Firstly, a big thanks goes to Francesco who helped me get this one out of the US & over the pond, and Rich C for his advice.

So.. it's about time as Rick said!... I'll admit that I never really signed up for the whole hoo-har over the Monaco - I thought it was a very cool watch, but it's never really been on my radar as a 'must have', especially at the going rates. In fact, I wasn't really looking for one when it popped up, so it was almost a kind of 'impulse purchase', if you can call it that. Well, I'm blown away by it, it's the first time I've even handled one, and I even managed to whip the case open, following Rich's instructions. It was a bit scary, but I wanted to clean/polish the crystal, get some dirt off one of the silver bars and check the gasket.

This one is from 1970 - serial 160xxx, and Peter (I think it's Peter) has one that is 162xxx that has an engraving of Oct 1970 on the back). It's my preferred choice of all the greys - it has sunken black subs, service hands and it pretty good condition - it's definitely a wearer as opposed to a safe queen. There is some small loss of paint around the very edge of the dial, but pretty much hidden when the crystal is in place. Overall, I'm pretty well chuffed!!

Stewart