by Bob Walsh
Antiques Roadshow just downloaded an interesting clip of one of the soon to air shows. The subject of this particular segment was an Air Force veteran from the Vietnam era. Back in 1975 he bought a very nice Rolex Oyster Chronograph for $345. He was going to use it for diving because they were waterproof but it was so nice he just couldn't bear to do it. He kept it in a safe deposit box, along with all the paperwork. He never wore it.
He took it to the Roadshow. It seems they made the watch with these particular markings for only a very brief period of time. His is possibly the finest condition of these watches known to exist. Even the foil number tag on the back was fully intact, indicating the watch had never been worn. It was essentially a new old stock (NOS) watch. When they told him that similar watches were worth about $400,000 he literally fell on his ass and they had to pick him up. They then told him that this particular watch (his had the more desirable screw-down seal buttons) in this condition was worth about $700,000.
1 comment:
Bob, I think this is a great story! Glad you posted it.
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