Today there is quite a high premium on original vintage pieces simply because they’re extremely rare and becoming increasingly harder to find. Decades ago, when people bought luxury watches like Rolex for example, it was perfectly normal for them to get the watch serviced, polished, or have parts replaced if you scratched or dented them up. The problem is that while they were done by the company with authentic later-era parts, they still weren’t original parts or features of the watch. Since this was such a common practice, today it’s really special – and highly valuable – if a vintage watch is totally original.When posed with the question of which watch to buy and when, every industry “expert” probably begins their answer with some variation of the same caveat: Buy for love, not for money. Watch collecting is a wild and unpredictable hobby. Auction prices for classic models have been known to hit eight figures (and then some), but most of the Rolex watches out there depreciate the moment you strap them on your wrist.I have a young friend who is ready to buy his first luxury watch. He’s been thinking about it for weeks (good boy), but every few days he calls me (bad boy) and labors the same point: He wants a watch that is an investment (even worse boy). There exists in modern watch collecting a problem: collectibility is now treated as a selling point. But the problem with everybody and their dogs knowing that something is collectible is that everybody and their dogs are quite likely to collect it.The most expensive wristwatch ever sold was the Rolex Daytona worn by Paul Newman himself. It fetched $17. million at a 2017 auction. That’s a pretty good price for a watch that was so unpopular when it was initially launched that it lingered on dealers’ shelves with relatively few actually making their way onto customers’ wrists. One of those wrists happened to be Paul Newman, who had reputedly been bought the watch by his wife, Joanne Woodward. And it isn’t that she made a sound investment, but rather her purchase created an investment piece by her gifting it to her stratospherically famous husband.
The earliest movement used in the Rolex Explorer II was the Caliber 1575, but over the years it was replaced with more technically advanced movements to help this watch reach its full adventure potential. The first big upgrade was the Cal. 3085 which allowed the 24-hour hand to be adjusted independently from the 12-hour hand. This meant the Explorer II no longer just indicated day and night hours, but could also be used to track a second time zone – turning it into a GMT watch. Then came the Cal. 3185 which was improved upon more with a Glucydur balance wheel that is not only paramagnetic but was resilient in extreme temperatures. The 3186 came next with a blue Parachrom hairspring that is anti-magnetic and shock resistant for even better durability. Finally, we have the modern-day Cal. 3187 which features all the upgrades this watch has gained over the years – from the GMT functionality to the blue Parachrom hairspring. It’s also notable for its high-performance Paraflex shock absorbers, 31 jewels, -2/+2 seconds per day accuracy and 48-hour power reserve.The Submariner has a much longer history, so we’re going to start with the automatic Caliber 3135, which, while upgraded over the years, has been used in all date-displaying Submariner watches since 1988. While the aesthetics of the Submariner can vary, the Cal. 3135 has remained a trusted source of power for this beloved timepiece because of its sheer reliability. Today, the upgraded Cal. 3135 movement is COSC certified, outfitted with the anti-magnetic and ultra shock-resistant blue Parachrom hairspring, and boasts an impressive 48-hour power reserve just like the Explorer II.
