Mark,

Rolex is brand conscious to almost a fault. I believe what they want is for a guy who is not wearing a Rolex to see that brand new shiny bling Rolex on the other guy's wrist and crave to be in the Rolex club so much that they run out and buy a new Rolex. They care about the Rolex tradition but what they don't want is for the non Rolex wearing guy to think he can join the club by going out and buying a vintage Rolex. They want every Rolex that this guy who wants to join the club sees to be new looking. Obviously other watch companies want the same thing but they don't have the same focus (paranoia) and maybe they deal with it differently. I think the Patek ads which talk about passing the watch down through generations is an example of dealing with the brand thing differently.

Carl Hewson, who posted below reflects my feeling exactly when it comes to refinishing. If you are going to wear the watch you are going to get dings on it anyway so why try to make it look perfect. If you buy a "Mint" vintage watch...which is what we all want...it is tough to think about wearing it much because...it won't be "Mint" for long and one ding or scratch or scuff takes it from "Mint" value to way less.

Again, I have no moral compunction against refinishing. A week ago or so there was the "Budwiser" story below about the gold Heuer found in a trailer in the Southern US. I thought the photo of that watch all refinished and fixed up looked stunning. I just can't afford to keep many watches like that in my safe deposit box. I buy wrist watches and end up selling them after a while. I always think about value. I know some people believe they can afford not to....but I will never get to that point...I'm just not built that way.

JohnCote