When the quest for a Rolex becomes the adventure of a lifetime on Route 66
Jason MarsdenIt used to be that Rolex was the watch to be worn on adventures – climbing mountains, diving the ocean depths, exploring, and forging new discoveries in science involving huge magnetic fields. Well, Rolex is still in the adventure business, but these days the adventure is more likely to be actually trying to purchase the watch itself. My story is one of adventure, but the goal was securing the watch of my dreams – a Rolex Deepsea Sea Dweller, James Cameron.
In 2017, I was talking to my local Rolex Authorised Dealer in my home town of Christchurch, New Zealand. At this point, I owned some other Swiss watches but had not yet found the Rolex that really resonated with me. He pulled out a James Cameron ref. 116660 and I was smitten. Unfortunately, it just did not feel quite right on the wrist, such a large watch on a relatively small bracelet. After a hard struggle I turned the watch down.
The image of that graduated blue dial and striking Kawasaki green subtext stuck with me in the back of my mind, so when I heard that a new version was released in 2018, with the improved movement and bracelet size I was immediately on the phone to try and secure one. Unfortunately the popularity was already through the roof and it was not going to be so easy second time around.
My partner and I had always dreamed of driving America’s famous Route 66 and then it struck me: surely if we drive across America stopping at all the Rolex Authorised Dealers along the way I should have a pretty good chance of finding my watch? What an adventure and what a great way to add some small side trips, combining two passions in one great adventure.
But what watch to wear on such an adventure? Many watch enthusiasts will know the feeling of quiet wrist appraisal from AD staff when you enter a store. I had to wear something that had serious credibility, was recognisable from a distance and shouted deep-sea tool watch. My choice was my Omega Ploprof on the factory orange band.
We arrived in Chicago and spent a day walking the Magnificent Mile – stopping at every high end watch retailer, seeing some fantastic time pieces but no James Cameron. Loading up our rental car (a hybrid Hyundai – Mustangs were scarce and expensive in Chicago) we started west. Every couple of days we hit another Rolex dealership, some in big towns some in much smaller towns. It was quite surprising to find Rolex dealers in some pretty small towns. Not all had dedicated shops or even the full-on internal display walls. I can only presume that this was just a historic hold over from a decades-long established relationship. Each time we explained our journey, asking if they had a James Cameron in stock. The answer was generally the same, although one had just sold a cancelled order a couple of days earlier – so close!
We did see a decent number of steel sports Rolex and perhaps had I undertaken this trip more recently I would have been sorely tempted, but everything else was pushed aside – I only had one focus.
Route 66 exceeded my expectations. We only pre-booked accommodation in Chicago and Las Vegas. Each day we would figure where we were likely to end up and then decide what sort of accommodation did we feel like, from the ultra-posh Missouri Athletics Club that maintained a guest dress code, to Motel 7, complete with ’70s colour scheme and fibreglass bathroom fixtures. This gave us the flexibility to have big travel days or shorter trips, to blow through some areas that held no interest for us, but then spend an extra day somewhere that we loved.
We avoided as much of the freeway as possible, sticking to the older Route 66 alignments. This forced us to slow down to a more leisurely cruising speed and actually pass through each of the small towns along the route. In some places there were two or three sections of Route 66 side by side as each old road became the service road for a wider more modern highway then Freeway.
Highlights for me included Chicago’s architecture, I could have spent a week there photographing it. Another memorable evening was spent sitting outside a renovated 1959 motel in Tucumcari, New Mexico, gazing at the stars and discussing life, the universe and everything with a retired Texas cop. People are catching on to the history and nostalgia of 1950s American Midwest (actually boosted by the children’s movie Cars of all things) and much of the architectural and sun-faded neon signs are now being shipped away by architectural pickers, but there still remains much to be seen and discovered by those who undertake the iconic journey.
Fourteen days after leaving Chicago we side-tripped into Las Vegas, high on expectation that surely such an enormous mass of luxury offerings would prove fruitful. Arriving at the Tourneau watch store in The Forum Shops of Caesars Palace we were awestruck by the size of the store (two floors with escalator up) and brands on offer. Approaching the Rolex counter I presented my request as I had many times in the last two weeks. Now it may be the Vegas thing that attracts aspiring actors, musicians and entertainers, or it may have just been that salesperson, but instead of the usual flat-out “no”, she smiled broadly and, as if Simon Cowell had just said “show us what you’ve got”, broke into song singing “Everybody wants James Cameron”! Of course, they did not have one either, but this was certainly the brightest and most smile-inducing response I had received.
Finishing our journey in Los Angeles we ventured around the city’s Rolex Authorised Dealers just to ensure we had exhausted all possible opportunities before returning home. Whilst I was not successful in securing my grail watch we had a fantastic time, seeing some great country, meeting interesting people and gaining memories for a lifetime.
It was some months later that I got the call from my local dealer – he had a James Cameron in stock and it was mine if I still wanted it. I sure did and the adventure was finally complete. Well, until I decided I wanted a white Daytona as well…