Hello guys, looking for a bit of advice regarding an old Rolex I found when going through my late fathers possessions.
Looking for the best place to take the watch in the Glasgow area that will give me a cost of repairing and also what it might be worth when repaired.
Watch is an OP 36mm bought in the 70’s I think in Saudi.
No box or papers with the watch
Not the best picture, but any advice appreciated
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don't mess about. take it to a Rolex dealer and send it back to London to Rolex who will give you a price. I presume it has cost you nothing but assuming it's a Date or Date-Just what's the rrp on a new one? Rolex will give you a date of manufacture, a service and a guarantee. Might be £2k or less (or more). Only you will know if it has special memories or it could be an heirloom. Someone on here will know a bit more about a new dial etc
If you take the Bracelet off the model number will be between the lugs at 12 o clock and the serial number between the lugs at 6 o clock - you can then age the watch
The next stage would be to look if any parts had been replaced and if the dial has been messed with
I am going through a similar exercise
The case back on the one that I am looking at, (a Rolex Oyster Perpetual from the 1950's or even the 1940's - differing opinions) is off a Tudor Oyster price, (model number 7909) - obviously the case back had been replaced at sometime
I have yet to open the watch to check the movement
Although yours may have sentimental value - you really need to know if it is worth restoring - I'm not sure Rolex would be my first port of call - I'd look at other options as well.
From what I can gather from the internet, unless it is exceptional, the retail price advertised by dealers, of a watch that is working and in good reasonable condition seems to be certainly under £3k and probably in the £1,500 to £2,500 range - depending on the condition etc., etc. - that's the advertised retail selling price
Last edited by BillN; 23rd August 2019 at 15:04.
It looks corroded and water damaged. Could be a fairly eye watering repair bill but if sentimental worth every penny.
I recommend this lot for vintage Rolex restoration - http://www.shwr.co.uk
Maybe drop it into an AD if you want the Rolex route or speak to Steven at Tom Coll upstairs in the argyll arcade.
Take this advice. Steve was an awesome help on vintage Rolex.Originally Posted by verv
The watch doesn’t really have any special memories, my father was a Seiko man, can’t recall seeing him with anything else on.
Drop it to Rolex. They do service vintage watches, up to certain years, but they. Shwr do a good but job but I find that they charge more than what Rolex would. Now the choice is yours
I hate to say it, but that looks like a trip to Rolex - the hour and second hand are bent, the dial has taken some serious abuse and the lettering appears smudged. To me that suggest that either the crystal has been missing or that the movement and dial have been kicking around outside of the watch. In addition, the fact that the crown is hanging out suggests the crown and pendant or both are U/S. Either way, I always assume that the damage I can't see will be worse than the damage I can. That way I only get nice surprises. However, you can either spend ages on research and hunting ebay to find the right replacement parts for a small fortune. You can replace them with after-market parts or you can grit your teeth and give Rolex quite a lot of money. Option one is a pain and could take ages. Option two will probably reduce the value below the current value while option three will leave you with a watch that your son will be able to pull repeat the process with, grateful that their dad knew how to look after a nice watch!
I'll be honest, if it was a Perpetual, I'd probably throw the money at it, if it was a manual I'd just have someone cheap clean it to stop any rot and then hold on to it, because I'll bet my bottom dollar it's earlier than seventies and early Rolex are uncommon enough that whatever the later market does, supply will always be less than demand.
Is it now as it was when your father had it? If so, keep it as it is.
I thought Rolex refused to touch watches more than 30 years old, is that not true?
I also read that on the Rolex Forum - not only for Oysters but also for SS models
I'm pretty sure Rolex won't service some vintage watches - not sure of the cut-off. But you could email or try ringing Duncan at Genesis - he does service vintage and is Rolex accredited.
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I would give him a call. Looks like a lot of water damage there I assume you just unscrewed the crown rather than that being damaged too? What happened to it if you dont mind me asking?
My father worked in the marine infrastructure industry so I take it thats where the water damage came from. Watch in the photo was as it came out of a drawer, not been touched, Crown is damaged, won’t screw in.
Blimey! I hoped/thought the picture was just a bit out of focus! I would expect a fair bit of money on servicing it then. Water damage to the movement, service, sorting out the crown, fixing the hands, cleaning up the dial (Not sure if thats dirt on the dial or as someone else said the text has deteriorated) I dont know if the date wheel is damaged, new plexi......
Saying that dont these fetch well over 2K these days? Depending on how much you like the watch (Keeping in mind you didnt pay for it) In the long run you probably aren't going to be at a loss.
If it's water damage, it's astonishing what a completely foxed Rolex movement will sell for on eaby and cases are always worth more than you'd expect. However, water ingress doesn't damage hands and doesn't usually leave various parts looking shiny, so I suspect there's a more complicated tale behind that watch. Pretty well anything is better than water ingress, so I'd get someone to have a look at it. The other option would be to sell it on ebay hedged with caveats and see how much of a gamble some folk are prepared to make. A decent photo or two would be helpful.
Try this company. Close to you. I have used them to restore a vintage watch that was really messed up and the results were amazing
https://jvwatchmakers.com/watch-repa...ter-precision/
Hello guys, looking for a bit of advice regarding an old Rolex I found when going through my late fathers possessions.
Looking for the best place to take the watch in the Glasgow area that will give me a cost of repairing and also what it might be worth when repaired.
Watch is an OP 36mm bought in the 70’s I think in Saudi.
No box or papers with the watch
Not the best picture, but any advice appreciated
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Took it down there today, will have the cost in a couple of weeks, looking like a couple of grand.
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