Customer Reviews

Vintage Rolex Sports Models: A Complete Visual Reference and Unauthorized History

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The authors describe this book as a "comprehensive and detailed reference guide to Rolex's sports model watches" and "an indispensable asset to watch collectors and dealers". Modest? No. Correct? Absolutely!

The book is divided into 18 chapters, starting with Rolex chronology and the tool watch concept, followed by chronological descriptions of all models in the Submariner, Sea-Dweller, GMT-Master, Explorer, Milgauss, Turn-O-Graph and Cosmograph model ranges respectively. More brief chapters are dealing with bracelets, boxes, paperwork, and movements. Statistical data in the form of production dates and a price guide is also included.

What I particularly like
First of all, the great advantage of this book is the fact that all watches depicted are from the authors' own collections - this has allowed them to photograph all watches in the exact same position and size, making comparisons between the different model variants very easy. This is important when comparing with other books on Rolex, that mainly use 3rd party photos.

All models are described in chronological order, with information on model number, production period, movement number, bracelet type and size, and some 5-15 lines of specifics for that particular model, pointing towards the - often small - details distinguishing it from previous or later models. I.e. for the 6263 Daytona such text reads: "In 1971 the 6263 model replaced the 6264 model. The model was available with either the standard or exotic dial, and had T Swiss T at the bottom of the dial. On this example, the word Cosmograph is written in a semicircle around the upper half of the lower recording dial." Essential knowledge, really ;-)

Secondly, all models are accompanied by a detailed profile drawing, allowing comparisons of the shapes of glass and bezel, as well as case thickness. Important, when you want to identify the "Superdome" glass profile.

Third, there are 40+ pages of reprints of vintage Rolex brochures, advertisments, owners booklets, catalogues etc. For Sea-Dweller afficionados it will be great to see the 1981 owner's booklet reprint on page 178, showing the 1665 with acrylic lens and 2000 feet rating, alongside the 16660 with sapphire crystal and 4000 feet rating. Later that year, the 1665 was discontinued, leaving only the 16660.

Last, but not least, I really enjoy chapter 18, "Watches sold at Auction" - 50 pages of pictures and details of Rolex watches sold at auctions at Christie's and Sothebys's, in the period 1997-2004. In 1998, a "Red" Submariner 1680 was sold for mere USD 2165. Read and weep... or start collecting right away.

Ahh - not to forget - this is a relatively new book, published in 2005.

Any drawbacks, then?
Not really - or at least nothing major. Although given the title "COMPLETE Visual Reference", one would expect the book to contain pictures of ALL known model variantions. This is apparently not the case, as the military issue of the Submariner 5513 is shown only with the special "high visibility" hand design - while Rolex collectors, as well as James Dowling's Rolex book, will tell, that the military models were also available with the standard "Mercedes" hands. This would have been nice to know, before one accuses eBay sellers of vintage Rolex watches for selling un-original or Frankenstein watches. I won't do that again...

One should note, though, that this books deals with "vintage" models only - that excludes any model currently in production, obviously. For the reason of comparing model evolution, I for one would like to see the current version (i.e. the one on my wrist) pictured alongside it's ancestors, in order to compare those small, but essential details on the dial layout. But then again...

How does it compare to other Rolex books, then?
This will depend on how BROAD one's Rolex interest is, and in which STAGE of Rolex ownership one is.

John Brozek's "Rolex report" provides excellent value for money for the first-time buyer of a modern Rolex, who doesn't want to get "eScrewed" - John's expression, not mine. Lot of stuff on identifying fakes, as well as tons of statistical data and pricelists - showing retail as well as wholesale amounts. Quite good to know the latter, when someone is offering you a never worn NIB Rolex for less... Why, it should make you wonder.

Many people praise James Dowlings book "The Best of Time" as THE Rolex book to get. Maybe so - but not my cup of tea. Far too much emphasis on the very early Prince and Bubbleback models and only brief descriptions of the tool watches.

For some buyers, the overall Rolex history in this book will be too brief, or the statistics on production dates incomplete (as they end in 1998). Do not despair - buy this book anyway, and read the rest on the various Rolex internet forums.

So, my personal view is, that if you are a current or potential owner of a "Professional" series model, Martin Skeet and Nick Urul's excellent book will give you the most relevant insights. It's certainly my favorite, and the one I would chose over all other Rolex books I have seen so far.

Buy and enjoy - You will not be disappointed!

There is so much more to a Rolex watch than just excellent craftsmanship. As a scuba diver of almost 40 years standing, I have always owned one or more quality diving watches. When my son turned 14, he also learned to dive and soon became the proud owner of a good diving watch. Whilst, sadly, none were Rolex, my son's interest in diving watches had begun and now, some 15 years later, he has a modest collection coupled with an appreciable knowledge of the subject. Only recently, he advised someone who was selling a certain vintage Rolex model via the internet that the item was very likely to be worth a lot more than the, then, asking price and deserved further investigation. As a result, the price was increased by something in the region of £48,000 before the watch was finally sold. I mention this to underline the fact that there are some extremely valuable historic watches out there with the occasional rare model commanding really serious money.

This book is a revised and up-dated third issue of a really first-rate publication. Limiting the overall (and vast!) subject of Rolex watches to "Sports" models, the two co-authors waste no time in demonstrating their combined knowledge of the subject. Whilst that is, naturally, of prime importance, I found it was also their complete ability to impart this knowledge which makes this book the 5 Star product it truly is.

Whilst I can personally vouch for the importance of a watch to any scuba diver (length of time spent underwater plus maximum depth reached equals time spent in decompression before returning to the surface!!!), I was fascinated to hear a brief account of the importance of the Rolex watch to Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay during the first ascent of Everest in 1953 by the latter's son Jamling Norgay (also a climber) who describes his watch as "undeniably, the most important tool in my climb."

There many occasions when ordinary people place their lives in peril as they undertake all sorts of challenges (not just scuba diving and climbing), during which they place complete faith in their watch to see them safely through that period of increased risk. It stands to reason, therefore, they will choose a good quality timepiece - and Rolex is as good as they come.

But then there are Rolexes and Rolexes!, and in this book we learn of the importance of a good watch right at the very beginning. This is followed by expertly crafted, very detailed yet easy-to-understand chapters on; Rolex Chronology, the Tool watch Concept, Submariner, Sea-Dweller, GMT-Master, Explorer, Milgauss, Turn-O-Graph, Cosmograph, Bracelets, Boxes, Paperwork, Movements, Production Dates, Collecting, Advertisements & Literature, Watches Sold at Auction and finally a Price Guide. In short, an exhaustive content for an exhaustive subject. It is a large format book published in top quality paper with at least one image on almost all of the 264 pages (Index excepted).

Of course, I have no way of knowing if "every" sports model ever made by Rolex is depicted within these pages but I would be surprised to learn if anything at all was missing - simply because the book is so complete.

So, if you are looking for a book of sufficient high quality to do justice to Vintage Rolex Sports Watches, then look no further. I am quite confident you will not be disappointed with this work.

NM

"Vintage Rolex Sports Models" is a great little book for both the hobbyist and serious collector of Rolex Sports watches like the GMT Master and the Submariner. It presents a lot of useful information in both the text and photographs. The price is not beyond the reach of the average buyer either. A nice purchase at a fair price for the men and women who love their Rolex and may want to know more about the history of their favorite watch.

Excellent book on all Rolex vintage models. A must have for all Rolex fans! Only negative is that the pictures are computer-generated images and not actual photos of Rolex watches. You don't really get a good sense of the watches.

While an informative reference on the History of Rolex. The book lacked the depth in accuracy that a collector wants to see in regards to the details of the time pieces there were presented in this book

The authors used pictures thay were computer generated and as such this book did not reflect the true time piece. The authors use of AutoCAD drawings to represent the side profile of the case and this provides no gratitude for a Rolex collector, because collectors would like to actually the real time piece. Also, it seems that they superimposed different Rolex dials on the same watch case. As such, I feel that the authors did not throughly conduct a full field research of the topic they were so passionate on and doubt the accuracy of the whole book.

The Rolex History was fantastic, but it's nothing you can't find on the WEB. As a Rolex collector, I would like to see actual pictures of the time pieces presented, as this provides me a sound representation of the time pieces that I am interested in.

Pictorial wise, even though I can't read Japanese, I find the Japanese Rolex books far more informative.

Good book containing a lot of interesting information.

However it is a pity that all the pictures of the watches are not real, i.e. image recreated by computer, therefore all the watches look the same and the book does not mention the dimension of the watches.

I would like to see also views and information of the interiors and movements of the shown watches .

very informative and loads of nice pix ! good ref guide to vintage rolex !

The book deals with older Rolex models. The number of photos, which are more valuable than words, is quite limited.

The photos are of rare watches and the book has more of a educational aspect since the majority such watches are not sold or traded anymore.

A good book if you are a keen Rolex person.

This book is completely stated sports models and really can help user when buying a vintage Rolex!