I used to think the Yacht-Master was one of the weirdest watches Rolex ever
came up with. It was so shiny and so round. No edges. I really didn’t
understand it. It was ugly. I felt it was only addressing old men.
But in May 2014 all that changed. I was about to turn thirty and was
putting together a playlist for an upcoming party. During the spring I’d been
listening to a lot of 80’s soft rock like Hall & Oates, Toto, Bryan Adams,
the solo albums by Don Henley and Glenn Frey, Doobie Brothers and similar bands
like that. When putting together that list I came across a playlist called
“Yacht Rock” and all my favorite songs just happened to be on that list. I had
never heard the term before but I instantly pictured myself sitting on a big yacht in Miami,
sunglasses on, hearing Don singing in the background about the Boys of Summer, a cocktail in my hand and a Yacht-Master dangling on my wrist. It all felt so right.
"Excuse me! Please repeat that last part! A Yacht-Master?
Seriously?" Yes ladies and gentlemen, a Yacht-Master was what I saw in my vision
and right there and then my mind had gone from hating it to loving it and I
just had to have one.
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| #225 - The Rolex Yacht-Master, ref. 16622. |
I got a hold of a full set from 2005 in an excellent condition. It was
delivered with its original platinum dial, but Rolex had just
announced their new upgraded version, the 116622 which had an incredible blue
dial, and I managed to get a hold of a new blue dial for my watch. With the blue dial installed it just became so damn good! I loved it. I practically felt like a yacht owner just
by wearing it.
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| With the new dial just installed. |
But I knew the love wasn’t going to last forever. I knew that toolwatches
is what turns me on and what I like the most and to me the Yacht-Master was the
complete opposite from being a toolwatch. Perhaps if I was a rich yacht owner
it could serve as a perfect beater but unfortunately I’m not. Not yet. But then I'll probably go for a solid gold version with MOP-dial.
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| Out having lunch with my wife, June 2014. |
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