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Planemo

Rolex Sea Dweller

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Planemo

Hey guys,

 

I'd like to tell you about this Sea Dweller, but first, a bit of history.

As a child and young teen growing up, I always knew my Dad had a Rolex. I had no idea what model it was, and I had no interest in it either. All I knew was that Rolex was a fancy watch. I had no idea where he had got it, and he never had any money which made me think it wasn't anything special. But he was a sailor, and I knew he had met a lot of people in his time. I had assumed he had got rid of the watch a long time ago given he never had any money and liked a drink. He never spoke about the watch, and rarely wore it even back in the early days. I thought nothing more of it until I got into rep watches about 4 years ago, at the age of 40.

Around this time, I remembered Dads watch, and wondered what it could have been. Although I was into the later ceramic models and didn't care much for the earlier ones, I was curious. However, I hadn't spoken to my Dad for about 7 years after both of us got very drunk one night and he said a few things about my Wife which didn't agree with me. Over the last couple of years though we have been able to meet at family gatherings and it's been OK. I think he (and I) want to bury the hatchet but both of us are too stubborn to talk about 'that night' and we act as if it didn't happen although we both know very well it did.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I went to see my brother who lives near Dad and has always been on close talking terms with him as they live nearby to each other. My bro said that Dad had decided to sell his Rolex and had asked my brother to try and get it valued, given that my bro works in London and there are a few AD's there. My Dad lives in the sticks and hates going anywhere where there's people. I was surprised that Dad still had the watch. My bro said he had the watch in his house and I grabbed my chance to see it in person, the watch which I probably hadn't seen since my childhood.

My bro passed it over and it felt weird. This watch, which I knew of for such a long time, was actually in my hands. It looked battered and used, the bracelet felt well worn, the SEL's were sloppy and a big ding on the bezel stood out. When I saw that it clearly wasn't hitting 8 ticks per second I was adamant that it was a fake. But did they even make replicas this long ago? The patina on the dial certainly looked old. What really struck me was that it just seemed to ooze history from every angle of it's weathered case and crystal. My bro then said he had already taken it to an AD in London and they had been very interested. They confirmed that it was genuine. The big problem (and it is a big problem) is that they said the case and dial does not match. They confirmed that the case number was earlier than the dial, and that the case was from a Double Red. The dial, a 'rail' type, was from a later model. The crunch was that had the watch been a Double Red in entirety, it could be worth a lot of money. The second crunch was that had the watch been a 'rail dial' in it's entirety, it would be worth a little bit less than a lot of money. Given the mismatch, the best estimate that the AD could come up with as a value was around £4k, which is a lot less than either of the above.

My bro asked Dad if he knew the history, or what had happened to the watch. My Dad said that he had bought it on his travels and remembered something 'going wrong' with the watch many, many years ago and that he had sent it back to a watchsmith (not known if an AD) for fixing. The watch was returned and he thought nothing more of it. The crux is, my Dad cannot remember if the dial had red text before he sent it away or not. He said he wasn't really into watches and thought nothing more of it when it was returned fully working. So we have no idea if this was ever a Double Red or just a regular rail dial. At the moment the watch is still in my Bros possession. I would dearly love to have this piece, mainly because of the history and the fact it is my Dads. My Bro has no real interest in watches and said that Dad would likely give me a good price on it but with an AD estimation of £4k, even at mates rates I will have a problem raising the required moolah.

I took a few pics whilst I was there and checked out the case and bracelet numbers which, following my own investigation, all corroborates with the AD's findings. I found out that the movement should only be 5 ticks per sec (so I was wrong after all) and I even tried it on, amazingly it fitted perfectly. Is it calling to me? I think it is, I just can't afford the damn thing. Some might say (including myself) that the watch should simply be gifted father to son, but at the end of the day it's his watch, he has two sons and I have no idea what his financial situation is so it's not a fair comment.

I would be interested to hear what you guys think about this rather 'odd' piece. I have not posted the pics of the case number in case of problems, but it matches up with a year between 1970 and 1971.

 

20160903_154918_zps8g17q02x.jpg

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Planemo
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Planemo

20160903_151058_zps4zr3rnlt.jpg

 

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Planemo
20160903_151037_zpsvz88rrzl.jpg Edited by Planemo

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Planemo
20160903_151029_zpsh3aitssv.jpg Edited by Planemo

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Planemo
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Planemo
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Planemo
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Planemo
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Mr_B

I can see the appeal, especially with the family connection but it's a lot of money. I would much prefer to spend that sort of money on a few new watches

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RolexFan1

Buy it. Do whatever it takes to find the money. You can always sell it to the AD yourself later if you want. Best advice I can offer is it's better to regret doing something than not doing it. You'll be devastated if you let this slip away and regret it a year or 2 from now.

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Samtrigg

Do it raise the funds and the AD probably is low balling a little at 4K.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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k3rm87

Due to the fact that the terms aren't great and it's not gifted, if it was me I wouldn't feel great wearing it knowing I had also shelled out so much money for it, doesn't seem it was that important to him anyway.

 

I would put the money into some super reps and call it a day.

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g.man

Interesting tale. Probably had a service dial fitted when it was repaired. Pity that, but still a beautiful piece.

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FunnyStarSystem

Ask Rolex for the original dial back! I wonder what they do with the originals when they put on a service dial, sell 'em to China?!

 

Anyway, that was a good read and some lovely photos. Considering buying one of these myself, good luck to you. Maybe if you weren't such a terrible kid your dad would give it to you free :P /s

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gavmeister

Buy it. Do whatever it takes to find the money. You can always sell it to the AD yourself later if you want. Best advice I can offer is it's better to regret doing something than not doing it. You'll be devastated if you let this slip away and regret it a year or 2 from now.

All valid comments including the 'forgetta-boutit" comments.....but I'm inclined to agree with Rolexfan1. You associate this watch as being part of your childhood with your father. This is a cherished memory which if gone will take a part of you with it. If you felt nothing for your father (which is not the case since you want to bury the hatchet) then letting go of this watch would be easy - but I suspect having the watch reminds you of each time your dad returned home from his long absences at sea.

 

In the end 'it's only money' and you can't take the money or the watch with you. But I suspect the watch (being Rolex) will be with you and your family much longer than dad will.

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rawbaws

Armchair psychologist here...

 

Forget the watch, make proper amends with your dad (if that's what you want) but don't buy his watch that he doesn't want and doesn't want to give to you as some form of gesture to make you feel better about your relationship.

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Daywatch

Life´s story. He was a sailor, he never had any money, he never said no to a good drink - and still he´s holding on to the watch from 1970 to 2016.

He did whatever he did - but he also hold on to it, maybe to leave it for You/Your brother sometime in the future. He´s also too proud to

ask for financial help.

If Your Dad wants to sell it now, it´s because he really needs the money. In lots of european countries and elsewhere nothing is like it

was before the crisis hit. Worse if You are in Greece. If You can put up the money, help him out and keep the watch in the family.

If not - You have lots of pics and maybe it´s not the right time for You either to shell out that amount.

For less than 300 to 500 modded on the low end You can have a quite similar looking rep, for under a 1.000 it will be extremely close,

specially since this has also been reshaped/ repolished.

Did You notice the difference on the front lugs in thickness? It´s very pronounced on this one.

Nice post, good luck to You and Your family.

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Planemo

Thanks guys, I really do appreciate all your thoughts on this. I read all your replies with interest, and all are valid.

 

I never noticed the difference in lug thickness. As stated, it's quite pronounced now I can see it.

 

I am not convinced that the watch doesn't mean a lot to Dad. Given his financial situation throughout his life, I am amazed that he has never sold it previously and it is this point which makes me feel that it means something to him. It must have been the single most valuble thing he has ever owned. Whether he knew it's value or not I am unsure. Maybe it just wasn't worth a lot through much of his life, and only now does the value justify him selling it. I don't know. All I know is that he has always led a simple life, free of material things. He never asked anyone for anything and has been happy to live on virtually nothing throughout his life. As long as he can go to the local village pub and have a couple of jars, play a bit of banjo with his buddies (he used to hand make banjos and acoustic guitars) and buy a few shotgun shells every now and then for a day on the clay shoot he's happy. I also know that when my Mum passed away when I was 16 (she and Dad were separated at the time), he could have taken the house we lived in but he didn't, even though he was going through a particularly bad patch at the time and living in digs. He left the house to my bro and I and has never asked a penny from either of us, or the State from that matter.

 

Because of the above, I suspect that the fact he is selling it now means that he does indeed need the money, but I could be wrong. Maybe he feels he has reached an age where he just wants to spend some money before he goes, possibly on a nice Beretta or banjo. Maybe he wants to give the money to his partner who has supported him for quite a few years. I don't know. I would like to talk to him about it but I fear it will be tricky. On the one hand I don't want to ask why he is selling it (he would never admit to needing money - too proud as Daywatch said above) and on the other I don't want him to feel that my taking ownership means he has to give me a big discount. It could be awkward whichever way it goes. I guess I could insist that I simply give him what the AD has quoted, but I suspect he would be uncomfortable with that as well.

 

Theres a potential for me to find the funds (my bro may be able to lend) but I just need to make a decision first! Ultimately, I think this would make an ideal piece to hand down to my own son in around 30 years.

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Duzza

Theres not a chance I'd be letting that leave my family. Its an absolute cast iron investment for starters.

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Piccolo

Go make friends with your Dad again, buy the watch. Give it back to him, ask that he looks after it for you.

 

You can find 4k somewhere. If you have reps, sell them. It's a lovely watch, with real history - your history. I wouldn't let that go.

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Cyanus1

I too think you should buy this watch. It's your Dad's watch, and the fact that he kept it until now to me means he definitively needs money, for whatever reason. I understand it would be hard for you to get this money funded, but if you have a chance, I suggest you try (but, don't kill yourself, don't stretch yourself over your limits). Summarizing the reasons:

- beautiful watch, awesome history, and it is from your dad

- you can't loose money with such a piece, so worst case is you sell it later if absolutely necessary

- you help your dad

 

I know how it is having difficulties at times with your dad, but at the end of the day, he's your Dad, and you're his son. Period.

I wish you find a good solution that'll help both of you.

 

Alex

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Daffy

You could always ask if he was going to leave it to both of you. If so, buy your sibling out for their half.

 

The only other option I can think of is to arrange a payment plan with Dad. Tell him that you do NOT want HIS watch leaving the family. It means way too much to you. Maybe he would be okay if you split the payments out over a year, and he kept the watch until paid for in full. Gather as much as you can for the largest downpayment you can, and pay the rest off as soon as possible.

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Bash64

Theres not a chance I'd be letting that leave my family. Its an absolute cast iron investment for starters.

 

Duzza is right.

 

Obviously, your dad needs the money - why else would he sell something he has kept for so long, don't put him in a tough place by asking him to give it to you. If you can find a way, buy it. Its family history you will appreciate in the future as well. I wouldn't worry about the case imperfections - its gen watch with family history, its not like you are comparing models on watchrecon.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide.

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gavmeister

Theres not a chance I'd be letting that leave my family. Its an absolute cast iron investment for starters.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

But let us know - this story has certainly captured the imagination and made me think of my own parents who turn 80 this year and who live 10,000km's away. PlaneTicket versus 8 reps......I can always save up for the reps again, but once the folks are gone - I won't be able to think about visiting them.

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