Macca

Phew. Close call! I suggest giving it to your panel beater to knock back into shape but suspect it might be 2016 before we got it back LOL! Leave it with me and Ill get it sorted.

cliffjumper

PMs sent to the two Michaels of Rototuna (Obsessed and Sesquipedalian)

John McM

Swift pedaling to the Speed Yellow pilot, Walter, in RSG2 (BB2) this weekend at Taupo.

Keep it right side up and no diving into the corners. Try to get some of those angled runs in at Turn 1 etc.

Macca

Ive put a few auctions up on TM. Long overdue Ive been meaning to put a tonne of stuff up for ages and lost motivation. I managed five listings. Anyone interested in Tudor/Rolex Submariner or SS Daytona, some sunnies and a flash pair of shoes as well as a rare Porsche book fill your boots....

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Lis...?member=445356

shiraz

Mark , you need to edit your TM 928 book add - states 918 all thru . Freudian slip?
Cheers - D

Macca

Thanks Dave. Its dyslexia!

Maxem

That's some pretty high end stuff there Macca. I have a Rolex. I bought it in the dark side streets off Nanjing road in Shangers. It was a bit cheaper than yours. I keep it in the draw next to my favourite Chairman Mau watch. They used to sell these on the Bund until they banned the Hawkers.
But seriously, they are some lovely timepieces you have there. What sort of collection do you have and do you plan to sell it all down?

Macca

Dave the Chairman Mau watch will become a collectable :-).

OK its slow on here tonight the boys must be at the PCNZ AGM Ball in their ducktails!

I've always been fascinated by watches and cars since I was a kid. I bought my first Rolex at 19 (a used Oysterdate I worked all summer to save the money for - infact I started my first business that summer as I decided I make money if I wanted toys - useful lesson). I sold it the next year to pay for a mates car which I hit as it was parked up one dark wet night in the carpark of an industrial unit we had turned into student digs on Great North road after the commercial property crash in the early 90s. I was showing off my handbrake 180 degree parking manoeuvre conducted at 50kmph in my Audi 80 auto tranny which Id bought off the side of the road for $400 a few weeks before. Ran beautifully till it overheated (usually every 1200m). Anyway, I wasnt licensed or insured so cash up the timepiece, downgraded and paid for the repairs to the Worsley 1800?. Thankfully my mate had just removed his Gibson Les Paul & Marshal amp from the boot of the car before I squashed it. It was band practice evening at our place followed by hash cookies probably. I was the only uni student I knew with a Rolex, best part was no one knew what it was so I was incognito. Not that I ventured out much from the upper common rooms unless it was for Shadows, Star Wars arcade games or girls.

I didnt get another Rolex till years later. That one was an Explorer II bought from Lord Ponsonby antiques - a great place to buy and sell watches. The dial started going yellow on it after a few years and I was sure it was a faulty dial. I got out of it for what I paid and took the money to London on my OE. Turns out years later those yellow dial Explorer II are super rare - was a production quality issue in the dial manufacturing and they are worth 15-20K USD these days LOL!

I always work way better under pressure and Im lazy when I dont feel hungry. I should have been a stock broker or a shark diver. I took 2500 quid to UK and promptly spent 1200 of it on a used SS oysterdate with Julilee style bracelet at one of the better known used watch shops just off Bond street IIRC. Now I had 1300 GBP left and felt much more alive, no job, no accommodation, no one I knew dossing in London so that set the stage for the next 3 years adventures. 35 countries later the Rolex served me well.

One of the most interesting knowledgeable travellers I met in my travels (actually he smelt terribly, had a Lecia M6 in a sock and lenses in another sock and was an award winning photo journalist - I met him on a flight from Dakah Bangldesh (a hole of a place) to London via middle east and Paris and an unscheduled stop with Uzbekestane airways in what looked like a vintage ex Air NZ DC10 that served no alcohol (muslim).

Anyway cutting to the chase he had four cans of speckled hen in his plastic grocery bag carry on luggage (also contained said lecia) and we cracked those over his story of trying to get into Tibet hidden on a bus and being sent back by chinese boarder guards each time. He tried three times from different difrections before getting through and taking some snaps. Anyway - he told me that the best thing you could ever travel with is a stainless steel Rolex oysterdate. You see the Indians and the Asian typically like sparkly things like gold. So you never get robbed for stainless steel analogue watch. Travelers are sure its a Kohsan Road special so every one think sits a fakey. if you get wiped out you can take a Rolex to any specialist trader in any major city in the world and get fair $$$ for it. Infact Ive never lost a dollar one one in 25 years! So you can usually get enough money from the sale of a used oysterdate to get a ticket anywhere in the world a few nights in a decent hotel a change of clothes, a massage and a lap dance. Ok, maybe not a lap dance. One of the best bits of advice I ever had and has served me well - Ive worn my GMTs and Subbies to the most dangerous places on earth. I clearly dont look wealthy enough to be wearing the real thing LOL!

Anyway in the early 90s I did alot of business in Asia and spent alot of time up in Singapore and HK and used to regularly "flip" watches as I got bored. The traders up there were fun to haggle with. Then I kinda forgot about watches for a decade and only had a few. My first SS Daytona I loved much and sold symbolically to buy the engagement ring Jo wears from Antheas. Tycoon cut stones. In India in the 90s I learnt to grade precious stones for inclusions and was pretty good with sapphires. I had some nice ones I bought to make the jewels for my dream girl but I lost them in a house shift in the early 2000s.

From 2008-12 I picked up the watch bug again and it got silly. Picture below. The watch collection got a bit carried away and peaked around 2009. I sold most of the pieces off by 2011 when I realised I only need one to tell the time. Penny drops slowly in this one.

Then I got the car bug again after kinda being quiet on the Porsche front since 2006-2012 and from 2012 I cleared out of watches and I guess the money is sitting in the 993.

Ive owned around 50 watches, half of them Rolex I would guess. A bit like you and cars Dave! For the last 5 years I generally wear the Daytona on the track, infact Ive worn it every SITT/NITT etc. I have a GMTIIC as a daily. Two of the other three I will keep have sentimental stories and cant be sold. The firth is an Omega Speedmaster Moon Watch - its not worth much but I just love wearing it - feels really good like the blue Tudor Subby. Its the second one Ive owned and Ill probably sell it and re-buy it again a few times before they bury me because that's what watch addicts do. Its just like cars but different. There's a story about why Im selling the Daytona but here's not the place.

So that's my life with watches. Taken me some interesting places, met some interesting folks and always ensured I have bounty at hand should the worst eventuate.

My name is Macca and I am an addict...

Obsessed

Cheers mate, right back at ya.

Obsessed

Macca, thanks for that epic post. Had me laughing out loud at times. You need to write a book about your life!

John McM

Bloody hell Macca, the local wifi provider just received a bonus downloading that lot. My watch stories pale in comparison to that lot. Aside from picking up a Patek in Switzerland for my 40th that I sold to a collector just before my 50th I have nothing to relate apart from a long ownership of Omegas. More recently I've taken to a bare wrist. I use my phone.

All that aside I'm starting to remember the good parts of tropical life. A beverage or two by the waterfront followed by a plate of Japanese grade sashimi. Life is good

John McM

Apia tonight

Maxem

Nicely told Macca. If you decide to unload some at the lesser end of the scale, it would be interesting to see what they are / future potential. I know nothing about watches except now that you have given advice on my Chairman Mau and its ascending value, I'll keep that one locked up and one day trade it for a cayman when they reach parity which is inevitable and may be quite soon.
I no longer wear a watch after a life of doing so. My last trip to China I came back and had a bit of a fungal thing happening under the case and strap no doubt from some of the scummy places I ended up so gave the watch a break while I put some cream on that and I haven't worn one since.

Pel

Nice post Macca, the speedmaster is a very cool/underrated watch imo. I had never considered the trade value of a decent watch in bad travel situation, had generally worn a g shock when traveling

John McM

I had a Schumacher Speedmaster at one stage. Nice watch except for two things. 1 it was too small for my wrist 2. It had an acrylic face, which is less scratch resistant.

Cars, watches, cameras, an unholy trinity.