"The Cylops Experiment" A new and unexpected pick-up...

[Jake B]

Up until now, I could pretty much be described as "anti-cyclops", and owned such iconic non-bubbled watches as the Explorer, Sea-Dweller, and Submariner. It's a mental thing, I guess. Deep down inside somewhere, when I was a boy growing up in the 70's, a seed was planted in my mind that the cyclops was synonymous with being "old". You know, it belonged on my Dad's watch. I've always equated owning a watch with the bubble with having grey hair, and calling pants "trousers", or "slacks".

Well, a couple of days ago when the new, blue, GMT Master II was released, I found myself feeling very conflicted. On one hand, it was love at first sight, but on the other hand, there was that danged CYCLOPS! Then, it struck me. I AM a dad now! Maybe my time has come...

So, I went down to my local favourite watch shop, and found myself the most affordable "test subject" that I could. A model that was made pretty much exactly the same for over 40 years, and is overlooked as well as underrated, the Oyster Perpetual Date. This particular one is 18 years old, has been serviced recently, and cost peanuts as far as Rolex watches go. I figure if I can learn to like the cyclops, then I'll go for the GMT within a year or so, and in the meantime I get to enjoy a classic. If I decide to sell it eventually..well..I'll probably be able to get back exactly what I put into it.

Cheers