A participant of the “Antiques Roadshow,” a traditional British television series where antique experts travel through various regions of the UK to evaluate items brought in by local residents, had an unexpected reaction upon learning the value of his brought-in item.
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A war veteran, known only as David, brought in a Rolex watch for evaluation in the American version of the show. He begins by telling the appraiser that he purchased the watch in 1974. He explains that he chose the Rolex Oyster Cosmograph 1971 model while in the military because many of his peers had one, and also because he had heard it was a good brand for diving.
At that time, he paid $345 for it, which was almost his entire salary, and instead of wearing the watch, he kept it in a safe for four decades along with all warranty documents, receipts, and the original box.
First, the program’s appraiser comments on the similarity of the watch to the model worn by actor Paul Newman in the film “Winning.” “A watch like this at auction is worth about $400,000.” At this point, David falls to the ground, with his legs thrown up in the air. “Don’t fall, I’m not done yet,” says the host.
As the watch came with complete documentation, still had its original sticker on the back, and was almost unused and well-preserved, the appraiser explained that David’s Rolex was actually worth between $500,000 and $700,000.
“You can laugh at me all you want!” exclaims David in shock; “no, I’m serious… this is an absolutely fantastic discovery. It’s one of the rarest Rolex models, and under these circumstances, I don’t believe there’s a better one in the world,” replied the expert.
