zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: It seems to me like the majority of people who
: collect Omega don't collect Rolex,

I started out with a Rolex. Still have it. A 1981 SS Datejust from back when it was "only" a $1000 watch. Ironically, I bought it in frustration in having to pay $18 to have a 50-cent battery changed on a $100 Seiko watch. At that time, Rolex was a darn good, conservative but stylish watch at a premium but not exorbitant price.

Later, I when I wanted another fine watch, it was after the mid-1980s when Rolex prices had gone through the ceiling. I found myself unable to stomach that the current models were 2 to 3 times the price with no appreciable difference in the watch itself, other than the move to sapphire crystals.

That plus I dropped the Rolex on the bathroom floor once and the broken rotor shaft repair was beyond the local dealer's abilities. The official Rolex service center at that time would not handle small repairs and treated any watch sent to them as a full restoration job. So the cost to repair was around $350 -- two to three times what the *needed* repair should have been.

So for another fine watch, I looked elsewhere.

I still like Rolex watches and may still choose to collect some vintage models in the future.

But for new and near-new models, I find the virtues of the Omega of today to be what I appreciated in the Rolex of 20 years ago: a darn good, conservative but stylish watch at a premium but not exorbitant price.