do I go from here? I know eventually I’d like to get a Rolex of my own and I don’t see the point in buying another explorer when I have access to hers. What models would you recommend? I live in coastal South Florida and I do a very physical job for a small local municipality. Im up and coming at work but politics play a heavy role in the daily ongoings and I’d be weary of wearing anything that would draw too much attention or upstage administration. Thoughts?