GUEST: In 2007, I was working in the Virginia Army National Guard, and I had a sergeant major who presented me with an opportunity to buy, uh, several Rolexes. They were all older. He was into the estate hunting business, and I said, "Eh, sure, I'll take it."
APPRAISER: What did you pay the sergeant major for the watches?
GUEST: So, three watches, $5,000, uh, financed over about two years.
APPRAISER: Okay, and do you wear the watches?
GUEST: Rarely.
APPRAISER: Rarely.
GUEST: Rarely.
APPRAISER: Okay, well, this watch is interesting, because it's what in the watch business we would call a Frankenstein.
GUEST: (chuckles)
APPRAISER: So this is a Rolex model 1680, and this is the, uh, first Submariner that had a date on it. It had an acrylic crystal, and the watch was made right in through the late '60s into the mid-70s. The serial number of this watch dates it to about 1974.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: There were no gold and stainless versions of a Submariner during that time period.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: So, it was not uncommon for a customer to walk into a Rolex agent and say, "I have a two-tone Datejust," which did exist at the time, "and I'd like to make my Submariner a two-tone." (chuckles)
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: So the watch is fundamentally correct.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: The movement is right, the case is correct, but the hands are gold hands from a later date. The bezel, which holds the insert, is a gold bezel from a later watch.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And the crown is a gold crown from a later watch.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: In the beginning years of the Submariner, the word "Submariner" was in red. That becomes a very highly collectible watch for sport watch collectors today. The dial appears to be correct. It's called a Mark IV dial. The insert, which is what's inside the gold bezel, is called a Mark III.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: So, those two things correspond perfectly with the 1974 production date.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: So I'd have no doubt that this watch came out in '74 as a stainless steel Submariner. But a long time ago, just based on the looks of it...
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: ...and the fact that you've already had it for 14 years, somebody did a conversion. So, from a, a standpoint of value, um, today, at retail, as a Frankenstein, this would probably trade somewhere between $15,000 to $17,000.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: All right?
GUEST: Thank you so much.
