Canada-to-Istanbul Rolex spotting

[Solar]

Hi all, I'm in Turkey for a short visit, a wonderful change from the snow and apparently endless winter of 2008 that Eastern Canada has been suffering through.

On the flight over, I spotted a TT black Sub on the transit bus in Frankfurt on the wrist of a younger gent, while I prefer the Bluesy, I can't deny the beauty of the black TT Sub.

In Frankfurt airport, there's a pretty decent jewellers, Christ Jewellers, which is pretty much what I said when I saw the selection!!

They have Rolex, IWC, Vacheron Constantin, Chopard, Omega, Tag and some others. But NO SINN! What a sin, I had really hoped to see some Sinn in the flesh, and since they're made in Frankfurt......the very attractive and pleasant lady working there said that I'd have to go downtown to see Sinn, that they are not sold anywhere in the airport. Seems odd that you wouldn't promote your local-made product?

For Rolex, they had a yellow gold Yacht Master II. I know that design has taken some knocks on this forum, but you know what? It looks much nicer in the flesh, the "face" is really legible and seems larger than the other sport models for some reason. For the amount the YMII cost, personally I'd spend that on a yellow gold Daytona, but that's just me. I didn't really commit the prices to memory, but I think it was in the 23,000 Euro region, which is probably why I remember the name of the jewellers.....

Which brings me to the next thing I saw for the first time, the white gold Daytona with the black dial and red hands. That piece has been an icon and a grail for me since I first saw it on the Rolex website. In person, its every bit a beautiful as you would expect. Interesting thing, it was next to a SD, and for some reason the SD--I think because of the depth of the coin-edging on the bezel--seemed to almost out-shine the WG Daytona! Almost, but not quite....but I was really impressed how the SD held its ground in simple 904 next to the WG Daytona, the YG YMII, and beside a couple of DDs, one WG and one platty....more numbers with LOTS of zeros after them!

On the Frankfurt to Istanbul leg, one of the passengers in front of me had an all black 16710 GMT II.

Me, I wore the GMT, which is currently wearing the Coke insert, I believe the best one of the bunch. The GMT is excellent for travelling, the two time zones at a glance make it outstanding for travel and calls home, and its light and unobtrusive.

I was concerned about security checks, but I searched this forum before leaving and saw posts about travel and airport security checks and your Rolex, and pretty much everyone said no problems with the metal detecors, all ok. Which it has been so far, so I hope this holds true for the security checks at the local sights [Aya Sophia has a checkpoint with metal detectors now] and on the way back. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Weather was raining, but clearing now so off to go walkabout!

Best,

Chris

[Dan Pierce]

Originally Posted by Solar

Hi all, I'm in Turkey for a short visit, a wonderful change from the snow and apparently endless winter of 2008 that Eastern Canada has been suffering through.

On the flight over, I spotted a TT black Sub on the transit bus in Frankfurt on the wrist of a younger gent, while I prefer the Bluesy, I can't deny the beauty of the black TT Sub.

In Frankfurt airport, there's a pretty decent jewellers, Christ Jewellers, which is pretty much what I said when I saw the selection!!

They have Rolex, IWC, Vacheron Constantin, Chopard, Omega, Tag and some others. But NO SINN! What a sin, I had really hoped to see some Sinn in the flesh, and since they're made in Frankfurt......the very attractive and pleasant lady working there said that I'd have to go downtown to see Sinn, that they are not sold anywhere in the airport. Seems odd that you wouldn't promote your local-made product?

For Rolex, they had a yellow gold Yacht Master II. I know that design has taken some knocks on this forum, but you know what? It looks much nicer in the flesh, the "face" is really legible and seems larger than the other sport models for some reason. For the amount the YMII cost, personally I'd spend that on a yellow gold Daytona, but that's just me. I didn't really commit the prices to memory, but I think it was in the 23,000 Euro region, which is probably why I remember the name of the jewellers.....

Which brings me to the next thing I saw for the first time, the white gold Daytona with the black dial and red hands. That piece has been an icon and a grail for me since I first saw it on the Rolex website. In person, its every bit a beautiful as you would expect. Interesting thing, it was next to a SD, and for some reason the SD--I think because of the depth of the coin-edging on the bezel--seemed to almost out-shine the WG Daytona! Almost, but not quite....but I was really impressed how the SD held its ground in simple 904 next to the WG Daytona, the YG YMII, and beside a couple of DDs, one WG and one platty....more numbers with LOTS of zeros after them!

On the Frankfurt to Istanbul leg, one of the passengers in front of me had an all black 16710 GMT II.

Me, I wore the GMT, which is currently wearing the Coke insert, I believe the best one of the bunch. The GMT is excellent for travelling, the two time zones at a glance make it outstanding for travel and calls home, and its light and unobtrusive.

I was concerned about security checks, but I searched this forum before leaving and saw posts about travel and airport security checks and your Rolex, and pretty much everyone said no problems with the metal detecors, all ok. Which it has been so far, so I hope this holds true for the security checks at the local sights [Aya Sophia has a checkpoint with metal detectors now] and on the way back. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Weather was raining, but clearing now so off to go walkabout!

Best,

Chris

Thanks for sharing Chris. The GMT is THE travel companion. Safe travels.
dP

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Nice Rolex spottings, Chris!

Have a nice stay and be sure to come back safe and post lots of pics, please!

[Solar]

Will do Bo.

Forgot to mention--how could I--there was a meteorite Daytona on a leather strap as well. Oh my sweet Lord, that is one beautiful watch! Personally, I'd prefer it on a metal bracelet, but there it was. Outstanding!