Why an older Rolex Yacht-Master became my summer watch
In a market where more or less every watch has risen frightfully in value, it often falls to the enthusiast to find the most value for money when buying something new. Ahead of the summer it was time for me to buy something new for the collection.
Text: Albin Johansson
Photo: Aleksandar Mladenovic
In a market where practically every watch has gone up in value something awful, it often falls to the enthusiast to find the most value for money when making new purchases. Ahead of the summer it was time for me to buy something new for the collection. The new watch needed to meet a number of specifications. The goal was a watch I could wear uncompromisingly in any given situation and scenario, from the beach to the bike ride and dinner in the evening. After a relatively short search the choice fell on a Rolex Yacht-Master reference 16622
A little background to the model
The Yacht-Master appeared as a new model from Rolex in 1992. The idea was a more luxurious Submariner and Rolex even used the same movement. The first model was launched with reference 16628 and was entirely in 18k yellow gold with a white dial. And it was made only in yellow gold until 1999, when "my" version was released and got the reference 16622. The news was a steel watch with a dial and rotating bezel in platinum, a combination Rolex calls "Rolesium".
From doubtful to sold
For me the Yacht-Master has over the years been relatively uninteresting, and then mainly because of the aesthetics. Functionally there are of course no objections. Rolex produces extremely robust and reliable watches, it was more the looks that put me off. Link and case are mirror-polished. These are broken up against the matte dial and the rotating bezel in platinum in a way that for a long time I did not think was particularly good-looking, which is of course a completely subjective observation. The price on the second-hand market has also always been a little lower than the corresponding sports models from Rolex. The Submariner and GMT-Master, for example, are usually higher, something that could possibly have made it stand out (value plays in).
The turn from doubtful to actually liking the model (and several different versions) happened gradually. At the beginning of June this year I thought that a mirror-polished Rolex with platinum details was about the hottest thing you could buy for the money. Because of course it was also a financial question. Just as we talked about in large parts of the Eqotime Podcast episode with Andreas Weinås buying watches is to a great extent about finding the greatest value for yourself. There a 16622 suddenly stood out as an obvious candidate, and when a fine example from 2005 turned up in my hands at the right price the choice was easy.
Technical specifications
Brand: Rolex
Model: Yacht-Master
Reference number: 16622
Diameter: 40mm
Case material: Stainless steel
Water resistance: 100m
Dial: Platinum
Bracelet: Stainless steel link bracelet
Movement: Rolex 3135
Complications: Date
Winding: Automatic
Price: Market price aruond 100,000 kronor depending on condition and accessories
