Hey guys!
I have had a fascination for watches ever since I was a kid. I can remember begging my parents to buy me a good watch back when I was young but they had always complained that the watches that I used to beg for was something expensive. They ended up buying me a daily beater that was approximately below USD50. They always believed that it was important to wear a watch but also constantly reminded me of the sole purpose of a watch “was to only see the time”.
One day I remember watching a movie named Dr No, The first Jame sBond Series which I instantly fell in love with. Watching Sean Connery wear the classic Rolex Submariner which was created in 1953 caught my attention immediately. I knew that I wanted to own one ASAP! From that moment that was the watch I wanted. I remembered rushing to my room once the movie finished to turn on my desktop and “Google” the watch that Connery wore with an aim of seeing how much Dollars I needed to buy one. Remembered printing out the picture of the watch and begged my parents to take me over to the nearest Rolex Dealer to check the price out.
We went over to the Rolex boutique about a week later as my parents couldn't stand me harassing them to take me. (Well I didn’t roll on the floor and cry but yeah I kept asking them). The Sales Associate from the boutique pointed the watch which was displayed on the shelve and told us that it was the current Submariner model which was being sold. She explained that it wasn’t the exact same model and that Rolex did do some minor changes to it. Upon hearing the price, my parents walked out of the store and told me that they were not going to pay thousands of dollars for a watch for me and started justifying as to why a 12 year old kid shouldn’t own an expensive watch, especially a Rolex.
Well I have to admit that it was disappointing lol.
Then about 5 years later, I joined college and pursued my undergraduate studies. Two years into my undergraduate studies, I was required to undertake an internship as part of the curriculum. As every other college student who was preparing to apply for various Internship programmes with companies that were related to our studies, I used to head over to Google and skim through various articles ranging from “Interview Tips” to “How to Make The First Impression Count”. Upon stumbling a few articles, writers used to stress that guys are discouraged from wearing too many accessories and if they wished to, one is encourage to only wear a single ring on each hand, a bracelet that isn’t too chunky or groovy and a watch that’s formal and not something that’s colourful! Yes you read it write, a watch! At that time I wasn't owning any watches and was comfortable with using my Iphone to check the time.
A week or two after spamming my resume to various Financial Institutions for an internship, I had my first telephone interview one morning and was requested to attend an interview 2 days later at the firm’s HQ. Went back home and happily screamed by the top of my voice to my parents as if I was called for an Interview to become the next CEO of the given bank. Parents immediately congratulated me and gave me a few tips on the Do’s and Dont’s during the Interview.
To my surprise, my dad bought me a Tag Heuer Carrera CV2A10.BA the next day as a gift. It wasn’t a ROLEX but trust me, I loved every bit of that watch and they knew that I was a guy that always loved a sporty looking watch! (Well, my mom would have checked my search history and realised that I was checking the price of the given model tons of times lol). Wore my new timepiece for my interview and I have to say that it definitely boosted my confidence to the moon.
Then came my internship, I was gladly delighted to be given an opportunity of undertaking my Internship with one of the renowned banks as I had definitely learn’t a lot during the said programme. As every other aspiring intern, I knew that I would one day be sitting on the CEO’s seat!
However, then came the time that I realized that all of my supervisors and colleagues were wearing luxury timepieces. Well, I guess whatever that I read on the Internet was true! Bankers do flaunt their timepieces as a means of displaying Prestige and Power haha.
Completed my internship successfully despite not owning a Rolex and went back to Uni to complete my Final Year. Once again, I continued wearing my Tag Heuer happily to Uni as if I bought it with my own Internship allowance that was given. My watch definitely caught the attention of my mates and received tons of compliments.
Months passed and I successfully completed my undergraduate degree and was preparing to fly off to UK to pursue my Masters. Fast forward, I returned back home after completing my Masters while awaiting for approximately 2 months to head back to UK for my convocation.
A day before my flight to UK, my parents asked me to follow them over to get a few stuffs from the store. We headed over to the mall and I had no idea why they made me to follow them into the ROLEX boutique. (Apparently my mom called up 2 AD’s and non of them had stock for the Rolex Submariner ND and Date but this one particularly dealer just got their stocks delivered for the given 2 models).
To my surprise my parents told me that they were getting me a ROLEX as a graduation present. They wanted me to get the model with the Date but I don’t know, I’ve always preferred the traditional Submariner plus it was slightly cheaper.
So yeah pulled the trigger on a Submariner “No Date” and I have to say that it was worth every penny!
To date, I wear my Rolex Submariner proudly to work while working as a Junior Banker! Got to say that owning a Submariner is definitely a cherishable moment and would love to add buy a Daytona if I manage to secure a huge bonus!