WRUW Today?

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My Rolex Air-King-Date came to me in 1976. The hang tag at the time sounded expensive compared to Bulova and Seiko. The MSRP then was $215.00!
In 1976, the minimum wage was about 2 per hour. It took 107 hours to earn an Air King.

In 2025, the minimum wage is about 14 per hour in several US states, or 17 per hour Federal Canada. At $7750 USD and $14 per hour, it takes 553 hours to earn an Air King.

An Air King costs a little more than 5 times as much today than in 1976. (But of course we can't just walk in and buy a watch at retail.)

Let's say the manufacturing quality is better, which would account for some of the extra cost. Most of the increase is likely brand equity. Still, the watch is only 5 times as expensive.
 
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A nice overpriced watch that lasts a lifetime.
I've got Hamilton's from the 50's that are still running great and cost about $450. Lots of watches last a lifetime.
 
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Now for something a little different.
 
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I think you are saying that at the current salary rates you mentioned, it takes 5 times longer to earn enough to buy an Air-King-Date today, than it did in 1976. I don’t know the current MSRP for an Air-King-Date, today. But I think i’m safe in saying that the current MSRP is most assuredly more than 5 times the hang tag price of $215.00 that my Rolex sold for in 1976.

I worked for a Rolex dealer for 25 years. I started with them in 1965. At that time, the two-tone 14-karat and steel Date-Just was $475.00. The Day-Date model in 18-karat gold with the 18-karat President bracelet was $1,995.00. Read it and weep!
 
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I think you are saying that at the current salary rates you mentioned, it takes 5 times longer to earn enough to buy an Air-King-Date today, than it did in 1976. I don’t know the current MSRP for an Air-King-Date, today. But I think i’m safe in saying that the current MSRP is most assuredly more than 5 times the hang tag price of $215.00 that my Rolex sold for in 1976.

I worked for a Rolex dealer for 25 years. I started with them in 1965. At that time, the two-tone 14-karat and steel Date-Just was $475.00. The Day-Date model in 18-karat gold with the 18-karat President bracelet was $1,995.00. Read it and weep!

I worked on an oil rig in the Cook Inslet in Alaska in 1978. One of the guys there had gold claims in the Yukon that he worked in the summer. He had a big CAT he used to dig up the ground and run it through a sleuth (not sure the spelling.) He came back in the fall and offered me a big nugget for $300. I didn't buy it because I didn't know what I'd do with a gold nugget. No sense in looking backwards.

Everyone's got a story about one that got away. The difference in your story is that it didn't get away, you landed it.👍

Edit: found a couple pics. These are taken from my rig (the Grayling) looking out at the other rigs.

Edited:
 
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I worked on an oil rig in the Cook Inslet in Alaska in 1978. One of the guys there had gold claims in the Yukon that he worked in the summer. He had a big CAT he used to dig up the ground and run it through a sleuth (not sure the spelling.) He came back in the fall and offered me a big nugget for $300. I didn't buy it because I didn't know what I'd do with a gold nugget. No sense in looking backwards.

Everyone's got a story about one that got away. The difference in your story is that it didn't get away, you landed it.👍

A sluice, perhaps? Just trying to think of a similar-sounding word that may apply.
 
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A sluice, perhaps? Just trying to think of a similar-sounding word that may apply.
Thats correct