Spotted in the wild - and totally made someones day - a 1680 story

[rwgforumfan]

It was a $400 watch in the 70's....

It was quite a bit of money back then.

[lhooq]

It was quite a bit of money back then.

Yeah! You could've bought a 23" color TV for that much!

[krpster]

Great story! You sure made his day / week / year.

[Cats]

Great story and I'm glad that you didn't try to trick him into a deal for 500 to 1000 bucks.

Would be tempting but never the less that wouldn't be a nice thing to do.

Carpe Diem

Cats

[Donerix 2.0]

I just had a similar thing happen to me: A guy that I have know for 6-7 years, he goes by the name "Vietnam Charly" around here and drives a pick-up truck that's missing the driver side door ....

He saw my 1665 GWSD and checked it out. Then he told me that he has "one of those submariners, but it has no date and one of those with the red and blue ring around them".

Turns out he bought both of them while he was in the service in the 60's and when they stopped working he sent them to his son in Arizona where they are sitting in a drawer .... I already offered to take a look at them

[mjmj]

Nice story. thank you for sharing.

[blue.]

Awesome

Even if that post isn´t fresh, the story is always actual to me.

I may add up some more information on how Rolex was priced back in the years.

In my Watches Mood-Picture collection I have an advertisement of my all time favorite the Rolex, the Explorer 1016.

The year of when the ad was published is bit of unclear. Should be around 1965 +

Price according to the ad:

" ... The Explorer sells for $180 (with authentic Rolex bracelet, $195) at fine jewelry shops. Other waterproof, self-winding chronometers from $ 175"

$15 for a folded SS genuine Rolex bracelet ...

We all know how much most out of the box 1016 Reps and after market parts (gen or near gen) cost.

Sure, inflation and commodity prices have changed drastically in the last 40+ years, but nevertheless still interesting differences.

From time to time I keep asking myself how much the production costs of a modern Explorer 1 for example are?!

In between $500 - $800?

Edited September 24, 2012 by blue.

[tabularasa415]

That is awesome. And you're a better than I am. I think that little devil would have gotten the best of me and I would have run straight to the ATM....

[ta8088]

Great story cj. I enjoyed it the first time I read it a while back and glad someone bumped it so I could read it again. Kudos to you for letting him know what is old $400 watch was really worth.

[FxrAndy]

Yep a re read if this makes me smile. I wonder if the old guy sold it of just kept wearing it ?

[robertk]

Back in 1970 my dad gave me his old rolex. I thought that it was a nice gesture but never thought more about it. I started wearing it and kept wearing it for 20 years and put it in a drawer because I wanted something "hipper". Went through breitlings, and a JVC, and totally forgot the old rolex. I was going through my old stuff several years ago, and found it again. By now, I was into watches and loved reps, and couldn't believe that I had totally forgotten the old rolex.

You're right. Prices have changed. Here's my Dad's old rolex, and you all know what these things are worth today:

Edited September 25, 2012 by robertk