I Self deported from Club Rolex and it was Grand

I joined the Rolex Club in 2020, and the feeling I got from that first Shantung Dial Date was indescribable, I saved up all my Covid checks and threw in an Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend and let the Gov't fund my foray into modern Rolex. Both Trump and Biden chipped in and I don’t take sides when it comes to free money. I started with the most exquisite dial Rolex ever made and then fell in love with her ugly sister.
As I mentioned in a recent post, those ladies are no longer part of my life.
In October ’22 I purchased my first Grand Seiko and first nice quartz watch. In June ’25 I moved on to a vintage gem with a special dial that was soon replaced with a new dial that was a bit of a deprovement. Three months later I stumbled into a broken Grand Quartz and am working on its revival. Today the I have added one more and earned my seat in the club. Traded the braggart's wrist for the connoisseur's.

A new addition was added to the family today. I have bought several bands and buckles due to the misconception that I possessed a 19cm wrist. No harm in that. For the record, I have slimmed down to a 17mm. I may find a half link in the future but I am good while I wait for new US stock. No box and papers though.
I’d rather not share what I paid, but here a few percentages for those thinking of importing a Japanese watch right now, "Gemini can make mistakes, so double-check its responses." 20% of the purchase price was duty. After averaging the only three US sold examples, I paid 12.15% over eBay purchase price. I came in at 36.58% under original MSRP for the discontinued model. When averaging the active Chono24 listed Items I paid 4.55% under. So importing was no bargain, buy I got nothing to cry about. Now I had dreams of sugar plums and was wowed by some of the amazing dial variations. As long as it was not champagne or silver I was going to be happy, but after seeing that black lacquer, I am in love.

Now to be honest, I earned by stripes in the Omega Syndicate, and have no exit strategy. Vintage and mid modern is my home, and to my own amazement, I have not graduated to the coaxial click.

🙄 Psst, keep this under your hat, my dalliances with IWC may make the other guys a bit jealous.

Agree with @Larry S this one on my radar.
I fell into vintage GS hole but time to move on to new