Adventures in Princeton

Larry S

Born in Princeton. Mom’s family in Trenton, Wash. Crossing. Grew up in the Lehigh Valley. Moved to Princeton after university for work. Migrated north as my career moved to North Jersey. Milltown then Sparta then Chicagoland.

Aroxx

Today was a beautiful Spring day for a watch trip into Princeton. When I first joined this forum @allwoundup welcomed me and we talked about meeting up since we live so close. We finally made it happen today. Of course, this epic journey had to be documented for posterity. Pictures incoming. Sorry this got way too long.

Double doggin’ and right on time (didn’t set the Elgin)…

Subie gang flocks together.

@allwoundup treated me to a cup of Princeton’s finest coffee (Small World) and showed me some really cool stuff from his large collection. I tried on all but one I think. Love talking watches with a fellow watch aficionado and getting to experience such a range of new things in person. Pictures never do watches justice but here goes.

This thing is just cool as hell.

This one stole my heart. Very awesome in person but I’m a sucker for calendars.

Mmmmm triple calendar. I was trying to impress Dubya with how smooth my Minerva pushers were. He already knew all about that life lol.

Paper thin.

Some others…

This tropical dial is amazing. I’m usually a bit ambivalent to the brown tropicals but maybe I need to see them all in person.

On the wrist. Killer dial.

All together now!

Gotta do a wrist check.

Ok coffee breaks over! Time to go window shop. Headed over to H1912 to see what used stuff they had. SA was super friendly and happy to show us everything. Noticed my Speedy and looked at my watch box and called out the Minerva. She wasn’t into reference and caliber numbers like us but knew her stuff.

Anyone got $25k? 1972 with original bracelet but the bracelet is basically dead and not suggested to wear.

Killing me with the DateJust. The 1601 is my favorite but the bracelet was clapped out. One of the 1603s (right side) had I believe she said a rare ivory dial.

I thought this was a vintage piece. Love it but the slab case persists.

BMF stands for badass MFer right?

Then she took a tray of watches out from under the counter that she said nobody looks at and we were all over it. The real treasures.

Some Omega and Jaegers. I missed the left one but she said it’s a 321.

Ok, next stop, Hamilton Jewelers. Time to get bougie.

They have watches ladies and gentlemen!

And here is where things get interesting. It’s definitely more hoity-toity then last time I was there about 5 years ago. I understand their clientele and appreciate their professionalism but I finally experienced that Rolex shit people talk about. No pictures allowed inside lest we be casing the joint. Not a big deal. Glad I asked first. After Dubya bounced I asked to try on a DateJust. I didn’t present myself as anything other than a tire kicker and the SA was polite but clearly didn’t want to be talking to me. Commented on my double watches but didn’t care about what I had. I tried being as friendly, laid back, and gracious as possible. Na, apparently we were at a funeral. In the past I’ve gone there and they happily opened the cases like at H1912 even though I told them I’m just looking. Showed interest, etc. I’m assuming she had other clients and was rushed. Oh well. So I tried on the DateJust 36 blue dial on jubilee and yea, I love it. Fits great. Not as big as the pictures online. I could go new. 😀 @SC1 you done F’d up. 😉 Jk.

They also had a one of a kind clock with tons of enamel work made for them by Patek Philippe to celebrate their 100 year anniversary. I wish I could have taken pictures to share.

In the middle of this part of the adventure my alarm goes off. 5 minutes till these Elgin movements go off on eBay. Game time. Put on my ghillie suit and get ready to snipe. Bid like $20 over with about 3 seconds to go and lost by a dollar. Sniping software I assume. No big deal. They went for $76.

Ok, now to the service department for business. Need some quotes. I knew they wouldn’t provide a baseline overhaul number and would want to keep the watches to look at. Was prepared to leave a few. Nope. They only in-house service stuff they sell. Everything else gets shipped out at your expense ($30). Uh no thanks I can do that myself. Didn’t believe me when I told her the Minerva was serviced there in the past. Had no clue about parts accounts. Omega all gets shipped out. I was trying to see if they could get parts for El Primeros via their Rolex parts account. Anything older than 15 years old gets sent directly to Rolex. Blew her mind telling her Daytonas used to have Zenith movements. To be honest, the lady’s mustache was very distracting. I just bowed outta there once again as graciously as possible. At least it wasn’t all a loss. I did get a really nice Rolex magazine out of it.

Time to go home. Somebody out front was living the Kia life. Saw an insane lime green Lambo on the way out too but I was driving so no pic. And a really nice Focus RS but he didn’t wanna race. 😁 Jk again.

See ya Princeton. Until next time. Wait a second… Every. Damn. Time.

Alright, sorry that got longer than I thought it would but it was fun for me to put together. I swear I won’t keep doing long posts like this. Thanks OF for entertaining me. And thanks @allwoundup for a fun afternoon! -Alex

__ryan__

I'm glad to see some folks from northeast PA on here. I grew up in the Poconos and spent quite a bit of time in the Lehigh valley. I've since moved away (Baltimore, Atlanta, Oakland, and then a smaller town in the bay area) but my parents and sister still live in the area (Stroudsburg). We're taking a trip to visit in June -- it will be the first time I've been back to PA since 2019.

You NJ folks are alright, too. 😉

rahbarin

I’m in jersey also in Toms River where about an are you. I travel to Princeton for work all the time. Would love to meet up with another watch person. My wife’s ears are bleeding from my watch talk lol.

Aroxx

And I thought you were a dyed in the wool West Coaster. My parents recently bought a house in Pocono Pines. Don’t spend a ton of time up there but we go up every once in awhile.


I’m in Hamilton. The one near Trenton (and Princeton). I like meetups let me know if your around. My wife is also sick of hearing it. We should probably organize a Jersey meet up at some point. There’s a handful of us that I know already.

savka

PhD alum here -- great to see the ol' stomping grounds! Totally agree about the shift in vibe at Hamilton... they used to welcome and indulge me when I was a broke grad student, back when there watches for sale in the cases... not so much anymore.

savka

PhD alum here -- great to see the ol' stomping grounds! Totally agree about the shift in vibe at Hamilton... they used to welcome and indulge me when I was a broke grad student, back when there watches for sale in the cases... not so much anymore.

rahbarin

Hamilton Jewler’s isn’t a great place I get service there and when I was looking to purchase a watch they were rude and were talking down about watches I was trying on. Saying how it slot less then what I was wearing why would I down grade things like that.

Aroxx

When was this? From the intel I got the other day it’s definitely not a great service option for people like us. And of course it’s pricey. They only in-house service stuff they sell. Everything else they just ship out somewhere. For Rolex anything older than 15 years old gets sent to a Rolex. So not an option anymore to get a sympathetic movement overhaul on anything.

Aroxx

When was this? From the intel I got the other day it’s definitely not a great service option for people like us. And of course it’s pricey. They only in-house service stuff they sell. Everything else they just ship out somewhere. For Rolex anything older than 15 years old gets sent to a Rolex. So not an option anymore to get a sympathetic movement overhaul on anything.

MTROIS

Wow, this must be a very recent change of policy… or this lady didn’t know what she was talking about.
I am leaning towards the second one, but will call up my contacts in their watch lab to see what the current status is.
I always had great experiences with them as they would service my vintage Omegas (flightmaster, 2998, …) ON SITE.

Btw, GREAT write up @Aroxx !!!
Hope to see you soon again, and since I go to Princeton for work every so often, we could always meet up for a drink. I always enjoy Agricola’s bar when I stop there.

Foo2rama

Awesome.

also that sky chief is rubbish. Let me take it off your hands….

RevZMan123

I have a subaru and a couple omegas ... and your phone number ... AND you didn't invite me?!?! For shame!

Cool day and pics.

sxl2004

I am surprised nobody talks about Princeton Record Exchange. 😉