Ah, yes I do know of emperor taib, glad to see the back of him but I’m sure the corruption will continue. Just look at poor anwar. Don’t know what it’ll take to have a more equal society. Anyhoo, I’m in Sarawak for oil and gas. 7 years and counting. I visit Sabah pretty often, hopefully note bad happens there.

Oh, you were in Sabah, that’s virtually my back yard – I’m based in Sarawak <waves>. I’ll keep watching the horizon for the marauding Filippinos for you.

I would say the Explorer 1 is the least brash and gansta of any watch, so don’t worry about that. Any gangsta these days worth his hoes is rockin a Richard Mille or AP ROO.

Worth it? Depends, buy right (ie not from AD) then you’re off to a good start. Residual value better than most although Exp 1 is not as good as the Sub for retaining it’s value it’s still better than most.

It’s the most low key rolex out there. Can you live without a date? May not seem a big deal but I miss the date when wearing a no date Sub 5513.

Unless you’re particularly large, don’t consider the big Exp 1, get the older 36mm one. I’m not a big fan of the new larger version. YMMV of course. Preferably go proper vintage in fact, late 60s 1016.

@deserter, depends what you’re after. for a vintage rolex i recommend vintagerolexmarket.com . For others, yes TZUK but also rolexforums.com . also have a look at watchdealseeker.com. main thing is to have an idea of what you want and a budget. then do lots of research on what to look out for etc. then find a trusted seller, do your due diligence and jump in.

Yes, looks like genesis is your best bet

I wouldn’t trust any old guy, with a particularly fragile dial and hands but any competent watchmaker can service an old rolex. What part of the country are you in? There’s a list up on rolexforums I can check and see if you’re near a recommended guy.

@drj, to be honest the gmt complication also adds a 24hr hand which rotates once per 24hrs. It is this, combined with the rotating bezel which allows easy tracking of second timezone. Not the most complicated of complications to be sure but rolex is known for their simple robust designs rather than elegant mechanics.

You should be able to find a good independent watchmaker who can service for a lot less than rolex. Rolex will change so much that it won’t be the same watch and will cost quite a bit. What year is it from?

@darrimc30 – try timezone.com or rolexforums.com . Be careful

Well seiko is probably one of the few non European manufacturers who can actually turn out a good mechanical movement. Some of their grand seiko movements are the equal of anything rolex makes and sometimes better. It’s a reasonable homage, while not pretending to be something it isn’t (unlike some other divers out there)

Thanks somafunk. to be honest, pics don’t do it justice. I feel very lucky to have found one in this condition. Here’s another of my favourite old Rolex – from 1966:

Double post

Thanks straightliner. I really love it. As an investment it’s very hard to say but new it would have been about 200 usd in 1961. Now you’ll struggle to get one in this condition for much less than 20k usd. Will it keep going up, who knows? But it looks nice and is robust enough for daily use.

Treated myself to this in advance of xmas. 1961 Rolex GMT Master

Does a watch count? Spent into 5 figures on a watch…. otherwise about a grand on a leather jacket. oh and about 1200 on a kilt + etc but that’s really a full outfit.

You’re quite right djglover, there’s no point in coming over all Mary Whitehouse…..

Oh god, what have I said……?

Anything by Kevin Macdonald (eg Touching the Void or One day in September)

completely destroyed mine about 7 years ago but it was a long time before the effects were obvious – like at least 4 years. Then it got gradually less stable and loss of ability to stand from a squatting position.

I got the op about 16 months ago. I was walking unaided the next day, no limping at all within a couple of days, gentle biking after a week and running a few km within 3 weeks. Back up to pre op fitness within a few months.

I put the fast recovery down to the fact that there was no acute symptoms – due to being several years from the initial trauma. I would suggest trying to avoid the surgery for as long as you have no other symptoms. Once you start getting signs of wobbliness though it’s prob best to get fixed.

Today’s ‘beater’, Patek 5711 Nautilus:

It’ll just be that the rotor is no longer winding the main spring. Not major but unless it’s been for a service in the last 5 years I’d get it fully serviced. Not by a Rolex Service Centre, just by a good watchmaker who has a parts account with rolex. Rolex don’t recommend service every two years, although they give a 2 year warranty on service. normal interval is around 5 but plenty watches last in excess of 10 years without work.

Best guy I know is Mike Wood. May need to dig deep though.

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Hi. Firstly I’m glad you are going to an independent – Rolex Service Centre is no good for vintage watches. The tend to want to replace everything to make it ‘good as new’. Expensive and destroys the value of vintage.

Is the bezel insert damaged? No problem with the odd scratch and ding. Most folk buying vintage want one showing a bit of age so you’ll be paying 100 quid for this and losing a couple hundred in value. not worth it unless really toast. Even if the tritium pearl is gone from the 12 o clock position it’s no big deal.

So without the bezel insert I’d hope your price will be closer to 300 quid which is pretty good in my opinion. For comparison, I got my 2006 sub serviced by Rolex for about 400 quid in 2011. So a service and repair for 300+ is ok.

For selling or any other advice, post on Vintage Rolex Forum. Some good guys there.

I live in Malaysia (Borneo) and have been to Langkawi a couple of times. Not a lot to write home about to be honest. I went there to do Ironman on both occasions. Did a bit of touristy stuff also but if I hadn’t been there for the event I don’t think I’d have had much to do. The beaches are so-so and anyway I’m not a beach guy.

If you are going to go so far I’d recommend somewhere truly special and consider spending some time at Sipadan either snorkling or diving. Bali is more special also – I’m surprised the flight times are no good to be honest – there are heaps of flights there with the likes of Air Asia and other low cost operators. It’s not a quiet peaceful island, however, rather hectic with motorbikes.

50km 3 – 4 times a week between house in Brunei and work in Malaysia.

Currently escaping the tax system and Scottish Weather in East Malaysia (Borneo). 3.5 years so far and due to be here another 3. No plans to return.

Be careful of advice such as Johnny Panic’s advising sore head tabs. That’s a surefire way of succuming to cerebral odema. Not nice. Take diamox if you need it but then decend until you are full recovered and acclimatised. His other advice is sound but do be careful about the altitude. Folk die every year.

There are actually a few places to get clean on the way so there’s no excuse to be completely minging. A drop in usual hygiene standards is to be expected though. Namche is a fine place ot get a good shower etc before you go further into the trek where there is little electricity and the temperature drops. YOu’ll prob stay there a couple of nights to acclimatise anyway.

There are many places to recharge your camera batteries. They probably won’t last so long cos of teh low temperatures but you’ll only need to recharge once or twice.

Sigg or similar metal water bottle. Best thing is to get boiled water en route so a Sigg is great rather than using bottled water. Additionally a Camelback bladder and river water with sterilising tabs is good. You’ll run out of suitable streams the higher you go though and depending on time of year they may be frozen.

A trekking pole is a must. You don’t need to spend a fortune on a Leki titanium one though, a simple wooden one will do and you’ll find these in Lukla.

There are shops selling everything you’ll need and more in Thamel (Kathmandu) so don’t go spending a fortune here on stuff you don’t have. The prices are very low (most stuff is knock-off) but the quality is very reasonable. Take a good look at zips, stitching etc but you can generally expect any of the stuff to last the trek with no probs. Take good trekking shoes – don’t save money here. However don’t over-do it either, I generally use lightweight hill running shoes / heavy duty trainers. No need for full on leather ones.

Sunglasses, sun cream, hat with brim, lip balm, skin moisturiser. All a must unless you want to come back all weather beaten.

Emergency foil blanket. LED head torch. Sleeping bag. Layers of clothes are better than big bulky items. Couple of buffs (it can get v dusty walking behind others – use one as a dust mask and one to keep sun off your head / neck).

A book to read on acclimatisation days or journal if you’re into that sort of thing.

US dollars

WIFI is available in many cafes in Namche, Lukla and even Tengboche so by all means take a ipod touch, iphone or similar.

Diamox. Know how to use it and understand all the risks with altitude sickness.

Wet-wipes / disinfectent spray. The higher you go, the more and more ill folk you’ll meet. Everyone seems to have a cough or the runs up past Lobuche.

Agree with merino comment. Add some other layers and a thick fleece and you’ll be fine.

We it depends how long you have to train for it and what your expectations are.

Do you just want to complete the distance in the 17 hours permitted? Do you want to run the whole marathon? Are you aiming for a certain time?

To complete in 17 hours is really just about grinding it out. You can walk the whole marathon in about 6.5 hours or so which still allows about 1.5hrs for the swim and 9hrs for the 112 mile bike ride. Some people would debate whether this is a true ‘Ironman’, however. Seeing guys in their 70s finish within any time however is mighty impressive. I would expect a 35 year old should be aiming higher…

BIG difference between 10k running and marathon running. Likewise 10k TT v 180k. It’s just about getting the miles in though and learning how to feed yourself throughout the event. It really is not only the domain of the elite athletes. Go to any big IM event and you’ll find 1500 competitors out of which there will be a huge range of body shapes and abilities.

I reckon if you want to do a good attempt at the distance, give yourself a year or so to train up for it. Aim to get up to marathon run distance over the next 6 months then build on that for IM. Don’t rush the training though as you’ll likely get injuries as you build up the distances. You say ‘off road marathons’. Do you mean running 42km off road? If so then you’re a long way there.

Best of luck

Well at the risk of invoking the wrath of the anti's, I have:

One of these (Rolex Submariner Bi-metal Slate dial with diamonds and sapphires):

One of these (44mm Hublot Big Bang in steel, carbon fibre and ceramic):

One of these (IWC Spitfire Chronograph):

One of these (Rado Diastar Integral)

And a bunch of other regular watches, Garmin HRM etc

As for why one would spend several grand on a watch that doesn't tell the time as well as a 10 quid quartz watch, there's no answer which will convince those who question. All I can say is that my watches could be re-sold if I really wanted to and would fetch more than I paid for them – probably 50% more for the Big Bang and Sub but that's not why I buy them. They represent a feat of engineering and craftsmanship which is becoming less and less valuable to many in today's disposable-good society.

I guess I could have 20k+ extra in my bank account if I sold my watches. What's the point in that? You can't get any real 'use' out of numbers in a bank account, can you? I don't need a flasher car, more bikes or anything else so why not?