OLKO Special Edition of the Steinhart Ocean GMT. Not just my fave GMT...but my fave watch of all that I own. And it's WAY under $2k!

https://www.olko-watches.com/collections/uhren/products/ocean-39-vintage-gmt-special-olko-edition-exclusively-only-here-available

It'd be the Explorer ALL day long for me....if for no other reason than the Bond connection. It was Ian Fleming's watch and the piece he gave his 007 creation on the books.

🤣🤣🤣

Don't diss my watch! 😜

The Bond watch is DEFINITELY Rolex - Ian Fleming wrote in the Rolex as Bond's watch before Connery ever even dreamed of wearing one.

As for hard use, HELL NO! My Submariner, over 20 years of wear, went SCUBA diving, sky diving, and into battle. That watch saw serious use. If anything, I was more careful with the SM - because I'm older, for one, lol, and because I didn't trust it could survive half of what the Rolex did. Turned out I was right.

It's a load of BS. Having owned both, my experience goes like this:

Rolex - owned and worn daily for 20 years. Looked like new save for a few light scratches. Still ran less than 5 seconds fast/day. The bezel turned just as it did the day I bought it, and lined up perfectly. I sold the watch after 20 years of use for more than 3 times what I paid for it.

The San Martin seemed nice at first. By the end of two years of use, it looked like hell, the bezel was loose and misaligned, it was losing more than 20 seconds a day, quit hacking, and finally got waterlogged in a 10' pool. In short, it turned out to be junk.

The Seestern does not have the Swiss movement though if I recall correctly - and 1/3 of the water resistance. And their QC and Customer Service pales in comparison to Steinhart.

Well I can understand that. 😎👍

But....

Having owned both, I can tell you the new Steinhart is VASTLY better than the old Rolex. Better crystal, better movement, better water resistance, better bracelet, better end links, better clasp, and a GMT function that the Rolex lacked. So for collectability, I understand the desire for the Rolex. As a watch, the OLKO Special Edition Steinhart gives me the unique look that I love with all the benefits of a modern watch. And considering the Steinie is about $500 and a good example of the vintage Rollie will set you back $20,000 to $30,000, I'd take the Steinhart every time. In fact, I did! 😜

I'd do one of the two Explorers. Probably the Polar II since adventures often cross time zones. 😎😜