I opted for a total of three straps, leaving the original Rolex Oyster flip-lock bracelet at home. The weekend would be a mix of exploring the island, coastal walking and evenings at various drinking holes and eateries. A family break to Anglesey was the perfect opportunity. The task fell to me, and I noted it had been a while since I had ventured out with only my Explorer. (We’re trying to help you here.Always keen to illustrate how different watches can look on alternate straps, a plan was hatched by the Magazine staff for one of us to take a single watch on a weekend away and dress it up or down with a broad selection of straps. Yes, yes, we get it - a $6,000 watch is not most peoples’ idea of an “affordable” timepiece. Rolex Oysterdate Precision Reference 6694/6294.Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date 5-Digit 34mm.All Rolex watches today with the exception of the Cellini feature Oyster cases. Oyster: This is Rolex’s proprietary water-resistant case technology, first released in 1926. These days, all Rolex watches are chronometers, though such was not always the case. Don’t me.)ĬOSC: The Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC) is the body that gives a watch movement its chronometer rating, ensuring its accuracy to within -4/+6 seconds per day for a mechanical watch. So in the case of Rolex, we’d call a watch produced between the early 20th century and roughly 1985 “vintage.” ( Roughly. Vintage: Again, the definition of what constitutes “vintage” is fluid, but we’re going to peg it at a watch roughly 35 years old or older. There’s no clear delineation with respect to time period, but for our purposes, we’re going to say a watch is neo-vintage if…we say it is. Neo-Vintage: This is a loose term employed by the secondary market that typically denotes watches with a mix of vintage and modern attributes, such as 5-digit Rolex Submariners from the late 1980s/1990s/early 2000s. This could mean it’s been worn, or it’s in NOS (“new old stock”) condition - but it’s still pre-owned, so the market determines the price. Pre-Owned: Here, we mean a watch being offered on the secondary market. New: In this case, we’re talking about a current-production model that’s being offered at retail value. So take pricing with a grain of salt, and always do your own research. NOTE: If you’re wondering why we’ve given such wide price ranges for certain pre-owned watches, it’s because price is dependent upon condition, rarity of a particular variation, and numerous other factors. But all this being said, it is perfectly possible to nab a pre-owned or vintage Rollie for well under $10,000, and in many cases, for well under $5,000. So what is an “affordable” Rolex? For our purposes, we’re going to limit our Rolex price range to watches under $10,000 - which, we know, is a lot of casheesh. (And that’s if you can find one at retail…which you probably can’t.) A Rolex Submariner, perhaps the timepiece most often mentally conjured upon the very utterance of the word “watch,” will run you $8,950. You’re welcome.)įor example: a steel Explorer, considered by some to be an “entry-level” Rolex sport model, will set you back $7,200 at retail. (By the way, if you’re looking for a killer dive watch for under $1,000, here you go. But within the highfalutin world of Rolex, affordability is a concept whose lower reaches exceed the upper reaches of many folks’ watch budgets. To many folks (and I include myself, here), “affordable” within the watch world conjures up images of a great Seiko for $500, or a killer Timex for under $200, or the G-SHOCK that got me through my military service that I purchased new for $80 at a bus station. Ok, let’s get something straight right off the bat - “affordable” is a relative term.
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