6536/1 Just as Old as Me

[Nanuq]

Following in Hologramet's footsteps, here is a piece that's near to my heart.

 

I was given this by a Navy SpecOps diver to whom it was issued back when it was new.  It was for timing missions and as a form of currency so he could sell it if he needed to, to get back home.

 

Years later he died and his widow asked me to come to the funeral.  At the end she gave me a rolled up towel with this in it.  It was missing the bezel, he used to complain that it came off and he was tired of replacing it.  It turns out, the bezel was still there, so worn down that the inserts wouldn't stay on.

 

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The lume and hands were horrible, it looked like someone had done the job with a paint roller.  Yes, he could see it in the dark, but it was beyond nasty:

 

 

So I made friends with Tom Nesbitt in Seattle (Rolex guru) and started the long process of restoring it to its original condition.  It made a few trips to Ziggy and got a top notch relume, he had to scrape the old lume off the dial and hands as they were flaking into oblivion:

 

 

and my dear friend Ubi sent me a gorgeous insert and pearl:

 

 

...and offered to install a gorgeous Brevet crown:

 

 

Finally after about 20 years of sourcing parts, I got her back to where she belongs:

 

 

My birth year Rolex.   

 

[alligoat]

Beautiful restoration! I know we're not supposed to do things like relume, but it just makes the whole watch look better.

[Nanuq]

Before I got it, someone had done a lume job to curl your toes.  It looked like he applied it to the hour indices with a q-tip, and he completely covered the hands with lume, painting over the metal too.  Such a shame, otherwise the watch was in 100% original condition.  Ziggy took a long time to scrape the dial and hands clean, being careful not to flake off the black, then redid it the right way.  It has a pale glow that I regret, and I'd like to redo it again to get a non-glowing more "chunky" look to the lume, but the dial is getting flakier every year.

 

Interesting note:  when I first met Tom in Seattle it was to buy a springbar on my walk home.  He looked the watch over and just by listening could tell it needed a service, the beat was off and he could hear it.  He looked at the serial number and said "So, April of 1958".  

 

I called shenanigans, so we got out his big Rolex Bible and looked it up.  Sure enough, early in the 2nd quarter of 1958.  The same month and year as me.  That settled it, I was in the presence of royalty.   

 

[Sogeha]

Some serious names there. Sometimes a watch is about the story, the journey and the people involved. Those of us who like franken builds come to feel this way, but it is great when a genuine watch has that journey and achievement to it. You honoured the memory of your friend with this restoration 

[alt.watch.obsessive]

Beautiful watch and story! Always great to see it. 
 

It is just as old as you. The question is, does it have a higher net worth?

[hologramet]

That is just one generation back compared to mine, and so very-very beautiful.

”Not supposed to relume this and that”.

I would bet that all specimens with perfect lume, have been doctored. However... doctored well...

So@Nanuq... What year are you born?


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[dieselpower]

Great piece. Great story. What this place is really all about. WIWIGH