Never worn Rolex discontinued watches - What to do?

[Danny83]

Keep it .....buy another used one for you to wear

[VIG]

I'm a "use it for its intended purpose" sort of guy. I race my Mustang, dive with my dive watches and fly with my pilot watches.

Take the stickers off and wear the hell out of that bad boy.

[Johnnie]

Wear it, else sell it on profit right now.

[Lordofrolex]

sell it 15 years from now as unworn. You'll be happy you did.

[crazycarlitos]

Ur Kermit will depreciate once u remove stickers, but it will re-appreciate in time.

Collecting watches like new Rolex in a safe as an long-term investment, not wearing it and leaving the stickers on seems silly to me.

Surely there are better ways to invest for higher return on ur money, no?

Rolex should be enjoyed on a wrist.

[Bruins7]

Yolo

[rollee1]

The mkI F serial LV is special, especially the flat 4 has a special place in my heart.

If OP don't care for mkI much, sell it and buy another used LV and wear that instead.
I am a collector of everything, there is even an unworn stickers full set in my uncle's vault of 1675/8 gold GMT root beer since 1970.
Things that I value I buy 2 copies, one is to keep.
Yes I have the original iPhone unused as well, that's for another day.

[J!m]

This is an F serial, which is still considered the first batch, and IS the anniversary year. Actual first batch is Y serial, which was available for only one month (September 2003). An NOS Y will always have more value to a collector than an NOS F, even if it is a Mk I dial F serial. (side note- I thought the Mk I dial had the oval "O" in Rolex?)

All that said, new anything is only new once. Drive the car off the lot and leave thousands behind. Peel the stickers off this and similar situation.

I would suggest (as others have done) one of the following scenarios:

1) sell it off, at a profit most likely, and purchase another LV that has been worn. You might luck into a Y serial worn that in 20 years will actually be worth more than the F serial NOS. No one here knows what the market will do with watches in the future.

2) stick it (back) in the safe and forget about it. Buy a pre-owned LV or other piece that you need to own. Like the Y being more rare than the F, the F is more rare than all the other serials made since... Again, it's only new once...

Or wear it and forget what we say. If it was a Y serial, I'd shed a tear, but it isn't so... go for it!

[kirksingleton]

I am a believer in wearing it BUT in your case I would not. Either sell it now and buy something to wear or safe queen it.

[franklin]

The stickers go in the garbage and the watch on your wrist. You only live once.

[beshannon]

I do not have the time or money for non-performing assets

[Sublovin]

^^yep...fair enough. Although, the Panerai comparison is very relevant, because the market is admittedly smaller but so are the number of watches produced (all relative). Every model made today will someday be changed or discontinued, so maybe we should all just hide all of our watches away in some time capsule? I'm joking obviously, this way of thinking gets pretty silly pretty quickly In My Opinion..
I am not telling anyone how to have fun, just stating that to me, watches are for fun.
Thanks for the reply...
To the OP, simply offering my opinion.

[Heo2]

It also depends how old you are. At my age, I'm wearing it.

What hit? Not mine. Maybe my nephews or my next ex-wife who I haven't met yet will take the hit.

[Sublovin]

Originally Posted by Heo2

It also depends how old you are. At my age, I'm wearing it.

What hit? Not mine. Maybe my nephews or my next ex-wife who I haven't met yet will take the hit.

Classic...good for you

[Andad]

I would put that one in the safe.

Are the plastics on the lugs missing?

[SuperHero]

I'd wear it or keep for a year, check values and if your up, sell and buy something you'll want to west all the time.


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[fishingbear]

I wear my 16610LV all the time even though I bought it AD new and understand the collectible value of it.
If you bought it to wear it then do so.
If you bought it as an investment then stick it in the safe.
Do what you're comfortable with; Good luck and keep us posted.

[datejust24]

As much as I disagree with buying a watch brand new and never wearing it, this is an instance where keeping it NOS is going to clearly make it more valuable to buyers and collectors....AND you've had it for this long and you've yet to wear it so far so... Either do what others have said and keep it that way or wear it....OR sell it make a nice chunk of change and buy yourself another...if money isn't an issue and making profit off of it doesn't tickle your fancy and you can afford it...keep it NOS and buy another...

[Fleetlord]

Originally Posted by randomguy

Okay, so I've picked up a Rolex 16610lv f serial watch, which is now discontinued. The kicker here is, its never been worn, with most stickers still on, full set.

As I typically only keep what I wear, would I be destroying value by taking the stickers off and wearing it?

I'm not really a "put away in safe" type of guy.

How much value am I tossing away, by taking off the stickers?

Your thoughts please.


J.

Ok...let's get down to reality with this situation.

Did you pay the market premium for the watch being NOS?

These seem to be going for over $11k.-12k..maybe more in this shape.

If you paid that much and intend to wear it, thus peeling off the stickers and such, then you have a watch with that insert that is worth around $8k.

So you will LOSE $3k by buying this particular watch and potentially
much more in the future as watches in this state dry up.

Why were you interested in this particular NOS piece?

If all you want is an LV to wear, then this NOS one was not the watch for you to purchase. You can get a nice, preowned model for $6.5K and wear it all day and not lose a penny...and that will appreciate as well in future as well..

If you paid the premium for the watch to be NOS, then leave it that way.
Watches in this particular condition have passed the point of wear/not wear due to the premium the collector market has placed on this condition. Unless you have the money to throw away, it's a safe queen now. There are PLENTY of other ones out there that aren't...

.

[Tom1675]

Do not wear it. You're asking because you want to hear what you already know --it could be, and probably will be, too expensive to put on your wrist... Keep it and buy something you'll wear. Lets face it, no one who is geek enough to type on these forums feels like one Rolex is enough anyway :).

[Fleetlord]

Like it or not, NOS pieces like this have crossed into the collectible realm and their market prices are based off that...

It would be like buying a mint condition, graded and sealed comic book / toy etc....that has value attached to it because of its specific condition and then tearing it open / playing or reading it....There are "lessor" condition versions for that at this point in the game.

[T. Ferguson]

Originally Posted by randomguy

Okay, so I've picked up a Rolex 16610lv f serial watch, which is now discontinued. The kicker here is, its never been worn, with most stickers still on, full set.

As I typically only keep what I wear, would I be destroying value by taking the stickers off and wearing it?

I'm not really a "put away in safe" type of guy.

How much value am I tossing away, by taking off the stickers?

Your thoughts please.


J.

Well, if you wear the watch at all you should take off the stickers. If you wear it the stickers themselves will get filthy and scratches, and eventually start peeling off anyway. Therefore you won't really be losing any value by taking them off if you wear the watch. The stickers aren't going to completely protect a watch in the wild from scratches. They are there to protect the watch during shipment and the light duty of being on display and handled/tried on in a store.

So it sounds like you are trying to decide if you bought it strictly as an investment.

If yes, then it's better off as essentially NOS, so leave all the scotch tape on the watch and put it and the papers/card/box in a safe until you sell it.

If not, then peel away and start bangin' that bad boy around!!!

[CHOSEN1]

remove the stickers and wear it

[dadonn2]

"Okay, so I've picked up a Rolex 16610lv f serial watch, which is now discontinued. The kicker here is, its never been worn, with most stickers still on, full set. As I typically only keep what I wear, would I be destroying value by taking the stickers off and wearing it? I'm not really a "put away in safe" type of guy. How much value am I tossing away, by taking off the stickers?"

The OP did not ask if TRF members wear or safeguard their watches nor did he ask how TRF members feel about those who safeguard watches. Nor did he ask if he should wear this watch. The only questions are 1) "would I be destroying value by taking the stickers off and wearing it?" and 2) "how much value am I tossing away by taking off the stickers?"

Thankfully you found out that this watch may be a "serious score" and appears to be a relatively rare watch (MK1 round olive bezel etc). Therefore, it is probably in your best interests to leave this watch stickered as it appears to hold more value in being NOS than is typical for a Rolex.

Now onto my thoughts that you did ask for as relevant to the questions that were asked- I believe that as a guy who wears his watches, you don't necessarily value the cache of a "flat 4" etc. as some might. Certainly, I would not. Therefore, the money this watch could fetch would be better spent elsewhere. These are my not so deep thoughts du jour.

[jmrxtr]

my cousin has one he wears and one in the vault. I'd vault it.

[amg55]

Grey market dealers in Asia will generally knock 15-20% once stickers are off. Why don't you sell it to Davidsw as it is?

[Gaijin]

In the case of a 16610 LV if you have one that is new with stickers is hold on to it. I struggled with this. I have one. It's such an awesome watch that I also bought a used one to wear.

[dht_tubes]

If you keep in safe this means invesment project and someday when prices go high,

You must sell it right? So if you willing to investment don't wear it but if still need to wear buy another old one

[Black Bay Dan]

I would wear it and enjoy it. If you look after the watch it will only go up in value (especially as you have the more sort after bezel), so say in 5 years you still have a MIB example it will most likely have held its value. I was in the same predicament as you recently and made the decision to enjoy my 16610LV. Good luck.

Dan

[lee fowler]

Originally Posted by Air King Dan

I would wear it and enjoy it. If you look after the watch it will only go up in value (especially as you have the more sort after bezel), so say in 5 years you still have a MIB example it will most likely have held its value. I was in the same predicament as you recently and made the decision to enjoy my 16610LV. Good luck.

Dan

But your one is not a flat 4 version.