15K Max... What to buy?

[johnbeth]

Originally Posted by Porsche

Jeremy, admit it, you REALLY want the YMII. You won't be satisfied till you get it. You'll have it forever, so spend a few extra $ now, before the prices go up (again!!!).

PS. have you seen the price of gold lately? Better get that beast sooner rather than later...

That YG YMII is starting to get me excited... I think Im falling in love...

[WatchTimes]

Saxon
I was very let down when I found out the bezel
on the JLC was fixed....

It would have been much more appealing if you could use it as a GMT
bezel.

Short of that its a GREAT watch.

Michael, your ROO is stunning!
I am glad they do not fit me well as Id want a RG RC, A Bubble Bee, a Safari...

[Starwalker]

I'd buy an AP ROC....or a Breguet Marine Big Date II or the chrono...beautiful watches...for 15K you'll be able to get a RG one....awesome watch...I think Greg as the chrono.

[Mockingbird]

At 15k there are just so many possibilities...

Here are a few:

GO PanomaticLunar, it comes in at about 50% of your budget, giving room for another watch if wanted


Blancpain Flyback Chronograph


Jaeger LeCoultre's new Master Chronograph (I'm not quite sure how much it is in gold, but it's 10k USD in SS)


Then of course it's hard to go wrong with a Moser


Or a Lange for that matter (1815)


And Blancpain's Villeret collection is just beautiful, albeit hard to find good pictures of


And Chopard has some beautiful offerings


But of course if you're into something more unique, you could check out independants, there are quite a few that would fit quite comfortably in your price-range such as Sarapaneva, or a highly customized Habring.

[asadtiger]

Originally Posted by Mockingbird

At 15k there are just so many possibilities...
Here are a few:
GO PanomaticLunar, it comes in at about 50% of your budget, giving room for another watch if wanted
Blancpain Flyback Chronograph
Jaeger LeCoultre's new Master Chronograph (I'm not quite sure how much it is in gold, but it's 10k USD in SS)
Then of course it's hard to go wrong with a Moser
Or a Lange for that matter (1815)
And Blancpain's Villeret collection is just beautiful, albeit hard to find good pictures of
And Chopard has some beautiful offerings
But of course if you're into something more unique, you could check out independants, there are quite a few that would fit quite comfortably in your price-range such as Sarapaneva, or a highly customized Habring.

WOW Charlie...what amazing suggestions and taste..please go for ANY one of these Jeremy...they are very classy and relatively rarer...I'd take any one of these over a DDI/II, AP RO/O or YMII...not that there is anything wrong with any of those but man I cant compare the elegance of these suggestions.this is just my very honest and sincere attempt at drifting you into my kind of watches ;)

regards and happy hunting,
Asad

[Joey_V]

I would go for the DayDate. White metal though. Black dial w/ black arabics is totally impressive to me.



Best DD ever.

[WatchTimes]

Charlie

All beautiful pieces but too dignified and grown up for me still
at this point in my life.

I rarely am in a suit and tie and I guess I am more looking for something sports watch.
Blacpain is beautiful but I already have something on the way from them ;)
I also am big into a watch being able to be worn in a pool unless its a total dress
watch... I just hate taking off my watch and trying to hide it or going back up to the
room to lock it up when traveling

When I do grow up Id love that Lange 1815 in my collection, its perfect sized and stunning!

As for the AP ROO Chrono, I have less than 0 interest in it.... They do not fit me well and I am
let down with the piggyback movement but that is just me. As I said the diver is a consideration
but I really think I will wait a while as I anticipate a price drop (secondary market) as more and
more get out in the wild. They are still very hard to get NIB from an AD let alone second hand.

I am leaning heavily towards selling a couple other pieces and getting the YG YM II at this point.
I have to go YG as the bezel is stunning and the WG Bezel looks too much like the original SS/Platty
YM which is a knick magnet! I do wish they had the ceramic bezel on the WG version but since they dont perhaps the new Blue Smurf Sub will have to fill that craving for me ;)

[Mockingbird]

Originally Posted by JYogi

Charlie

All beautiful pieces but too dignified and grown up for me still
at this point in my life.

I rarely am in a suit and tie and I guess I am more looking for something sports watch.
Blacpain is beautiful but I already have something on the way from them ;)
I also am big into a watch being able to be worn in a pool unless its a total dress
watch... I just hate taking off my watch and trying to hide it or going back up to the
room to lock it up when traveling

When I do grow up Id love that Lange 1815 in my collection, its perfect sized and stunning!

As for the AP ROO Chrono, I have less than 0 interest in it.... They do not fit me well and I am
let down with the piggyback movement but that is just me. As I said the diver is a consideration
but I really think I will wait a while as I anticipate a price drop (secondary market) as more and
more get out in the wild. They are still very hard to get NIB from an AD let alone second hand.

I am leaning heavily towards selling a couple other pieces and getting the YG YM II at this point.
I have to go YG as the bezel is stunning and the WG Bezel looks too much like the original SS/Platty
YM which is a knick magnet! I do wish they had the ceramic bezel on the WG version but since they dont perhaps the new Blue Smurf Sub will have to fill that craving for me ;)

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph (not the ROO), uses an integrated column wheel chronograph movement unlike the piggiebacked ROO.

That may be your solution, they're much smaller and fit very nicely on smaller wrists as well.

EDIT: I believe they're available on the used market for 14k USD.





A current grail of mine.

[johnswatch]

Okay - easy decision....

Breguet Marine Big Date.

Screw down crown, water resistant, absolutely stunning movement, hand guilloched dial, amazing rubber (yeah, that's right) strap and clasp.

It's everything I want in a sports watch and everything the Patek Aquanaut should have been.......

[WatchTimes]

Originally Posted by johnswatch

Okay - easy decision....

Breguet Marine Big Date.

Screw down crown, water resistant, absolutely stunning movement, hand guilloched dial, amazing rubber (yeah, that's right) strap and clasp.

It's everything I want in a sports watch and everything the Patek Aquanaut should have been.......

More a dress watch with a screw down crown to me.

If I am gonna buy a Breguet it will be a dress watch.
Most of their sports watches do not do it for me and the ones I like
are WAY too expensive.

I think Breguet should have kept with Dress watches and Complications... I know MANY here love their sports line but I wonder how many are actually worn, used and abused like most other sports watches? I would never do the things with the Marine Big Date I would with any Rolex.

I guess I missed the truck handing out the Breguet Cool-Aid

[enronforme]

VC Overseas Chrono?

[WatchTimes]

Originally Posted by enronforme

VC Overseas Chrono?

Well Hello Toledo!
Im in Metro Detroit

I LOVE the band on the VC Overseas
but the date at 12 annoys the heck out of me.
I was at a private VC event a couple months ago and
was wearing the Ti version on leather which is a beautiful
watch but I just could not get over the date so big at 12.
It is not as bad on the white dialed version but still it just
does not work there for me. I am more of a 3 or 4:30 date kinda
guy, I really do not even like the date dials some brands use (Patek
on certain models)

[WatchTimes]

I dont know the RO has never really done it for me.
I thought I had to have one and went to my AD and
tried them all on but it just was underwhelming to me
for some reason.
The bracelet is very boring and looks somewhat dated.
If I was to go that route I would go with the VC Dual Time
but I have the same problem with the AP Dual Time that date
indicator... I have never cared for that style.
I have a beautiful old AP Manual Ultra Thin Skeleton my father
purchased and passed on to me. If I add another AP to the family
it will be the ROO Diver but that is about it.
My next BIG Three purchase (other than a ROO Diver) would have
to be the PP 5960P, that is a grail of mine for sure.

[Mockingbird]

Originally Posted by JYogi

I dont know the RO has never really done it for me.
I thought I had to have one and went to my AD and
tried them all on but it just was underwhelming to me
for some reason.
The bracelet is very boring and looks somewhat dated.
If I was to go that route I would go with the VC Dual Time
but I have the same problem with the AP Dual Time that date
indicator... I have never cared for that style.
I have a beautiful old AP Manual Ultra Thin Skeleton my father
purchased and passed on to me. If I add another AP to the family
it will be the ROO Diver but that is about it.
My next BIG Three purchase (other than a ROO Diver) would have
to be the PP 5960P, that is a grail of mine for sure.

I understand that, the RO's design does certainly look dated at this point. The new IWC Portuguese Yacht Club Flyback Chronograph which uses an extremely interesting in-house movement. It's a bit large, but I'll let you judge.

[WatchTimes]

I have a RG Port Chrono my wife bought me
For my wedding present and I love it. My AD had
Just gotten the YC in when I tried the RG Port chrono and I tried it on sadly my wrists looked small against it but it's a great watch!!

[Mockingbird]

Originally Posted by JYogi

I have a RG Port Chrono my wife bought me
For my wedding present and I love it. My AD had
Just gotten the YC in when I tried the RG Port chrono and I tried it on sadly my wrists looked small against it but it's a great watch!!

The next thing that comes to mind is the VC Overseas, but that seems to have already been discussed. Going 11K and up is tough if you want sporty, at that range spending money on a simpler watch (which is more delicate) becomes a waste (in my mind) because the value for the money isn't nearly as good.

I can also recommend Sarpaneva, an extremely high-regarded independent. If you want brand recognition though, this may not be the piece for you.

[aleiberman]

If I had 15K to spend on a single watch, I probably wouldn't buy a single Rolex. I would look seriously at other brands.

I would however; take the 15K, and buy 2-3 x Rolex.

[WatchTimes]

Originally Posted by aleiberman

If I had 15K to spend on a single watch, I probably wouldn't buy a single Rolex. I would look seriously at other brands.

I would however; take the 15K, and buy 2-3 x Rolex.

Such as?
AP?? The ROO and I just do not pair well, I think they are great watches but I do not find them comfortable and I am not a fan of the movement for a watch of that price.

15K on a vintage or even a precious metal Rolex (bought second hand of course) will hold its value better than most other brands out there when it
comes to sports watches.

Whenever I buy 3 or 4 5K range Rolexs I end up selling them to purchase one higher end piece.... I have 3 or 4 conquests I am after still after that I will start the collection of entry vintage sports Rolex pieces till I accumulate enough of them to flip them into a Patek 5960P!!!! That is really my true modern production grail which is realistic to obtain someday for me... If we include Vintage the list would never end and the budget would never allow a true vintage grail

[WatchTimes]

Mockingbird, I must tell you the Sarpaneva moon pieces are STUNNING!

[hennabav]

With that much dough there are so many choices!! First decide whether vintage or modern. Then brand and then design. Will probably take a long time to decide since there are so many to choose from!!! But like many have said, the AP ROO are absolutely stunning watches. Very rugged and versatile. If you have a big wrist, they look beautiful!!

[Andad]

There are a lot of nice suggestions in this thread.

I am interested to see what your final choice is.

[WatchTimes]

It has been decided!
Part of the funds are already with one of our stellar gray dealers
And over the next few week (I need a few week as I have 2 pieces on
Their way and a third coming at the end af March)
So...... We are a few weeks from having it but I'm almost 99% certain
What I will be doing :)

I am excited. If you would have told me a year ago I'd be getting this I would have
Likely laughed at you but.

[Aivas47a]

Yes, the ROO diver has an internal dive bezel adjusted by screw-down crown, so you can't adjust it under water. Of course you shouldn't really need to do that anyway, just set it on the boat before you go in. Whatever inconvenience this may cause is balanced out, IMO, by the absolute safety of not being able to accidentally move the bezel. Yes the case is likely to gather some scratches in rugged use, I'm just saying this model is built so that it can really go deep unlike most ROOs.

Some really interesting lesser known choices suggested above by others too.

[WatchTimes]

Originally Posted by Aivas47a

Yes, the ROO diver has an internal dive bezel adjusted by screw-down crown, so you can't adjust it under water. Of course you shouldn't really need to do that anyway, just set it on the boat before you go in. Whatever inconvenience this may cause is balanced out, IMO, by the absolute safety of not being able to accidentally move the bezel. Yes the case is likely to gather some scratches in rugged use, I'm just saying this model is built so that it can really go deep unlike most ROOs.

Some really interesting lesser known choices suggested above by others too.

Do you dive?
The bezel is one of those things I have just always been trained
to set when you get wet, old school I guess but it just takes away
from real dive use and that bezel kills it for me, its a ding magnet waiting
to happen. The more I have looked into it I must admit I am a bit
let down... While AP makes STUNNING watches I really do not feel
they are practical for true sports use the more and more I look into
them...