What is it with Perth and Daytonas? Glenn explains his ‘unusual’ 116500LN in the days after Horology House scandal

Andrew McUtchen

The week before last, three members of the T+T team went on a national roadshow. Though, in reality, it was more of an airshow, considering we covered more than a lazy 10,000km in six days. The goal was to meet members of the Time+Tide Club in their own cities. It was a magical mystery tour — with the mysterious element being: would the venue still have a record of our booking? Would it be in any way suitable for showing watches? Would anyone turn up? What questions would they ask in the often ‘Town Hall’ style catch-up? Over the week, we met more than 200 club members, and heard probably as many stories about watches. It was great.

Glenn's modified Rolex Daytona ref. 116500LN with a ref. 116509 dial — Glenn’s modified Rolex Daytona ref. 116500LN with a ref. 116509 dial

Of course, the other big unknown was: what watches would they be wearing? Well, given the week Perth had had in the news, with a local YouTube personality being called out online for selling an inauthentic Rolex Daytona 116500LN, you could say I was on heightened alert when one appeared. But it wasn’t like any 116500LN I’d ever seen before. The ceramic bezel was unmistakeable. But so was the, uh, racing dial. To say that it was an awkward moment would be understating it. In as tactful a way as possible, I had only two questions for the wearer.

What is going on with this watch?

“I’ve got a mate over in the UK. I have a few watch mates overseas. I managed to get a dial off a Racing Daytona, the 116509. I’ve got the original white dial [from the 116500] as well, with the white rings, but I wanted to change it and make it a bit different. As a watchmaker you can do these kinds of things. You want to stand out! I’m a watchmaker. I used to work at Rolex in Melbourne, and Rolex here in Perth for a while.”

Why did you want to change the dial?

“It’s all about the ownership of it at the end of the day. You buy what you want to buy and change it and customise it the way you want to change it. If I want to change it back I can. But for now I like the different look. And I didn’t buy it from Chris, so I’m all good.”