I tried on my grail…and was underwhelmed.

Never meet your heroes…they will only disappoint

It is a 20+ year old watch. Will always be impossible to compare to modern tech. Try a new one one for a better comparison.

That 2002 Rolex probably cost 20% of what they are asking for a modern piece. Rolex bracelets made monumental leaps in quality 10-15 years ago.

My first car, when I turned 16, was a brown Toyota Corolla hatchback. My wife nicknamed it "Snickers." That car was there for me throughout my formative years. I took it up to the mountains on weeklong backpacking trips. It safely shepherded me and my friends through Baja California and our ridiculous fishing trips. It survived off-roading to get to Cedar Creek Falls, where I went jumping off rocks into the pool below with a gal I had a huge crush on!

I recently saw one on the road...

My memories of the thing are far better than the reality of the thing.

How does that 2002 Datejust compare to a 20 year old San Martin?

Wear your San Martin to a Rolex AD and compare it to a current model, or find the oldest San Martin you can find and compare it to a Datejust of equal age and compare how each has held up.

It's like comparing a '02 Mercedes to a cheap new car today- of course you're going to find things that are better about the newer car even though you paid far less than the luxury car of 2002.

Also, a circa 2002 Datejust was ~$3,000, not $9,000.

They bracelets are not charming, they are shoddy. There's nothing charming about poor build quality in my opinion, vintage or not. They also pull hair sometimes, not too bad but more than the new ones. But the movements are good, if cared for. The cases came very precisely machined out the factory and look quite sharp on good examples, that's usually gone once refinished though. If you want a solid one get the 6 digit references, night and day difference.

One of the nice things about the shoddy Rolex is how light they are. So they wear comfortably, kind of. But please don't pay 9 grand for one. That's just too much, way too much.

As an owner of a vintage GMT Master, I'd caution you on making those comparisons with current watches. While I find mine "charming" (I guess...) because I have forty years of memories and experiences with it, other than the movement, it doesn't compare well against my Christopher Ward Sealander GMT, let alone a new six-digit Rolex.

Apples and oranges.

I am not being sarcastic and only an idiot would put down 9k usd for a 2002 Rolex Datejust but I imagine the 21 year old timepiece must have a vintage charm about it. It just doesn’t look like a shiny modern Rolex not suppose to.

The analog frogman, it just lacks in so many ways. But the aesthetics are amazing and that's about it.

Old Rolexes used to have hollow janky bracelets and clasps. It’s the current ones that you can feel the quality (over a San Martin🤭).

Great story/analogy!

First off, smart that you tried on a watch you are lusting after. As recommended in this post, try a new Datejust for comparison. You will find there is a world of difference. Of course, if you are still underwhelmed you just opened up a good chunk of watch budget for the next great watch

The older I get the better my highschool and college athletic career (can we call it a career?) Was. At 56 I've come to understand I was a beast! .... until I dig up my actual stats LOL! Same applies to my recollection of my other previous careers 😆 and more than one old car!

Snickers! LOL love em

Had the same with the sub, bith vintage and new were underwhelming. Happens quite often for me which is why I always aim to try ans piece on a few times before making a decision. More often it actually ends with me moving on to the next one rather than lusting forever.

Thats why i dont have a grailwatch, only a certin idea what i would buy next. It saves me the dissapointment. Too bad to hear that you got dissapointed. There are others.

there's no charm in vintage specs. in some cases, you will be lucky to have a watch "regulated" to lose or gain not 10 seconds, but 10 minutes per day. 20 year bracelet will be jingly-jangly and low quality compared to modern counterparts. It's just how it goes. Vintage Datejust isn't a modern DJ for half a price, it's a piece of outdated technology. But that is not the point.

The charm is in the idea, in your perception of the age of this thing. In warm feeling of nostalgia for a times you never seen. In owning a thing from different era.

Or maybe you just like old designs and proportions. Either way it's a completely subjective, made up thing.

I know the feeling. I always thought the Explorer II Polar was just an epically cool watch. That was only reinforced by the fact that I live in the back of beyond and didn't see one until I was in my late 50s. I had the opportunity to, finally, try on the 42mm variant .... and was completely underwhelmed. It was too big, too tall with the massive slab-sided 'maxi case'.

Fortunately the Explorer I more than lived up to my expectations. Sometimes you can meet your heroes.

I tried on a 2023 Sub and it didn’t feel great quality. Bezel wasn’t tactile, if you bumped it slightly the bezel would move. Bracelet felt dainty even though it used solid endlinks. If you get a Rolex make sure you get one for a price YOURE confortable with. That 2002 one you tried on, quality isn’t worth 9k. You’re just paying for a name. It’s probably worth like 2k if you take the name out. The 2002 116520 Daytona I tried on today felt like good quality but it’s not worth 22k. Maybe 5-7k.

Grail is overstated and overused... a grail is something that can never be obtained. Think of the cross of crucifixion or the last supper cup... As for modern watches, you can get a chinese replica or copy with all the beĺls and whistles of a modern piece for 1/10th the cost and price.

It's the same in watches across the board - of course people who own a particular model and are invested in it, are always going to talk it up. That's why, when an enthusiast of a particular watch is raving on, you should only pay about 50% attention, because a lot of it is going to be absolute raving, maybe even trying to justify to themselves why they own something. Getting something on wrist is always the answer. Sometimes you might agree with the enthusiasts, sometimes you might not, as in this example.

The key ingredient is always you, not what someone else thinks.

I struggle with being a “legend in my own mind” quite often.

I haven’t worn that many vintage watches that can compare to the their new versions.

I have one of those “dainty bracelets with the hollow end links and the stamped clasps” oyster bracelets. Most comfortable bracelet I’ve ever had.

Poor quality? 15 years as my daily beater, used it for everything, felt at home at black tie affair, weathered all manner of out door activities including 2 deployments to Afghanistan and still no worse for wear. And to top it all off, it still keeps “superlative” time. There’s something to be said for 904 steel.

Can’t compare to Christopher Ward, give me a break…

Was the best bracelet when it came out but the new ones are the best out there today

Don’t see those anymore