End Game Watch

I have taken a bit of a break from here following three deaths in the family in as many months including our grand kids other Nan who died of cancer aged 62, my Mum who was 89 and had been in and out of hospital for over a year and finally my Aunt who I grew up living next door to and treated her as a second mum. She had reached the ripe old age of 102.

In balance to that our second grandson is now five months old and doing well and our daughter who lives in Edinburgh is due to deliver our first McBaby next month. It does very much feel like one out, one in. I have used that logic on watches, but it seems to be people at the moment.

The result of all this to the wife and I is that the generation above us has been completely wiped out and we are now the village elders, the matriarchs so to speak.

All of this does make you reflect on your own mortality and to try and make better use of the time that you have left and stock piling a box full of watches doesn’t seem as sensible as it once did, so time to clear out, consolidate and go for that exit watch, the final hurrah.

I did give it some thought and got my exit watch contenders list down to three. The first was the Omega Speedmaster Snoopy 45th anniversary of which I have already owned two and sold over the years and the price is still bonkers, so that was a quick dismissal. Secondly was a Rolex WG DayDate 40mm with either a grey or blue dial. Not difficult to find, but not cheap either. The cyclops and the 32xx movement put me off and I have never really liked heavy watches, so the heft of the gold might have turned into a problem over time, so that one also bit the dust.

That left just one watch standing. A grail watch for me, the Rolex Milgauss 1019. Very few come up for sale, especially in UK and ideally I wanted it to be a trusted seller, who might be interested in taking my Rolex 1665 Great White full set in part exchange.

The 1665 on the chopping block:

Not asking a lot really, but hay-ho a game of wait and see. A few weeks back one such trusted dealer who I had been put on to by Tommy of this parish listed a 1970 Milgauss 1019, so I rang them up and had a really good chat with the guy who had set them up. We discussed the 1019 at length and then a similar discussion about my 1665 which was fresh back from an £800+ service and a deal was agreed.

I sent the 1665 on the Monday by RMSD (they covered the insurance), paid the cash difference on the Tuesday and was wearing the 1019 by the Wednesday morning.

It really is a stunning watch, 38mm wide and during the 60s and 70s I believe it was Rolex’ largest watch apart from the 40mm sports watches. It wears like a 40mm watch due to the smaller bezel area and has a crystal not unlike the top hat crystals on the 1680 only without a cyclops.

Very much a grandad’s watch, sensible and discreet yet a watch with history and a story to tell. Designed for the scientific community at CERN, yet an absolute dog for Rolex to sell. My bracelet is 1977, but is possibly original to the watch as these were known to sit in shop windows for years and years and then eventually sold with heavy discounts in order to get rid of them.

55 year old Milgauss 1019:

I do already feel an element of contentment creeping in with this watch, which is unusual for me and with everything else going on it feels right to try and enjoy the watch and to stop messing about looking for what’s next. Instead of losing money on watch after watch, that money might just be better used on buying a decent case of wine.

Thanks for reading,
Ken