As a watch fanatic, what struck me was their laissez-faire perspective in regards to the pastime – and I imply that as a constructive. These have been Mayer’s watches, and he wore all of them for very specific events. Out of all the pieces in his assortment, one watch stood out to me: The Rolex GMT-Grasp II 116710BLNR (or as Mayer known as it, the “Blue Black”).

The yr 2013 was a less complicated time – a time earlier than watch flipping grew to become a cottage business, and a time earlier than fashionable Rolex nicknames had entered the horological zeitgeist. The nuances of contemporary watch gathering hadn’t totally caught on but, as evidenced by this superb description of Mayer’s GMT within the Speaking Watch article: “A easy fashionable watch with journey time performance that he can simply put on on stage.” Think about a contemporary Rolex being described that method at the moment! However that’s all that wanted to be stated again then, and it was sufficient to hook me.

I took a visit to Paris the next yr and made certain to hit all of the marquee watch outlets. The purpose? To see one in every of these blue-black GMT’s within the steel. It was a reasonably new piece on the time, and so discovering it wasn’t simple, however it additionally wasn’t the impossibility it’s at the moment. I went from retailer to retailer, with no luck, till the ultimate day of the journey when one glassy boutique had an instance in inventory. I keep in mind holding it in my hand, and pondering such profound ideas as: “Wow, that is actually heavy and actually shiny.”

I liked it and determined to make it mine. And so I started to save lots of.

Over the following two years, I put apart a pair hundred {dollars} per thirty days from my un-lucrative job serving to college students safe media internships – a sum then accelerated by a well timed bonus. I additionally used the time to stew about this large buy. To make it possible for I used to be certain.

I don’t purchase watches to promote them later. These are literal lifetime selections – my model of tattoos. I keep in mind having a spell of indecision till I walked into a neighborhood AD simply exterior of Washington D.C. that occurred to have simply gotten one within the retailer. The gross sales consultant pulled it from the secure, and stated to me “That is The Batman.” That was the primary I’d heard of the nickname, however this specific gross sales rep had an imposing presence and an arresting voice. I would as properly have been shopping for a watch from Christian Bale.

I didn’t purchase the watch that day (it was already spoken for), however I’d made up my thoughts. Now I simply needed to discover my very own.

I’ve household in Pittsburgh and knew of a neighborhood AD on the town. I known as prematurely to ask in regards to the watch “Do you have got it in inventory?” I requested. “Oh, The Bruiser?” replied the shop proprietor. (What number of nicknames did this factor have?) He informed me he didn’t have one in inventory, however he might get one inside two days. This was 2016, simply earlier than the market exploded.

I took just a little highway journey with my father to choose up the watch. We every purchased one which day, which made each purchases additional particular. His was a blue dial Datejust 41 – much like what we now name “The Biden.” Once we arrived on the retailer, The Bruiser was ready on the counter for me with a price ticket round $8,000. After we left, I keep in mind my wrist and feeling a way of finality – as if this could be the one watch I’d ever want for the remainder of my life.

Naive? Yeah, in all probability. However for nearly two years, I wore that watch and that watch solely. I really stopped studying about watches for some time. My thirst had been slaked.

I did, nonetheless, turn into conscious of the Rolex market at massive. I started to listen to tales of consumers unable to trace down a single metal sports activities watch. I heard legends of empty counters in watch outlets. It was all weird to me. I additionally started to see the rising costs on the secondary market, however nonetheless managed to dam that stuff out of my thoughts.

Then one thing occurred. In 2019, Rolex introduced a brand new model of my watch. It appeared just about the identical solely now it was fitted to a Jubilee bracelet. Inside ticked a brand new motion which was sign-posted by a Rolex coronet on the dial between SWISS and MADE. Allegedly, the case design was tweaked (only a hair) to accommodate the brand new bracelet and to maintain shoppers from swapping out the Jubilee for an Oyster bracelet or vice versa.

On that day, my watch met the destiny that everybody’s does sooner or later: It was discontinued. However why ought to which have mattered to me? I owned the watch.

Nicely, it mattered as a result of these secondary market numbers grew to become un-ignorable. After I purchased the watch, I really traded in a Chopard Mille Miglia, which introduced my out-pocket-cost to $6,500. Within the meantime, the worth of my new Rolex had elevated to greater than double that. These have been bonkers numbers.

The watch that when appeared like a lifelong companion now appeared ever so barely fungible. I stored fascinated by how a lot better my checking account would look if the worth of the watch was made liquid. Or I devised two- to three-watch collections I might buy utilizing this watch as a commerce chip. What about classic items? People who appeared unattainable to me at one level now felt inside attain.

I started consuming watch content material once more, studying HODINKEE, and dreaming of my subsequent acquisition. I wore the Batman much less. It felt unusual strolling round carrying one thing so costly. However each time I considered promoting it, I’d have a look at it and keep in mind the expertise of shopping for it with my dad. There was that, and the truth that I nonetheless simply liked it – just about each side of it.

The blue-black colour scheme is what drew me to the watch within the first place. I’ve a ardour for the Rolex Submariner, and this watch represented an evolution in my style. It was acquainted, but in addition a bit extra of a press release. I’ve all the time liked the Pepsi GMT from afar, however the purple and blue simply felt a bit too loud for me.

I additionally actually appreciated what the trendy GMT-Grasp II represented within the modern Rolex lineup. It was one thing of a test-case of a watch, the primary Rolex to get the maxi-case therapy, and the primary to characteristic a ceramic bezel. Within the course of, it went from timeless mainstay, to some of the – if not the most – fashionable watches within the Rolex secure.

With the blue and black bezel, Rolex had successfully created a brand-new watch. Rumor had it that the colours have been extra a product of experimentation than they have been a purposeful alternative. It’s turn into a standard trope in watches to listen to how troublesome it’s to make ceramic in several colours. On this case, the purple colour was proving inconceivable to create, and a bicolor purple and blue was even more durable. Rolex simply couldn’t do it – at the least not but.

The outcome was the 116710BLNR blue-black, a colour scheme which really makes extra sense than the Pepsi configuration. The blue half of the bezel represents the daylight (blue sky) and the black represents the nighttime (black sky). I like issues that make sense.

All of those components – together with the oh-so-comfortable Oyster bracelet (even the polished middle hyperlinks have grown on me over time) – jogged my memory why I couldn’t let this watch go regardless of the greenback indicators in my eyes.

On July 4th, 2019 – shortly after the announcement of the brand new Batman (no, not Ben Affleck), my spouse and I celebrated our marriage ceremony in Poland with household that couldn’t attend our ceremony stateside. On my wrist for that evening (and all the journey) was my GMT-Grasp II. I used to be defiant in my decision to maintain this watch, even when it by some means managed to rise to a worth of 1,000,000 {dollars} (although I’m certain my spouse would have one thing to say about that). I used to be constructing actual recollections with the watch.

Quickly it was time for me to begin my new job – my new profession – with HODINKEE. I arrived in March of 2020, throughout the week that New York (and the world) shut down. However throughout my transient time within the workplace, I sat down at my desk and started writing my first story with the Batman on my wrist. I keep in mind Cole Pennington asking to strive it on and giving me the seal of approval after seeing all of the scratches I placed on the case and bracelet. “You actually put on this factor” he stated. “That’s why I purchased it,” I responded. And it was true.

The entire story sort of got here full circle this previous April when Rolex introduced its slate of novelties – anchored by a two-tone Rolex Explorer. Amongst them, to little fanfare, was an replace to the GMT-Grasp II line. The Oyster bracelet had returned. It mainly appeared like my watch in each method. Resurrecting a useless watch was a really un-Rolex transfer, however it occurred. I keep in mind questioning if the worth of my watch would decline because of this.

That concept hung in my head for a couple of days. I had gotten used to its appreciation over time. I had gotten used to proudly owning a watch that may by no means be produced once more. However, a lower in worth would give me what I all the time needed: A watch with out guilt – with out second guessing.

As of at the moment, the 116710BLNR worth remains to be going robust. Crown & Caliber has a number of fashions listed at greater than $18,000, and admittedly, I nonetheless don’t know easy methods to really feel about it. I do know that my Batman/Bruiser/Blue-Black GMT Grasp II on its scratched-up Oyster bracelet is a watch that jogs my memory of my household, and of beginning a dream job. It’s a watch I’ll by no means promote. You’ll be able to maintain me to it.

Images: Kasia Milton