15450 to 14790

[Billykhan]

Good day Gents. I'm aware this topic has been done to death on the Forums quite a few times, but normally its the 14790 Owners looking at the 15450...this is the other way round

Anyway to get straight to the point, if you've read my other posts you will know I've been toying with the idea of customizing the Gold rotor on my newly acquired 15450 Grey (either by AP or a good Jeweller) for reasons I won't go into detail in this post

Anyway, after giving it a lot of thought I figured it would make sense to actually get a pre-owned RO out of warranty to franken, instead of a brand new one with 5 years left. My search led me to stumble upon a few examples of the wonderful looking 14790, and that too with Blue Dial. What I'd like to know is:

1. I'm seeing prices for early 2000's F Series in decent condition at around 15k on Chrono24 (which obviously means less in the real world). If I were to buy now, would I be buying at the beginning of an upward curve, or are prices at a peak? Have these just started to gain in popularity and demand, or has it been going on for a while.

2. The other question which has probably been asked here many a time, is how it compares to the 15450 which I find to be the absolute perfect size for my tiny 6" odd flat wrist as its a 37mm that wears like a 40mm. I usually don't prefer sub 40mm watches, and with the 14790's slim profile would I find it a tad too small? I love my OP date and DJ 36mm but the sweet spot for me is surely the 15450, Daytona and Batman.

3. In terms of value for money, could the 14790 be considered a sane alternative to the 15202 for those of us with a less than stellar profile with AP, or $40k spare to burn I mean a Blue dial, thin Royal Oak at less than 15k almost feels like a bargain in today's environment.

Thoughts and opinions please Gents, and apologies if a lot of stuff has already been covered.

Cheers

[fullofboats]

I have a 14800, 15100, and a OP36 as well as a 37mm modern RO.

The older 36mm ROs wear noticeably smaller than the 15450 due to the thinness. They are much lighter on the wrist and slide under cuffs extremely easily. Visually though it’ll be hard to tell any size difference.

If you like your OP36 I’d say you’re fine as I feel that the 36mm ROs wear not too different (though still lighter and thinner).

I also have a blue 36mm RO and think of it as my mini jumbo at less than half the price. But I still want a jumbo


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[TankTom]

I wouldn’t say the 15450 wears anywhere close to the batman. Not sure if you were saying they do or thinking that they might. Just my 2 cents

[Billykhan]

Originally Posted by TankTom

I wouldn’t say the 15450 wears anywhere close to the batman. Not sure if you were saying they do or thinking that they might. Just my 2 cents

Not sure what I meant either when I put them in the same sentence, maybe I was trying to say they both wear bigger than their actual size. The 15450 wears pretty much like a 40mm and the Batman more like a 42mm, that's my take

Still no responses from anyone on the value aspect. Been trawling through the forums back to 2009, and even as early as 2017 seems like $7-8k was a pretty fair price for Buyer and Seller for the 14790...so seems like $15k is really pushing it for a 10-15 year old watch which will always be a Baby Jumbo and may even make the Buyer desire a Jumbo even more...so like counterproductive

[fullofboats]

Don't look at prices from a decade ago to justify a watch purchase decision today. Everything will look prohibitively expensive...

As for values today, you have to consider the alternatives. For me, I looked at the older 36mm RO as great value because they trade at half of what the 39mm/41mm trade at, excluding the jumbo. I like the 36mm size, I like the relative price, I picked up a few. Going forward, who knows. The older 36mm will always trade at a discount due to size I think, but will move in the same direction as the bigger ROs.

[cmdr_foley]

Originally Posted by fullofboats

Don't look at prices from a decade ago to justify a watch purchase decision today. Everything will look prohibitively expensive...

As for values today, you have to consider the alternatives. For me, I looked at the older 36mm RO as great value because they trade at half of what the 39mm/41mm trade at, excluding the jumbo. I like the 36mm size, I like the relative price, I picked up a few. Going forward, who knows. The older 36mm will always trade at a discount due to size I think, but will move in the same direction as the bigger ROs.

I agree with the last statement especially re: mid-sized being lifted by the rising tide of the larger royal oaks. I found the jumbo to be prohibitively expensive, which made the 14790 seem like a great value watch in comparison. Which I still believe.

Though tbh your statement about having it on your wrist making you want the jumbo has also proven true...


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[blackdot]

You've looked at historical prices, so you have the answer to your first question. 10-15 years or smaller size doesn't necessarily make the Baby Jumbo poor value - no vintage collector would agree with that.

I have a salmon dial 14800. To get it on bracelet would have cost 3-4x. To get it in a larger size would have cost 5-6x. A UT salmon RO that fits my wrist (also 6") fine at a fraction of the price...... Enjoy the small watch discount - others can tussle over the Jumbo.