In 1990 I purchased a Rolex submarine watch for about £1,500. At the time I thought it was a fair price for a nice practical "sports" watch. I saw it on the wrist of a friend while scuba diving in Australia. 36 years later I still own the watch. I mention this because last week as a surprise my wife had it cleaned and maintained professionally in London, as a surprise delayed birthday gift.
Now, I treat the watch as any watch I own. It's for work and little else, I stopped wearing it about three years ago because it did not keep time very well. I owned a seiko perpetual (which I bought ten years later) that was also automatic and kept time perfectly.
The gift was thoughtful and also included an electric autowinding case for three watches, nothing outrageous but still. What surprised me was the value of the watch. A 1990 (which is the year my watch was manufactured) watch is worth between £9,500 and £14,000, down from nearly £20,000 – all three figures are insane!
If memory serves, the Seiko was about £600 in 1998,. Today the Seiko is worth about £100. This is the part that is amazing, fundamentally the seiko is a much better watch. It keeps time for up to six months. if you leave it in a drawer, and suddenly use it, it will adjust to the perfect time (not the date…). My wife spent nearly £750 to service the Rolex.
It is still a nice watch! Thanks honey
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