The Magnum Watch

[Danno]

Here is a great page with watches worn by many famous actors in TV and Film roles.
Good ol' Magnum is there, wearing his Rolex GMT Master (that he inherited from his father?) and a Chronosport Quartz. Mmmmm. Both expensive.

[grapeshot]

Wow, the information available on the internet never ceases to amaze me. -- even now, after 10 years of surfing around on it. And I thought I was the only one that had obscure or strange interests.

This is an interesting find; thanks for sharing it.

[J.J. Walters]

Cool page Dan. Thanks.

I spent a little bit of time looking into Magnum's watches, with some invaluable help from several Magnum fans. It was a very interesting endeavor into the world of watches.

Magnum's first watch was a Chronosport Dive Watch, which he wore for the first three seasons. Starting with 'Home From the Sea' he wears the famous Rolex GMT Master (ref 16750 model), although in a classic Magnum blunder, in the following episode 'Luther Gillis: File #521', he wears the Chronosport again (pic), immediately after we learn the significance of The Watch (i.e. Dad's Rolex)!! In all other future episodes (as best as I can tell), he wears the Rolex.

There's also another "flub" with regards to the Rolex. Magnum inherited the watch in 1950 when his Dad died. The first GMT Master didn't appear on the market until 1955, and the 16750 wasn't introduced until 1981!

Man, I wish I had a Rolex. Of course, as my wife would say, I'd probably lose it.

[Matt J]

The Chronosport can actually be seen in the beginning of Rembrant's Girl where he meets Carol Burnett in the guest house at the beginning of the show. I am almost certain TC wears it in the following season.

Matt J

[J.J. Walters]

The Chronosport can actually be seen in the beginning of Rembrant's Girl where he meets Carol Burnett in the guest house at the beginning of the show.

Hello Matt J, welcome to MM!

Great find there on the watch. I didn't notice that! Maybe they misplaced the Rolex prop and were forced to bring out the trusty Chronosport.

[perfectlykevin]

Hi guys! New guy here. I post at the other Mag forum from time to time and thought jioning here too seemed a logical choice.

For those interested in THE Magnum watch, there is some very sad news. Rolex has discontinued the pepsi style GMT (for now), and the newer GMT uses a slightly larger case, crown and ceramic bezel. Hopefully they'll make the newer style with that famous red/blue bezel in the near future. One of my other hobbies is watches-I can blame that on the show as well since it was the ep "Home From the Sea" that got me going on watches.





Kev
PS Technically they do still have a pepsi style but it's encrusted with diamonds, and looks like something out of a gumball machine. [/img]

[J.J. Walters]

Hi there perfectlykevin, welcome to MM!

Thanks for the info regarding the "Magnum Watch", the Magnum watch.

Not that I'd be able to afford it, but just how much does the "new" GMT Rolex model cost these days?

[perfectlykevin]

Hi there perfectlykevin, welcome to MM!

Thanks for the info regarding the "Magnum Watch", the Magnum watch.

Not that I'd be able to afford it, but just how much does the "new" GMT Rolex model cost these days?

Not that I could afford it (without selling my car!!) but I think it's over 6K. Don't think I'll be buying one aaaaanytime soon (unless Ed McMan still comes to doors with those oversized checks.... )

Kev

[Danno]

You can pick up a GMT Master (a second hand Rolex not the current Master II) for around AU$3,999 here in Australia which currently converts to about US$3310. Not so bad for a Rolex really and considering Magnum's watch is not a Master II, if you're after the Magnum watch, then you've got to go second hand anyway... so... I think I'm trying to convince myself here...

Anyway, this sucker is pretty close to Magnum's watch, although you'd have to change the band to make it more 'accurate'...

http://www.clockmaker.com.au/w/k459_rol ... 16700.html

[J.J. Walters]

Uh, how much do the cheap imitations cost?

[grapeshot]

I was in Italy last summer for a couple of business trips, and the street vendors there sell fake Rolex's everywhere. You can usually bargain them down to about $20.00. I can't recall seeing the GMT, though. In fact, now that I think about it, they had a lot of watches that said "Rolex" on them, but looking at the actual Rolex website, I don't recollect any that really resembled them. But I didn't spend a lot of time studying the street vendor's fake Rolex's. It was amusing to see what they were selling, but there were SO MANY of them and ALL selling the same stuff! The novelty wore off rather quickly. I suppose you could see much the same on the streets of NYC.

You can get a stainless Rolex (genuine) for about $3,500 or $4,000 (US), depending on if you want the date on the face or not.
http://www.parkavenuewatch.com/gmt.htm

However, you can get a quality swiss made, reasonable approximation for about a tenth of the price here:
http://www.westcoastime.com/index.html
The closest one in resemblance is this one: http://www.westcoastime.com/ownewm5milst.html
THIS one looks real special, too:
http://www.westcoastime.com/owearlybird1.html
It's an original, never used Viet Nam war era watch. Notice that its dial shows military time. No price shown on that one. It's a beauty, though.

[jodyford]

Well, I'm glad I got mine in time. Last year it cost nearly 5K (in Florida). Its a nice watch.

[Tom]

Yes, the new gmt matster II is a nice one, but still the 16750 Tom Selleck wears in the series looks better to me.
He has one with a matte dial. (No white gold arount the hour markers, which has became the standard for the Rolex oyster these days.)
I find these more difficult to find. They are also more wanted by collecters since they prefer the classic look of this painted dial.

Rolex increases the prices a lot. Last november the prices on the steel sport models increased with 8-10 %.
You can get a decent occasion if you look right. If you don't care for papers and boxes prices will be lower. A lot of people say "buy the seller, not the watch" which I think is true. Also better pay a bit more and buy the watch from an authorised dealer instead from someone on the internet.

Is a Rolex worth that amount of money... some people say yes, most people say no. I personally think it's worth the money. You will get a heavy tool watch which will last you a lifetime. For the money you should get two nice omega's instead of one Rolex, so it really is a matter of preference. Omega is a fine brand too which makes excelent watches.
The new planet ocean is a big bang for the buck. Also the speedmaster is a classic which you should take a look at. Not a sport watch, but certainly one you would like to own one day next to your Rolex.
I've learned that once you've set your mind on a Rolex, you can buy other watches but you still keep coming back to that one special Rolex watch and eventually will buy one.

The only complaint people have next to the pricing seems to be the clasp of the bracelet. This ain't that high quallity compared to other watches, like the seamaster line from Omega. In fact, in the episode "Rembrandts Girl" you can see that after Magnum claps his has while laughing the clasp "jumps loose" (is this a good sentence?)
He notice this and adjusts the watch to his wrist.

It's said that it's Tom Sellecks own GMT master he wears in the series. He also wears the watch in a recent movie, which I forgot the name from.
But if it's his own watch....

There's something about mechanical watches. It's like they have a soul. A piece of craftsmanship which you carry with you everywhere you go. A watch, the only "jewel" a man owns.

[TMoustache]

How about this?
http://www.replica-supplier.com/html/sw ... -gm02.html

[Magnum92]

Hey guys I was just wondering if anyone else noticed that Magnum was wearing his Rolex in Vietnam in The Look 4.9, I was just wondering, if he was wearing the Chronosport in the first season and The Vietnam war was before this, why would he be wearing the Rolex.
I know that he inherited it in 1950, but it just seems a bit odd to me that's all.