My first Rolex Purchase - 126711 CHNR

[Astro_Train]

Picked it up 12/08.

I was lucky enough to be able to obtain one brand new within 4 months at retail price from an AD (Radcliffe Jewelers in MD). A major shout out and thanks to ErikSzper who is a Pledge Member here on TRF.

Quick background on the purchase to being a first time owner:

Backtrack one year when I first started looking to purchase a Rolex..
Always wanted a GMT Master II with Sub being close second favorite.

So I thought I initially wanted an SD43 as most of my Breitlings have owned have been 43 to 48 mm.. so I went to Torneau in VA because I had purchased two Breitlings in the past from them. Of course it had been some time so I no longer knew anyone there in particular. I was treated pretty badly on two separate visits by two different guys I dealt with... one guy acted as if I was wasting his time.

I contacted 2 other ADs in VA and they were more receptive. I did it all via email and phone. They were very respectful and one of the owners actually contacted me via email and he took the time to explain the shortage to me on each particular model. I had already done my research so it was nothing really new to me but I appreciated his time. This was good customer service.

Fast forward about 4 months, I contacted Erik via PM on WUS as he was somewhat local to me ( I live in Northern VA) and was an AD and also sold preowned watches. He treated me like a person and told me the models I was looking at were in demand and he would let me know when he had one available for me. About a month later he had an SD43 in stock that was preowned and so I was able to actually see the watch for the first time. I am glad I did and realized it was NOT the watch for me. He also had a Pepsi preowned and again I could not stomach the jubilee bracelet plus the crazy markup.. although he gave me a very competitive preowned price which I will not discuss as a courtesy. So....

I then tinkered back and forth between a Hulk or a GMT CHNR and decided that I wanted both watches and told him to let me know when he had either available for me. I understood I was still a new customer and I would be waiting behind other folks that were also waiting on these models. About 2 months later I received a text that he had a 126711 available! I was there as soon as I could make it out (it was a 70 mile one way trip) so two Saturdays ago I went to see the watch and it was no-brain purchase! This watch was incredible to see in person. The pictures do not do it justice.

I cannot say enough good things about Erik and Radcliffe. Great customer service, he even brushed out a tang buckle on my Seawolf and resized another Breitling bracelet for me while I was there!

I am now waiting on the Hulk.. I do not plan on being as lucky for this next one and that is fine with me.

Well on to the pics.. they are not the best but I think this watch is truly unique among the other GMT models.





below are some of the other new models in stock..