Rolex Discontinued Models Collection

I had fantasized about wearing a sub for the past couple of years. It was an itch that needed to be scratched. One could say that the sub is the porsche 911 of watches. At some point, I would need to experience one. Just as I think that anyone who’s deep into this madness needs to at least experience a Seiko (the cheap ones, NOT the expensive ones) for what it is, one needs to at least experience a sub at some point. So there I was agonizing about what sub to get. I’m sure some of you have read my posts/comments regarding the sub. I even went the extra half mile badgering a friend to sell me his 2-liner. Needless to say, the desire was there but finding a good one under the right conditions was next to impossible. I also realized that 4 liners were even harder to come by than the arguably purer 2 liner. I searched for over a year but to no avail.

Then came Feb 2021. I stumbled upon a close to perfect specimen.. last of the model year pre ceramic sub 4 liner, unpolished (seller made sure via his pics by accentuating the bevel lines), unserviced, close to NOS except for a very small nick on the 10 o’clock bezel and a hairline scratch on the triangle of the lume pip. Almost no bracelet stretch, bezel insert immaculate, and the winding on the crown was as crisp as my SD43. A couple of minutes had passed since it was posted and I immediately messaged the seller. The watch was finally mine!

Doubt creeped in a few days into ownership. It did not feel “legendary” on the wrist. It looked great whenever i took a pic but back on the wrist, pffft.

Do I regret buying it? Not at all. I enjoyed the whole experience of the hunt. And part of it is risking disappointment. The important thing in any search is that we look with our hearts first, then narrow it down with logic later. I also enjoyed handling it through an owners eyes and not through fleeting GTGs. I enjoyed the tactile feel of running my fingers through every part of the piece. It was quite a joy to handle knowing that the fit and finish was at par with my SD43. Unbelievable, really. On the wrist, while underwhelming, was quite comfortable. The 14060m just ticked all the boxes like how a good template marriage would. And that is why i held on to it longer than I should have.

I did follow all the rules of letting things stew and all that. But then I realized that I was not longing for it when not on the wrist. On my iphone, it was the least photographed watch! On this forum, probably the least shared!

I knew I could just have kept it but I don’t like keeping pieces that bug the hell out of me, “good investment” be damned. So off it went.

Just as soon as I offered it for sale, a guy locked in on it. He said he was looking for a 2012 birth year watch for his son. He fired off a last price query to which i replied in the negative. He said, “ok” and that was that. I figured if i was going to have seller’s remorse, I wanted to make sure that I’m able to mask potential regret with a decent deal. We met a few days later. I saw that he was wearing a Blancpain with that radiation indicator. I smiled. I took that as a sign that it was meant to go to him. Call me crazy but I value these sorts of things as part of our overall journey.

How do I feel now? Good actually. It was a good experience. Lots of learning.

Is that the end of the sub for me? Not at all. Maybe I try my hand at a 41mm just to round out the experience. Maybe

What’s next? I am looking at that new Omega SM 300 in blue. I asked the boutique the other day but no shipment yet.

Lastly, I guess I was right all along when I decided to go for the SMP300 2254 instead of a sub 18 years ago. It’s been EASILY on my wrist for a week now. Not as refined as the 14060 in terms of fit and finish but inexplicably more enjoyable.

As that old saying goes, ymmv :p