Will franken Rolex become more valuable with time?

[devilseam]

What I mean by that, is that with the gen parts drying up and becoming more and more expensive we will see the cost of quality frankens rise as a direct consequence of the shortage?

 

If our vintage frankens have gen crystals, crowns, inserts etc will they become more and more sought after as time goes on and dare I say it more and more appealing to the gen crowd as a viable alternative?

[By-Tor]

Good thread idea.

 

A watch like Freddy's white dial GMT or Ubi's vintage hardcore Daytona builds are valuable... and WILL be valuable.

 

But something like 16610 franken... I doubt it. It's too comtemporary and common watch.

 

The last gen steel sports sapphire models will increase their value for sure... and already have. The old designs are much more desirable for many... like me for example. Most new Rollies are only good if you want to know what time it is in Gayville.

 

[devilseam]

 Most new Rollies are only good if you want to know what time it is in Gayville.

 

 

LOL,

[automatico]

The way I see it (for vintage models anyway)...

The better the case and dial...the more the basic watch will be worth.

The more unaltered genuine parts in the watch...the more the watch will be worth.

The higher genuine watches go...the more a genuine movement, crown etc Frankenstein will be worth (hopefully).

As time goes by and the supply of genuine complete watches and parts dries up...the more a genuine movement Frankenstein will be worth.

The only thing you can really count on is they will always be worth the current selling prices of the parts.

Some free advice from experience...

Go easy on artificially ageing vintage watches. You might like the wabi but very few buyers want watches that were beat up on purpose. Wear them to age them.

Do not cut dial feet off of good genuine dials...that is what Yuki dials are for.

[tomhorn]

+1

 

I think you can be pretty safe in getting most of your money back out of a vintage Rolex build as long as you shop wisely ... especially since parts prices have gone up so much.

 

For example, with my last DateJust build (which is all gen except the movement), I doubt anyone could build it buying the parts now for any where close to what I have in it. I don't want to sell it, but based on the offers I got from people after posting the build thread, I have no doubt I could easily sell it for a profit if I did. I expect once MD2020 finally gets to work on my 1016 (hurry up Whoopy with the dial ...    ) that I could probably move that one at a profit too, as I won't have much in it since a lot of the parts are leftovers from other projects.

 

A little tougher to do with modern Subs. The WM9/TC Subs are too good out of the box to pay much of a premium. I have a WM9 LV, and haven't even thought about adding gen parts to it.

[preacher62]

All this said...the frankens only have value on the forum.  You still can't advertise them on the bay and sell them.

[chibiunko]

All this said...the frankens only have value on the forum.  You still can't advertise them on the bay and sell them.

 

You can break the parts up and advertise gen parts on the bay and sell them. 

[phillycheez]

Yeah... The issue is, there's a certain threshold amount where only few members would be even interested... $1,500 and up are tough sells no matter the parts on it.

You are limited by these rep forums... Now unless the gen vintage guys start deciding vintage prices are just too ridiculous they may wonder into these forums (I'm sure some already do).

Now parting a vintage franken on the other hand... Opens up your avenues in places to sell. You can definitely recoup a profit that route.

Getting around the $2k+ is when rep members start weighing in favor to just get a gen...

[Jkay]

Also, the availability of newer Super Reps of your "franken" can completely kill it's resale value. Ask the people who own 5+ year old PAM Fiddy frankens. Once hot ... now not.