Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

[To The Regiment]

Thanks - I just called and spoke with Jack. Super nice, knowledgeable guy, and he said that the example I'm bidding on looks good.

Excellent. And you will love the Tropic Strap. My Squale Militaire came on a Tropic Strap and it's great. Very comfortable and wears well in the water. Taking the Squale diving for the first time next week.

Best,
To The Regiment

[Styles Bitchley]

Both of the ones on ebay right now look like great examples. Good luck!!

My project is ongoing. I've just received a part in the mail that I need for the movement, so I'm about ready to go on the bulk of the restoration - new hands, new crystal, new old stock movement, new crown, new seals. In the end, I realize it would have been more cost and time effective to buy one like the Eagle is looking at. But it's been an interesting adventure!

[eagle]

Well, I have a Chronosport inbound... ended up winning this auction. Looking forward to it... the box and papers are a nice touch, and I don't care about the velcro strap -- I'll be putting it on a Tropic strap anyway.

[To The Regiment]

Well, I have a Chronosport inbound... ended up winning this auction. Looking forward to it... the box and papers are a nice touch, and I don't care about the velcro strap -- I'll be putting it on a Tropic strap anyway.

Congratulations! That's fantastic news. Look forward to seeing pics.

Best,
To The Regiment

[Styles Bitchley]

Very exciting news to have another Magnum Maniac in possession of a true grail collectible! The box and papers are an incredible bonus.

Looking forward to seeing photos of it on the tropic strap!

[eagle]

The seller is the original buyer, and he told me today that it comes with his original purchase paperwork. Very cool!

[Styles Bitchley]

The seller is the original buyer, and he told me today that it comes with his original purchase paperwork. Very cool!

Massive score. Was his name Thomas Magnum by any chance?

[eagle]

Massive score. Was his name Thomas Magnum by any chance?

lol - thanks, I'm super excited. Can't wait.

Just need to figure out which size Tropic Strap to order. Can anyone confirm the dimensions of the Chronosport Sea Quartz 30? Maybe I should just wait until mine arrives, and measure it?

Also, I have some NATO straps that I'll start with, assuming they fit. They were bought for my Maen Hudson (38mm), so they're probably too small. Either way, I plan on binning the velcro strap that is coming with it.

[Styles Bitchley]

The lug width on on the Sea Quartz 30 is 20mm. I wear mine on a military-style green tropic often and it looks really nice.

[eagle]

Cool, my Maen Hudson 38mm also has 20mm lugs, so these NATO straps will fit perfectly, so I'll be good on day 1 at least. Based on tracking, it looks like it might even come tomorrow! (It's already at the destination city, even though it's not scheduled to arrive until Tuesday.)

I have three 20mm NATO straps I could use with the Chronosport: a 9-stripe Bond-style black/red/green, a 5-stripe Bond-style black/silver, and a solid black one from Maen.

I'm thinking the black one is going to be a winner. The mixing of Bond + Magnum might just look a little weird.

[To The Regiment]

I've been watching this Chronosport Sea Quartz on eBay since last week: https://www.ebay.com/itm/114973805712?h ... SweSlhNgVb. Something always seemed a little off about it. For one thing, the seller doesn't have any prior record of selling on eBay and only 3 reviews as a buyer -- all over a year old. That doesn't quite pass the scammer sniff test. Then I just noticed that the day/date is white. On Magnum's Chronosport, the day/date was black. Did Chronosport make two versions? Is this one a fake?

Best,
To The Regiment

[eagle]

I don’t know if that is a fake, but a year or so ago I bid on an Atari 5200 from a seller with a similar profile. He was a scammer and never sent the Atari. It took me a month to get my money back from eBay since they had to go through the whole cycle of going back to him. It ended okay and I eventually got one, but that experience makes me check the seller stats.

[To The Regiment]

I don’t know if that is a fake, but a year or so ago I bid on an Atari 5200 from a seller with a similar profile. He was a scammer and never sent the Atari. It took me a month to get my money back from eBay since they had to go through the whole cycle of going back to him. It ended okay and I eventually got one, but that experience makes me check the seller stats.

Same here. Been there, done that on GunBroker. Fortunately, I learned of the scam at the last minute and had the USPS intercept the payment before it reached the scammer.

Best,
To The Regiment

[eagle]

Same here. Been there, done that on GunBroker. Fortunately, I learned of the scam at the last minute and had the USPS intercept the payment before it reached the scammer.

Nice save.

And, look at that auction you linked -- it's over $1,100 now! I wonder why mine, which included the box, went for only $860. Is the bracelet worth that much to people?

Also, we could literally be witnessing money laundering.

[To The Regiment]

Same here. Been there, done that on GunBroker. Fortunately, I learned of the scam at the last minute and had the USPS intercept the payment before it reached the scammer.

Nice save.

And, look at that auction you linked -- it's over $1,100 now! I wonder why mine, which included the box, went for only $860. Is the bracelet worth that much to people?

Also, we could literally be witnessing money laundering.

I'm definitely not an expert on Chronosports by any means, but I don't believe the bracelet that's shown on that particular eBay Chronosport is original. Matter of fact, zoom in on the back of it and you can see that it's a cheap, aftermarket Speidel bracelet.

However, this Chronosport matches the same time period of Magnum's watch because it has only the "Quartz" on the dial, not "Sea Quartz." There are far fewer "Quartz" on the dial models out there. They were made for a shorter period of time, from what I understand.

But here's the kicker -- the movement does not match Magnum's Chronosport. Look closely at screen captures and you'll see that Magnum's watch had the black day/date. This one has a white day/date.

Best,
To The Regiment