Rolex

Baron - Mr Red
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What is it about vintage Rolex....

I have a lot of friends who love their watches. I have one friend who just adores Richard Mille because he sees it as pushing the engineering excellence to the very edge. I have other freinds who just adore JLC because of their heritage for innovation. Equally, I have friends who adore their Pateks thanks to the history of extraordinary attention to quality and detail that Patek has in its reputation. Most of these guys point to modern watches as examples of excellence demonstrated in their watches. New patents on different technologies. New ways of thinking about watches. Where am i going with this?

I look at my collection and see 60% vintage Rolex, one modern Rolex, and everything else either modern Patek, JLC or other. Bottom line is that I essentially have vintage Rolex and modern non-Rolex. And that had me thinking. Rolex's reputation was born from its innovation in advancing the tool watch. WIth HEV or whetever. Rolex fame is pretty much based on its innovation of the tool watch. Many will argue with me on that, but that is my impression. The pride with which I wear my vintage Rolex is based upon that history and the fact that today's Rolex share an almost identical DNA to the Rolex of the 1960s and 1970s.

And that is a tremendous shame. The reason that the 1960s and 1970s Rolex are so prestigious is because they were not just ahead of the game...Rolex invented the game. It is why I think they have such personality. Isn't it time that Rolex decided to take a trip back into their history and realise just why their vintage watches are so prized? And then, once realising just what it was that created such historic watches, went back to the drawing board and did something spectacular for the modern era? I know the tribute watches will always have their place. But honestly, isn't it time Rolex took a look at their modern watches and said to themselves..."Right, what we used to do is make tool watches better than any other brand. Today, there are countless brands that make technically better tool watches. That has to stop...right now. Notice to the world...Rolex are back and we are going to reclaim the title of best tool watchmaker in the world...and by a margin."

Come on Rolex.....give us something for the modern era that is more than a shadow of the great watches you used to produce in the 60s and 70s. Rolex makes a small fortune re-issuing carbon copies of former great watches. Time to move forward with the modern era... time to re-assert Rolex as maker of the best tool watch in the world. I am just so bored with the modern Rolex.

Am I alone? I know there are some fun modern Rolex out there. The Rasta Milgauss. The Explorer I. But really, this is fun, and not what Rolex should be doing, is it? Just re-issuing? Lets have something totallly ground-breaking. The indestructible Rolex. The Rolex that can go 1000m with a faraday cage to withstand enormous shock. Unbreakable. The Steve Austin of the watch world. Better than before. Stronger. And something that doesn't follow the fad of being 47mm and weighing 38kg.