I just bought my husband his first Rolex

[Seas the Day]

I haven't given it to him yet. It is for his 50th birthday. At first I planned to buy a used one, but they are between $3000 and $4000 - and some were more than 15 years old at this price. Then I learned I could get a new one for less than $5000 with discount -- but he has a stainless watch already, and you can't get a two-tone for that amount.

Then our daughters and I went to our local jewelry store (AD) and saw the revamped TT GMT Master II. Wow. We fell in love with it and after talking to the man in the store (a Rolex buff, wearing a Submariner) decided to put it in hold. I had to think about it - it's a huge purchase. $8925 retail, with 10% off it was still twice the amount of money I initially planned to spend. I asked friends in Chicago to see if they could find the watch with a greater discount than the one I received - they couldn't. I called the next day to say I'd take the watch, and he said if I'd changed my mind he had received a call from a man in a neighboring state who wanted to buy it. He said that his little store would only be alotted one of the TT GMT Master II Z serial number watches. I was lucky to have gotten any discount at all.

I have to say that I'm normally not in love with the looks of Rolex watches, in large part because there are so many fakes around, and they are more masculine than my taste (which of course is not a negative for a man,) and they feel a bit like advertising the fact you can afford it (or that you're a spendthrift if you cannot.) But, my husband loves the looks of Rolex. I can tell. He purchased a fake Rolex at one point, but fakes just don't feel right on your wrist... and he didn't wear it much. With multiple kids in college, it makes little sense to spend so much money on a watch. But, you only turn 50 once, right??? I am going to give it to him this weekend. He can always return it if he's not as enthusiastic as I expect.

It has made me feel better about my decision to make this big purchase reading all of your stories on this forum about how much you love your watches. It seems a bit crazy to me to spend so much on a watch, but your arguments about what is spent on a wedding ring did not go unnoticed by me.