# Opinions on Rolex watches **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 14, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538 "2017-12-14T21:30:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/81 "2017-12-20T18:13:21Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > A chronometer (which is the term I should have used) does not necessarily have a lot of functions. … Thanks for dispelling my ignorance. That is a clean looking watch. I’ve got a weird hangup, tho, over the 4=IIII. :smack: Lemme know if you run across anything clean, utilitarian, w/ Arabic numerals… 😃 Re: diamonds - she’s got a couple of rings and some nice studs. I’m really pretty anti-diamond, for the many obvious reasons. So I’m happy to buy her any jewelry OTHER THAN diamonds. My sister manages a flower store in a really tony town. She said before she worked there, she had no idea that diamonds could be TOO BIG! - rings that do not sit upright on the finger, studs that pull down the earlobes. We’ve got one friend whose overlarge studs are almost giving her gauges! Fortunately, showy is not my wife’s approach. Hell, if it WAS, she wouldn’t have married a troll like me! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/82 "2017-12-20T18:34:28Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Thanks for dispelling my ignorance. That is a clean looking watch. I’ve got a weird hangup, tho, over the 4=IIII. :smack: Lemme know if you run across anything clean, utilitarian, w/ Arabic numerals… 😃 [Oyster Air-King](https://www.rolex.com/watches/air-king/m116900-0001.html) [Oyster Perpetual](https://www.time4diamonds.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/600x/17f82f742ffe127f42dca9de82fb58b1/p/e/perpetual_114200-1_1.png) [Oyster Datejust](https://www.bobswatches.com/images/z111094-p---Copy.jpg) Of course there are plenty of pre-owned ones, with a variety of dials, with or without bezels, stainless steel or gold (or both), a variety of bracelets, etc. that can be had for less than a new one. If you’re worried about a used watch, you can send it to Rolex for an overhaul. [Here](https://www.rolex.com) is the Rolex website where you can see all of their models. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/83 "2017-12-20T20:01:23Z")
Well YOU’RE just a big help, aren’t you! 😃 Gotta admit, that Datejust is a sharp looking watch. Funny, but I’m not able to turn up that configuration at the website. I dunno - we’ve got a couple of pricey expenditures and some travel on the table. Maybe when we run out of other expensive things to spend our money on, I’ll get back to you! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/84 "2017-12-20T20:06:17Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Gotta admit, that Datejust is a sharp looking watch. Funny, but I’m not able to turn up that configuration at the website. It’s possible they’re not offering that style right now. I know my GMT Master II was not offered with a Jubilee bracelet when I bought it, and I had to hunt for a bracelet to put on it. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/85 "2017-12-20T20:48:24Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Oyster Air-King](https://www.rolex.com/watches/air-king/m116900-0001.html) > [Oyster Perpetual](https://www.time4diamonds.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/600x/17f82f742ffe127f42dca9de82fb58b1/p/e/perpetual_114200-1_1.png) > [Oyster Datejust](https://www.bobswatches.com/images/z111094-p---Copy.jpg) > > Of course there are plenty of pre-owned ones, with a variety of dials, with or without bezels, stainless steel or gold (or both), a variety of bracelets, etc. that can be had for less than a new one. If you’re worried about a used watch, you can send it to Rolex for an overhaul. > > [Here](https://www.rolex.com) is the Rolex website where you can see all of their models. Not being a fan of the magnifying lens on their crystals, I haven’t really looked at the non-chrono Rolexs. However, [this](https://www.rolex.com/watches/oyster-perpetual/m114300-0001.html) is a nice looking dress watch. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/86 "2017-12-20T21:19:04Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Just cause I thought you nuts might be interested, [this](https://www.rolex.com/watches/datejust/m178240-0006.html) is the one she picked. Now she’s got ME wondering if I want a nice watch. (Not really. If I did, I’d just dust off my old Seamaster DeVille!) It is nice looking but my tastes are gaudier. I thought that the IIII would bother me as well but it looks right. I think it may be done for vertical symmetry since the VIII is quite visually bulky. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/87 "2017-12-20T21:33:54Z")
[Cecil himself](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/438/why-do-clocks-with-roman-numerals-use-iiii-instead-of-iv/) covered the “IIII” vs “IV” over thirty years ago ---
**Author:** ![Krav\_Manga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krav_manga/32/3153_2.png) [@Krav\_Manga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krav_Manga)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/88 "2017-12-20T21:50:27Z")
> [@Mavic\_Chen](#): > > Seiko watches such as the Seiko 5 use this system but the spring drive is different. You may be thinking of Seiko Kinetic. As far as I am aware Seiko 5 are automatics. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/89 "2017-12-21T00:09:19Z")
> [@Scoobysnax](#): > > [Cecil himself](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/438/why-do-clocks-with-roman-numerals-use-iiii-instead-of-iv/) covered the “IIII” vs “IV” over thirty years ago Yeah, but nothing definitive there. And I HAVE seen watches/clocks with the CORRECT 😉 IV - they just aren’t as common. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/90 "2017-12-23T16:54:31Z")
> [@Scoobysnax](#): > > Not being a fan of the magnifying lens on their crystals, I haven’t really looked at the non-chrono Rolexs. However, [this](https://www.rolex.com/watches/oyster-perpetual/m114300-0001.html) is a nice looking dress watch. I’ve always liked the [blue-dial Air-King](https://www.swisswatchexpo.com/watches/rolex/mens-rolex/air-king/air-king-blue-baton-dial-stainless-steel-mens-14000-15895?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImJnO1sug2AIViMJkCh2jWQI5EAQYAyABEgL29PD_BwE) with the ticks instead of numerals. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/92 "2020-04-30T12:58:34Z")
> [@PatrickC007](#): > > I don’t think $6200 is a big sum to be paid for a Rolex. You invest in a watch that will always be useful, no matter how many years pass since its purchase. And I’m not talking only about Rolexes. I have at least two watches that cost under $200 that keep better time than my Rolex. It costs me that much just to get the Rolex cleaned, which you are supposed to do every few years. There is no way that you can make an economic argument for a Rolex. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/93 "2020-04-30T13:05:31Z")
You’re right about that servicing. More like 500. And add a few more hundred if the watch has complications. They say it needs to be done every 3 years too. One thing you can say: they do hold their value. Sadly, the only time I really wear my nice watches is when I go out–my Apple Watch is far more practical and tracks my running–but I am not going out anymore for … reasons. ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/94 "2020-04-30T13:15:40Z")
Actually, many rolexes can be resold over list price. If you can get a submariner or gmt at list, you should take it and make a profit selling it on the second hand market. Verstuurd vanaf mijn moto g(6) met Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/96 "2020-04-30T13:47:45Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#): > > Actually, many rolexes can be resold over list price. If you can get a submariner or gmt at list, you should take it and make a profit selling it on the second hand market. > > Verstuurd vanaf mijn moto g(6) met Tapatalk But you’ll pay over list price to get it. Go to an AD (authorized dealer) and tell them you want to buy an Explorer at list price - you’ll get laughed out of the store. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/97 "2020-04-30T14:02:25Z")
I think I posted another thread, but a couple of months ago my wife and I stopped in a watch store. Still didn’t care for the Rolexes, but was quite taken w/ an IWC Pilot’s watch - titanium w/ brown dial. (Sorry, my computer is not cooperating to allow me to link pix). Thanks for bumping my old thread. My wife still likes her Rolex very much - it is her standard watch other than gardening/working out. In other watch news, I gave my dad’s 1960s Omega Seamaster DeVille to my youngest dtr. She just got it back after a thorough rehab. They told her certain things weren’t exactly as they should have been out of the shop, but she kept them that way out of remembrance of my dad. Now her daily watch. Cool! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/98 "2020-04-30T14:17:47Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > But you’ll pay over list price to get it. Go to an AD (authorized dealer) and tell them you want to buy an Explorer at list price - you’ll get laughed out of the store. When I got my GMT II back in 2001, it looked like Rolex wouldn’t let dealers sell for under the list price. If they did, Rolex could de-authorise them as dealers. I did get a discount on my watch, though. I paid list price for it, but the dealer waived the sales tax. (I told him I would be driving through Oregon in a month, and I could buy one there without tax.) ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/99 "2020-04-30T15:03:24Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I have at least two watches that cost under $200 that keep better time than my Rolex. It costs me that much just to get the Rolex cleaned, which you are supposed to do every few years. **There is no way that you can make an economic argument for a Rolex**. 100% Agree. If the OP were financially able to buy a Rolex and wants the watch as he obviously does (or did), then you buy it. You buy it because you want it, not because it could possibly make any kind of economic sense. I also could easily afford to spend that kind of money on a Rolex watch if I were so inclined but being the Scotsman that I am, I’d probably die and go to hell before I’d spend that on a watch. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/100 "2020-04-30T15:05:43Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I think I posted another thread, but a couple of months ago my wife and I stopped in a watch store. Still didn’t care for the Rolexes, but was quite taken w/ an IWC Pilot’s watch - titanium w/ brown dial. > (Sorry, my computer is not cooperating to allow me to link pix). > > Thanks for bumping my old thread. My wife still likes her Rolex very much - it is her standard watch other than gardening/working out. > > In other watch news, **I gave my dad’s 1960s Omega Seamaster DeVille to my youngest dtr**. She just got it back after a thorough rehab. They told her certain things weren’t exactly as they should have been out of the shop, but she kept them that way out of remembrance of my dad. Now her daily watch. Cool! That makes me think of Archie Bunker and the knock off “Onega” watch he got ripped off on. ---
**Author:** ![Bert\_Nobbins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@Bert\_Nobbins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bert_Nobbins)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/101 "2020-04-30T19:24:19Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Why would anyone want a fake Rolex? Well, me for one. Most instructive. I bought my Definitely Genuine Submariner from a charming gentleman in a back street in Pisa. We settled on 30 Euros. It has been an education. For a start I did not know that you could plate chromium so thin (or so badly) that it would wear down to the copper underneath in just 3 months of normal use. Before that, it looked a pretty good imitation, so long as you didn’t look too closely. The give-away is that the second hand beats seconds not 1/8s of a second. Now I have replaced the battery, it keeps excellent time. The watch shop man was not at all bothered by being handed a fake Rolex. He sees lots of them. Inside, the little digital movement is half the diameter of the case, and is held in place by a neat nylon cradle. I hasten to add I have no intention of passing it off as genuine. (It’s the rare Copper Submariner, honest!) I also have an Oyster Perpetual, or to be strictly speaking an Oyster **Prepetual** , as that’s what it says on the dial. I don’t know if the mis-spelling was an accident or some sort of subtle way of dodging copyright. I am unimpressed with the Submariner, real or otherwise. The lens over the date window means you cannot read the date unless you are looking directly at it. When the stubby hour hand is near the lens it’s hard to read what hour it is. As for being waterproof to 300 metres, if I was one of the very few people diving to that, I think I would rather rely on a dive computer than a wristwatch. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538/102 "2020-04-30T19:30:21Z")
> [@Bert\_Nobbins](#): > > I am unimpressed with the Submariner, real or otherwise. The lens over the date window means you cannot read the date unless you are looking directly at it. > When the stubby hour hand is near the lens it’s hard to read what hour it is. I solved that by buying a (vintage) non-date Sub. 😉 (FWIW, the lens is called a ‘Cyclops’.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opinions-on-rolex-watches/804538.md?page=6)