Where did your watch love start?

[thewatchguy93]

For me you may be shocked but it was actually the fake watch market which made me like watches.... I was in Siciliy about 3-4 years ago and found a fake watch stall, I went over and bought a little Rolex Sub for about 30 Euro, after wearing it for about 3 months and after a little bit of Rolex internet research I discover theres alot more to a watch than "it looks cool".

After finding out how bad the quality was I thought I need a good quality watch which is going to last me out for a while, after looking through the Rolex range I finally discovered a few sports models I liked, and thats where it all started, after buying an old datejust a few years back I have recently pulled the trigger on the stainless version of my grail, christmas 2010.. never looked at a fake since... ewwwww!!!








I love how at certain angles the ceramic appears matte..






Thanks guys, would love to hear where it all started for you!


Dino

[gmh1013]

My father had a gold DJ and then in mid sixties bought a sub .....so I knew what a Rolex was from a young age

[dddrees]

Have admired the Rolex brand from afar for a long time, however last year is when I got hooked.

Bought my first, and found this forum. Not hard to do when you read and see what others here have. Geez what a bunch of enablers you are.

[paverman]

A sub no-date a couple years ago while on vacation started my obsession.

[Big Joe]

My love for watches began when I as about 14. I worked weekends and gave my checks to the family to help with groceries, etc. After a few months my mom let me keep one of my checks. I bought me a Timex self winding watch and I was hooked ever since. I saw my first Rolex Sub in the early 70's and wanted one ever since. I finally got it about 8 years ago and absolutely love it. I now have 2 and my wife has 1. Oh, and I forgot to mention the other half dozen nice Swiss Autos I have :) .

[paverman]

Originally Posted by dddrees

Have admired the Rolex brand from a far for a long time, however last year is when I got hooked.

Bought my first, and found this forum. Not hard to do when you read and see what others here have. Geez what a bunch of enablers you are.

You can say that again! Because of all the "enabling" from this forum, I can't stop buying new watches.

[MonBK]

Oh I remember it well.

In the early 60's in the backseat of a Studebaker where my 25 year older "Girlfriend" was wearing a gold ladies President.

I remember thinking: First thing tomorrow morning I got to find out if they make that watch in a mens model.

And I'm not kidding.

[threemonkeys]

I re-fell in love just a few months ago when I had my old Air King serviced for the first time. It came back looking new and I was hooked. So just bought a GMTC last month and it's just downhill from there...

[frank777]

When I was a kid I bought a casio watch that could store 20 telephone numbers back in 1991. I loved it so much I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Then in 1993 I bought a Guess watch (quartz) which I thought looked really nice and simple which got stolen when our house got robbed. Then I started to look for watches to replace my lost love, during this time I stumbled across a Pierre Cardin 2 tone Chrono Quartz(1996) with a pretty shiny blue bezel and I loved it the colour. I loved that cheap $120 dollar watch dearly and wore it with great pride. Then I obtained another blue face DKNY watch 2001. I loved watches now. I had no money so I just looked at cheap watches that looked nice. Then as I started working I was interested in mechanical watches as my dad had a very old 1970's Rado watch which I really liked. From then on all i looked at was automatic watches. Since I didnt have lots of money I just dreamed about owning a swiss watch and read lots about them.
Then in 2008 I saved up enough money to buy my first Swiss automatic watch. I was so excited. I purchased a Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Chrono Teak-grey 41.5mm at a very good price from an AD as they did not have the model I was after which was the one previous to this. I loved this watch so much becasue it looked so classy to me and so simple. It had a crystal back as I was obsessed about being able to see the movement. I still have this watch and it is my daily wearer and I love it to bits! I have it currently on a black leather strap and it looks stunning.
Then my obsession with rolex started. I just simply loved the look of the datejust with the fluted bezel. The simple elegant style with the light dancing off the fluted bezel was hypnotising to me. I knew then I had to have one. I saved my butt off and was going to get a cheap SS datejust with black face. But then I discovered TRF and found a guy selling a almost new SS datejust black face with diamond markers Vseries. I wasnt keen on the diamonds but the price was right for me so I took the plunge. When I finally received it I was shocked at how subtle yet beautiful the diamond makers looked. They were tiny diamonds which I was hoping and when the sun hit those babies I knew I had a keeper.
i always thought diamonds would be too blingy for men but rolex does it very well. Now that I have experienced a diamond dial I know without a shadow of a doubt it adds to the beauty of a datejust.
Sorry if i made this post a little long I just got carried away in my nostalgic walk down memory lane. Im 32 so not alot of yrs to reflect on but love my watch journey. I cant wait to one day get a Daydate !!!!!!

[Jason71]

My wife bought me an inexpensive Swiss Quartz for ~ $200 while she was in Switzerland about 15 years ago. I loved that watch, but after a few battery changes........it fogged when swimming once. I went without a watch for a number of years, but then got hooked on a Breitling. There is no way that I was going to buy a Rolex. They were too expensive and not worth the money. Man, was I wrong.

[drockadam]

I started to love watches when my father told me about his mid 80's Submariner. I fell in love with that watch, it made me buy an Invicta 8926. I have cheap watches, and great watches, no Rolex's....yet.

[Rolesor]

my dad has an air king date and I remember always being mesmerized by it's sweeping second hand when I was 8 ish years old.

15 years later I have my first and definitely not my last!

[ecsub44]

I saw a Chuck Yeager Rolex ad on the back cover of some magazine of my father. It was a Pepsi bezel GMT. I knew at that point I had to have one.

Fast forward 18 years to the present...and I bought a Sub (no date) instead. Much better than the GMT in my opinion.