One man's taste another man's luck

I recently went to Spain to visit my family and decided to wear my 1675 pepsi with faded bezel, part of my birth year family collection (brothers birth year) my brother in law saw it and right away told me "man, you really have to take that watch to rolex to be serviced. they will change that bezel for a brand new one, fix the bracelet lag and return it to you as new. I explained that would cut it's value by about 60% and that I actually liked it with all original parts and aged...and like most hobbyists and collectors i had a preference for vintage pieces and birth year originals.

He scuffed at me, literally, and said he can't stand a less than perfect watch. "in fact" he said, "I just got a new bezel for my 2004 GMT because the original was slightly less bright and had a couple of marks". and then he showed me the new and the old...

Now...I have a 2004 for my sons birth year. Originally on a black bezel and currently on a new from Rolex service center Coke Bezel so I just said "I'll buy that old Pepsi from you" (Rolex won't sell me a pepsi for it) . Again he laughed and just tossed it my way and said "I could never sell you a damaged bezel, that's bullshit, just take it"

And voila! I have a 2004 pepsi on my 2004 watch. plus the original black, plus a new coke....and also I got a quick reminder on the craziness of collecting as no one in my family understood why I want my old watches to stay old.

If I had one, I'd toast you with a Pepsi 😀

Not always....but this one was a very unexpected surprise!

Yes. He is a very very anal man, which is fair enough and it served him well at work etc

Good for you Sergio! Many people can't understand the love for vintage timepieces; just wish more would send them my way like your brother did for you!

Well, your gain there. I service watches primarily for collectors, and a lot of those collectors are vintage lovers and want the patina left on the watch. As a result I have had some odd things stay on the watch that many brands would never let go out of their shop - for example the guy that wanted the weld spatter left on his father's Rolex that he inherited. Every once in a while I get someone who wants everything to look new, and if that is what they really want I generally have no trouble doing it. Sometimes I really like the result personally, and sometimes not so much...

I think this attitude of "it must be perfect" is why the brands operate the way they do. I have no problem with that if that is what the customer wants, but when they push this on you as "the only way" is when I disagree.

Cheers, Al

My thoughts exactly. step brother

Absolutely agree. Although I must say perhaps the NYC Rolex Boutique may be more open. I say this without 100% knowledge as I have never serviced a Vintage Rolex there, but the last time I was there actually to get the coke bezel insert) there was a gent having some minor work done to his Daytona and the center actually came out and verified if he was OK with them taking the back sticker out in order to open it. Now, I know Rolex is famous for their full "as new" style of servicing but i wonder if there is a way.

either way, agreed, they should respect the wishes of the owner.

Not a loss for him at all....he simply doesn't like it!

nice! Its like 3 watches in 1! thats why I LOVE GMTs!

Nice story Sergio. I used to be that way 20 years ago. I did a lot of classic car restoration then as a profession so my clients would normally bring their tattered cars and I would restore it to almost brand new condition.

I remember my youngest brother selling me his beat up 1675 GMT with Pepsi bezel that was faded and the dial with yellow patina on the hour plots. I immediately took it to our RSC for restoration and they changed the dial, bezel insert to all black, hands and crystal. I also had them polish it and when I finally got the watch it looked brand new. They really did a superb job.

But over the years after learning more about the do's and don'ts of watch collecting, I began to appreciate watches that are in untouched original condition. They tell a story unlike restored examples where you literally erase whatever memory or history that watch has from the previous owners.

"I think this attitude of "it must be perfect" is why the brands operate the way they do. I have no problem with that if that is what the customer wants, but when they push this on you as "the only way" is when I disagree.
Cheers, Al"

I suspect that this will become less of an issue as ceramic bezels dominate the market. Ceramic bezels, scratch resistant crystals and Lume (and perhaps dials) that won't "suffer" patina is perhaps a consequence of the drive for brands to be "almost perfect" and perhaps all things to all.