Dear Friends,
now I need to tell you a really special story that happened to me today. Read what happened:
Last week Friday I made an appointment for today to have a look at a very nice NIB IWC and potentially buy it. The appointment was with a private seller in Aschaffenburg, a place 260km from Düsseldorf. Fine I thought, I can make those 260km in normal traffic conditions in less than two hours ... even in 1.5h in case of perfect traffic conditions.
The IWC I was going to look at was intended to temporarily satisfy my increasing need for "Blue".
I asked a buddy of mine who knows IWCs quite well to accompany me. A great opportunity to spend some time with him in the car, have nice chats and in addition to have a second opinion on the watch.
9am, starting our trip to Aschaffenburg. I felt it would become a special day, therefore I put my Platinum Regulateur on my wrist:
That is my buddy sitting on the copilot seat. Any idea who that buddy is?
Unfortunately my buddy took his role as copilot far too serious. He took his role that serious, that he made me drive in perfect traffic conditions that slow, that we needed 3 hours for a drive I would only need 1.5 hours for. Guys, believe me, after that ride I know why I married my wife and not that buddy:-))
Anyway, finally we arrived in Aschaffenburg and here is what we went there for:
A beautiful new and unworn Portuguese F.A. Jones in steel, limited to 3000 pcs. This very pure and classic dial, the wonderful blue hands and numerals, the gorgeous F.A. Jones writing on the dial, this great movement, so greatly finished, so nicely decorated ... It took me exactly five seconds after I saw it to decide that the baby would drive back home with me (I mean obviously the Portuguese, not my buddy).
Negotiations were done quite fast, payment done and here I am, happy new owner of this wonderful timepiece:
Yes, that watch clearly satisfies my need for "Blue".
I jumped back into the car, having my buddy still with me and knowing that again I would need 3 hours for a drive which should take only half that time. But you know what? This time I did not bother me at all. I thought great, driving that slowly I can constantly look at my new F.A. Jones:
I started the engine and Riiinnngggg ... What's that I thought ... Did I buy a Minute Repeater F.A. Jones? ... No, it was my mobile ringing.
"Hello, who's speaking?"
"Ah, hi Mrs. Authorised Dealer, how are you?"
"What???? YOU HAVE MY DREAM WATCH? Right now? It just arrived an hour ago? You need right now an answer if I want to take it? Here and now? You have a waiting list of 20 people for that watch? So now or never?"
Oh hell, I just bought this great F.A. Jones? What shall I do now. My AD in Düsseldorf just got the watch of my dreams!!!
In my diving courses I learnt that in such situations one should STOP, BREATHE, THINK and then ACT!
And that is exactly what I did in that situation ... well admittedly in an accelerated way - I saved the stopping, breathing and thinking part and jumped immediately to the Acting part - I said "Yes, I WANT IT. I am right now on my way to you dear AD. I'm arriving ... don't give it away ... will be with you in max 1 hour" (Please note that I just had started the engine, so I was still in Aschaffenburg - 260km away from Düsseldorf).
"Hey Buddy, fasten the seat belt, tense your muscles and most importantly SHUT UP! I have an emergency and I promise you we are going to be in 1 hour in Düsseldorf!" Off we go to Düsseldorf.
Compare this pic of my buddy with the one in the morning when we started: doesn't look like he feels to comfortable at the moment. Anyway, who cares, I have an emergency ... my dream watch waiting for me.
On the way back we nearly bumped into RAVE (Your text to link here...).
Arrived back in Düsseldorf in little more than one hour ... my Buddy's face was as blue as his blue watch ... jumping out of the car, running to the AD. Where is the watch? Which one is it?
Here it is - but I am still not holding it in my hands:
But now - what a moment ... Notice the joy in my face:
You still don't know which watch it is? Here you go:
Nad, these were made in your honor - the NAD Pose:-)
Now you should also recognize who the Buddy is I am talking all the time about (if you look carefully you can still see some blue in his face - LoL).
You want more pictures? Here you go:
There are simply no words to describe the beauty of that watch. Every adjective I would use to describe it would not be good enough.
But wait, there is still one question open. Is it a 5021-21 or a 5032-03? Here is the answer - my watch side by side to Mark's 5021-21:
And, do you see the difference? No difference? Shall we count the Jewels or measure the height of the movement to know which one it is?
Well, it is a 5032-03, and there is clearly a difference in the blue of the dial. The blue of the 5032-03 dial is a tiny little bit deeper/darker than the 5021-21 blue.
Now, my 5032-03 says on the movement that it has 62 jewels. But you know what? I do not care if it has 62 or 63 jewels, if the movement is 9.1 or 8.8 mmm ... It is a great beauty, and that is what I care about.
And I am the proud owner of this beauty!
Driving back home the must have Porsche Pic:
And a Side-by-Side with Mark in the car:
Having a nice glass of wine to calm down again:
Wow, what a day.
Mark, thanks for sharing in person this incredibly emotional day with me.
Dear friends, thanks for sharing digitally this incredibly emotional day with me.
I never had two IWCs in one day! And certainly not so special ones.
I'll go now to sleep, trying to process this day ... further pics of the two beauties will then follow tomorrow.
Thanks for looking and sorry for such a long report.
Master
Master
Master
Master
Master
Master
Master
Connoisseur
Master
Master