As Rolex aficionados know, the Rolex Datejust is one of the company's most popular models. However, finding an original Rolex Datejust can be very difficult, as they are often sold out and unavailable. About a year ago, I was in the market for a Rolex Datejust or a Rolex Oyster Perpetual and found that almost all of the local jewelers were completely sold out of them. Store after store, there would be empty cases with the occasional "Exhibition" piece to tease me. After reading several articles about Rolex as an investment outpacing the Dow Jones and Real Estate, I became even more determined to find one. So one day, headed for a thrifting adventure, something told me to turn left toward the jeweler, instead of right toward the Salvation Army. I'm convinced my cute little Rollie was in there calling for me. I'm so glad I heard her.

It had been just under a year since I'd placed an order for a Datejust with another jeweler. Datejust 36- Oyster Steel Jubilee Bracelet-18k White Gold Fluted Bezel- Mint Green Dial. I hadn't heard anything back, other than a text asking if I would be interested in a diamond bezeled model that was twice my budget and since we're in the process of building a new home, I simply couldn't spare the splurge. So I declined and continued waiting for my order, which I was relieved never came, because I didn't need to spend the money while building the new home. I was tempted to jump on it because, over the last year, I had been looking everywhere. I checked every local Rolex retailer and every Rolex dealer in every city or state I traveled to. Vegas, LA, DC, Seattle, San Francisco... no watches. One store in Seattle had a Rolex Cellini Moonphase, which neither of us were interested in. It became apparent that finding one just may not be in the cards for me and I was happy to wait until after we close on the new house.

...but then I went left instead of right.

I strolled into the store dressed in a $10 dress from TJ Maxx, a ripped denim jacket from Fashion Nova and a pair of sneakers. Other than the Gucci Soho Disco bag I had slung across me, I was really dressed quite casually in my "lows", because again, I was headed thrifting. I knew they would only have exhibition pieces, but following the advice of my husband, I decided to check anyway. We had both heard so many stories of Rolex as great long term investments and I thought if I came across one, it would be interesting content for my blog and YouTube channel. Of course, I was right. There were no actual watches in the cases and furthermore, there were no sales associates who could even be bothered to help me out. So I did a quick lap around the watch section and headed back out to my car.

Just as I reached for the handle of my car door, one of the salesmen followed his client out and directed his attention toward me, asking if he could help me find anything. I waved him off saying I was looking for a Rolex Datejust, which I knew he didn't have. He insisted I come back into the store to let him "See what we can do''. I humored him, because I had time and I appreciated that he came to find me outside. However, I had no plans to buy anything and I figured he was just going to offer to place another order anyway. There was no chance, I'd be leaving there with a Rolex. He handed me off to another associate, who we'd worked with before and just like I thought, he offered to place another fruitless order. As we began discussing the details of the order, he got a glint in his eye and asked if I were open to a pre-owned Rolex. Again hoping to get content for my channel, I humored him and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. What I thought he meant by Pre-owned, was not what he meant at all. Check out this video to hear the rest of the story of How I Bought a Hard-to-Find NEW Rolex Datejust on a Whim.