Watch Chronicler Podcast #3 - A Day in the Life of a Rolex Milsub

[@512bb]

I thought you might find this first hand experience with my Submariner that actually served in the military of interest. I bought my 16800 brand new in 1982 just before joing the US Army, only paid 890.00 at the time. I wore this watch every day of my life until I retired her from everyday wear on its 25th birthday. I was in the Special Forces so my Sub went through every school in the military & also went on many combat deployments. Although we didn't spend as much time in the water as SEALs we all attended combat dive school so it was subjected to quite a bit of wet work. With that said it went 12 years before its first service ( I know, terrible ) Amazingly the watch still looks really good, I did replace the bezel with a original because excess fading & 1 factory polish, The point is I actually used it as it was originally intended to be used & thinking back to those days there was nothing extravagant about doing it yes it was more money then its competition & Rolex was a inspiring brand even back then but no one would have given it a second thought of using it as a actual tool. I can't imagine too many people actually doing it today. I love the mil-sec Sub so I think the closest thing in the modern day is the 2014 Seadweller 40 which is my everyday wearer these days. Sadly they discontinued this one only after less then 3 years so now I treat it like a delicate dress watch as its become too collectable to subject it to its real purpose and this is the sad dilemma in the modern day.

[@Dansnov1086]

scott satren love this story. Any photos of the sub?i would love to see what it looks like. Love hearing the story of the watch getting proper use as a tool. Maybe we could connect on email? 1086ds@gmail

[@abefroman8202]

Fascinating providence. I would advise you to write this down so when the watch is passed on, the history is there. I am doing the same with my collection.

[@ernestzavier2377]

I guess it's kind of randomly asking but do anyone know of a good place to watch newly released movies online ?

[@512bb]

@@Dansnov1086 Hi there, sorry for the late reply but somehow I completely missed it. I will be happy to send you a picture, is your email current? Interestedly it is in for service & realizing the original bezel is much nicer then i remembered, jt is going back in, so you will get to see it in it's original glory.

[@512bb]

@@abefroman8202 Sorry Abe, somehow I completely missed your post. That is a great suggestion, thanks. I have a friend, my mentor that was a Force Recon Marine that served in Vietnam almost the entire war wearing a 1675 GMT the entire time & in all honesty if I told you his service history, you would probably think I was pulling your leg, truly one of the most special people I have ever been honored to know & call friend, all the best.

[@scherzandokarasu6353]

I recently picked up a Steinhart OVM V1 for just over 200 boys on Ebay. I had to go and pick it up from some shady as fuck, albeit sweet-as-a-nut Geezer, (box & papers, it's all pucker, it's all kosher, it's all nicked etc) in the arse end of London. Some back of beyond East end borough called Beckton. But I'm telling you now that as a seasoned watch connoisseur from boyhood this thing is fucking amazing. Swiss made, packing an ETA 2824 elaboré movement, sapphire crystal, excellent fit & finish and built like a fucking tank. An exact homage to the mythic holy grail 5517 Mill-sub. Which now go for more than 100K. So are thus essentially unobtainable - with only a few hundred left on the planet. So it more than scratches-the-itch and looks utterly identical for an infinitesimal fraction of the cost. As well as wicked cool and dare I say it most likely has even better specs, capabilities and build quality than the original made in the '70's. I took it to a watch event at Soho house last night and nobody there could get over this thing, it was the toast of the evening and these were hardcore, cognoscenti watch guys. So ceteris paribus I'm tickled fucking pink with my "Steiny" so you tell me, shell out 6 + figures for a dodgy old seventies, albeit sublimely beautiful, Rolex or a mere two hundred boys for a higher quality modern built reimagining? Who's the cunt? Plus it looks obscenely cool on its Bark&Jack admiralty grey and or SBS style black NATO. So put that in your fucking dojo! ; )

[@reallauradee]

I have one too, I fell in love the look of the 5517 and when I found out they're super rare I wasted no time in buying one from Steinhart. Did you get the one with a black dial or gray dial?

[@scherzandokarasu6353]

@@reallauradee Blck of course. It’s the original & best MK 1 with the clean dial.

[@reallauradee]

00:30 it has the wrong bezel.

[@jimbegin6554]

A good mention should go to the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. It loses out on good marketing, which was Hans Wilsdorf forte!

[@Kalmar917]

Just wanted to add to this video. My God Father was a Frogman during WWII and trainer you could say. It was early going. The first real watch for them was not a Blanhcpan or Milsub. It was a canteen watch. Bulova and Elgin were most desired even more so than a Hamilton. From what I was told Elgin A-11s were the best of the bunch when it came to toughness. I also had family in the Korean and Vietnam war. One is a Vietnam era Green Beret and he got himself a Tudor sub. Wore it throughout the Vietnam War and multiple deployments. He still has it and wears it to this day. He wears it and gets it serviced every 5 years and while the watch is out being serviced he will wear a G-Shock. I have seen him at the shooting range and working on his land wearing the sub. That watch was designed for all the abuse. I would say the last tool watch for subs would be a 14060m. As far as the newer sub, I believe it would be able to survive but my only question about that watch is the ceramic bezel. Watches get banged up on tanks on the sides of hard surfaces and I don’t see the ceramic bezel surviving. The newer subs as great as they are have some drawbacks for military applications but not all.

[@PaulJoynes]

The podcast still isn’t showing up in the Apple Podcast database.

[@ArmandTheWatchGuy]

+PaulJoynes: Trust me, I'm working on it.

[@ericarghirudis3462]

i love this watch ! I agree with your last thoughts about the perfect design...out of reach though..but I will pick up an hommage if I find a decent one, but it didn't happen yet..

[@MiataBRG]

Really interesting, but it would be better with more images to match the ongoing descriptions of visual differences. I got completely lost in the descriptions of visual changes with no photos and switched off, a first for your channel :)

[@davidofglenbrook4487]

Rolex dive watches are the best, and this is no exception

[@shipmate3577]

To wear in another watch’s strap

[@richardsims3847]

Sometimes worn by tools.

[@AGC828]

I think most if not all watches that have any military affiliation is just HYPE used to sell another watch. Why is it that the Rolex MilPEC can command such high prices yet there is a "Mil-Spec" watch by a CDN company called Marathon that sells a "Mil-Spec" watch for $under $2000? Is used by US and CDN military today...because it "meets military specs/requirements"...which no one has mentined what that exactly is. We might be let down if we knoew what hte guidlines actually are. :) Are they "bullet proof"? NOPE. "Bomb proof"? NOPE. :) Are they really that different from a production watch civilians buy? I'll bet hardly. :) It 's just a good "talking-pt" to say "...MY watch is MIL-SPEC...meaing it passed military requirements...yours??". Says the watch nerd. :)

[@23trooper]

Not a milsub