How do I maximize my chances of keeping this Rolex?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My uncle died, and it appears at the moment I will be the executor of his estate.

Among his property is a Rolex Submariner watch. I just had it authenticated by an authorized Rolex dealer, but because of its age and condition the dealer expects its appraised value will be $500-1000. The original band is gone and replaced with a cheap junky one. A replacement original band would cost nearly $4000. However, it still works fine. A brand new one with a genine band would cost around $9000, but this one is at least 20 years old.

Anyway, unless I find a will that specifies how his assets will be distributed, there are 6 of us in line for a piece of his estate.

I’ve only come up with 2 ways to deal with the watch.

  1. Offer it at the appraised value to all six of us, and taking it in place if part of the cash they would otherwise get; i.e., offer them 10k or 9.5k plus the watch.
    1a. If more than one wants it, either draw names from a hat, or those of us interested in it bid against each other. I’m not even sure I can do the hat idea – I have to check with the lawyer whether I have some legal obligation to maximize the estate value, which might make bidding mandatory if two or more of us want it.
  2. Sell it on ebay, and let the family know so they can bid on it if they want to. Whatever it sells for, throw that into the estate pool to be divided up at the end.

I can’t just pretend I didn’t find a watch; besides it being unethical, pretty much everybody in the family knows he had it.

If anyone has any better ideas how to handle this item, especially in a way that maximizes my chance of keeping it, please let me know. There is no way I’ll ever have another chance of getting a working Rolex for under a thousand bucks. But, the same is true for the other 5 folks.

2

“Appraised value” means nothing. An appraiser might know what it usually goes for or what typically people will pay. But ultimately tt’s worth whatever the market will fetch, today. I say go with the e Bay strategy. Does that maximize your chance of keeping it? I don’t know.

3

[QUOTE=Boyo Jim]
Among his property is a Rolex Submariner watch. I just had it authenticated by an authorized Rolex dealer, but because of its age and condition the dealer expects its appraised value will be $500-1000. The original band is gone and replaced with a cheap junky one. A replacement original band would cost nearly $4000. However, it still works fine. A brand new one with a genine band would cost around $9000, but this one is at least 20 years old.
[/QUOTE]

Is it gold, or gold-and-stainless? A new SS Sub runs somewhere around $4,500. (A guess, but I think it’s pretty close.) I don’t know how much a gold or two-tone runs. But as low as $500? Did the dealer offer to buy it from you? :dubious:

$4,000 for the bracelet? I have a Rolex GMT Master II. They used to be offered with the Jubilee bracelet. Even so, Rolex would not allow me to buy a Jubilee bracelet to replace the Oyster bracelet. I did find a jeweler who had one with the correct end-links, brand new, for $600. That’s a bit less than four kilobucks! (Ironically, after all the trouble and expense finding it, I got tired of it after a couple of years and I’m wearing the Oyster bracelet on it again.)

My other Rolex is a late-'70s non-date Sub, stainless steel of course. I paid less than $2,000 for it (it would probably be closer to $2,500 or $3,000 today), and had it overhauled by Rolex a couple of years ago for about $500 including a new dial and bezel insert.

The point is this: If the jeweler said the watch is worth $500 - $1000 I suspect he might want to ‘take it off your hands’. For a bracelet to cost $4,000 it had better be gold. But then, the jeweler’s low estimate makes me guess the watch is stainless. (Please correct me if I’m wrong.) Here is a SS Oyster bracelet for $500. Subs came with riveted bracelets and solid-link bracelets. If this one is only 20 years old, I think it would use the solid one.

As for your dilemma, you can offer to buy it from the family. Say $1,500 or $2,000. (After all, you’ll need to find a bracelet – say $500 – and it will cost another $500 to $800 for an overhaul.) Remember to deduct 1/6 from the agreed-upon price, since you’re owed some inheritance too. Or tell them the jeweler said it’s worth $500 to $1,000 and give each one $100 or $200.

4

Here’s a 1985 non-date sub currently at $2,425.

5

[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.]
Is it gold, or gold-and-stainless? A new SS Sub runs somewhere around $4,500. (A guess, but I think it’s pretty close.) I don’t know how much a gold or two-tone runs. But as low as $500? Did the dealer offer to buy it from you? :dubious:

$4,000 for the bracelet? I have a Rolex GMT Master II. They used to be offered with the Jubilee bracelet. Even so, Rolex would not allow me to buy a Jubilee bracelet to replace the Oyster bracelet. I did find a jeweler who had one with the correct end-links, brand new, for $600. That’s a bit less than four kilobucks! (Ironically, after all the trouble and expense finding it, I got tired of it after a couple of years and I’m wearing the Oyster bracelet on it again.)

My other Rolex is a late-'70s non-date Sub, stainless steel of course. I paid less than $2,000 for it (it would probably be closer to $2,500 or $3,000 today), and had it overhauled by Rolex a couple of years ago for about $500 including a new dial and bezel insert.

The point is this: If the jeweler said the watch is worth $500 - $1000 I suspect he might want to ‘take it off your hands’. For a bracelet to cost $4,000 it had better be gold. But then, the jeweler’s low estimate makes me guess the watch is stainless. (Please correct me if I’m wrong.) Here is a SS Oyster bracelet for $500. Subs came with riveted bracelets and solid-link bracelets. If this one is only 20 years old, I think it would use the solid one.

As for your dilemma, you can offer to buy it from the family. Say $1,500 or $2,000. (After all, you’ll need to find a bracelet – say $500 – and it will cost another $500 to $800 for an overhaul.) Remember to deduct 1/6 from the agreed-upon price, since you’re owed some inheritance too. Or tell them the jeweler said it’s worth $500 to $1,000 and give each one $100 or $200.
[/QUOTE]

No offer to take it off my hands. In fact, I told him before he looked at it that I didn’t have a legal right to do anything with it at this point. I’m not the executor yet, the papers haven’t gone through.

And the price you mention in your following post doesn’t seem too out of line with what the dealer told me – my watch is one without an original band.

He was also looking a a filthy, grimy, greasy watch. Before leaving, he gave me some cleanup advice, and it cleaned up real good, so who knows, his estimate might be higher today. Anyway, I’m not going to get it formally appraised until I get legal control of my uncle’s money so I can use it to pay for the appraisal. He was giving me a number off the top of his head – I wasn’t getting an actual appraisal at the time, just ballparking it and verifying that it wasn’t a fake.

I think he gave me honest advice. He quoted me a price of $575 for an overhaul, or “tune up” as he called it, but advised against doing it if I was planning to sell it. The cost would not be offset by a correspondingly higher resale price. He also advised against buying a Rolex replacement band for the same reason. I assume it was a gold band as well – I asked him about a replacement band that would be the same as the original band, but I didn’t even get as far as looking at a picture. I saw that he was looking at actual Rolex catalogs for replacement information, but I couldn’t see it well enough to see what the cost to the dealer would be, so obviously I couln’t tell what the dealer’s markup would be either.

6

So is it a gold watch then, if a gold bracelet would match it?

7

[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.]
So is it a gold watch then, if a gold bracelet would match it?
[/QUOTE]

The bezel has gold in it (or is gold, I dunno), but not the case. I wouldn’t have thought that any Submariners’ cases would be gold. I imagined they’d all have to be steel to stand the thousand feet submersion pressures they’re rated for.

Oh, and this watch does have the date disply under a magnifying bubble.

8

[QUOTE=Boyo Jim]
The bezels has gold in it, but not the case. I wouldn’t have thought that any Submariners’ cases would be gold. I imagined they’d all have to be steel to stand the thousand feet submersion pressures they’re rated for.
[/QUOTE]

Aha. OK, there are three basic configurations: Stainless steel (previous link), gold, and SS-and-gold. Since you say the case is stainless but there’s gold in the bezel, it sounds like the last one. If this is true, then the metal on the dial (surrounding the number indicators) and the hands should also be gold.

Obviously this model would sell for more than the SS one. The replacement bracelet would also be more expensive. There are replica bracelets that are very good copies, and can be had for much less than a real one. I could have gone that way with the GMT II, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Here is an eBay link that should give you an idea what new/unworn and used two-tone Subs are going for.

9

Having looked more closely at the Rolex site, the one I have is pretty much identical to this one. Steel body, blue face, yellow gold bezel also with blue dial. Date under bubble.

10

[QUOTE=Boyo Jim]
Having looked more closely at the Rolex site, the one I have is pretty much identical to this one. Steel body, blue face, yellow gold bezel also with blue dial. Date under bubble.
[/QUOTE]

Very nice. :cool:

Here’s a search that might help you get an idea what they’re worth on the market.

11

[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.]
Very nice. :cool:

Here’s a search that might help you get an idea what they’re worth on the market.
[/QUOTE]

Too bad. If the dealer is seriously underestimating the value, I think I am obliged to sell it. I’m not willing to pay out that kind of money myself for a watch, any watch. I can see, $500, maybe $1000, but not anywhere near $5000.

12

If you just want a Rolex, that exact model is all over China for $50. Granted, it’s not technically “real,” but it functions just as well and no one but a dealer with discerning eye would ever be able to tell the difference.

(I’m not talking about the ultra-kitschy ones that look terrible and only work for a couple months, if at all. Those are $5-$10.)

13

BTW, how can they make a gold case to stand a 1000’ depth under water, I wonder? I would have thought it far too soft a metal for that.

14

[QUOTE=Boyo Jim]
Too bad. If the dealer is seriously underestimating the value, I think I am obliged to sell it. I’m not willing to pay out that kind of money myself for a watch, any watch. I can see, $500, maybe $1000, but not anywhere near $5000.

BTW, how can they make a gold case to stand a 1000’ depth under water, I wonder? I would have thought it far too soft a metal for that.
[/QUOTE]

Well, the ones on eBay are in excellent/new condition so they’ll be expensive. If it needs an overhaul (if it’s running you can probably let it go a while until you have the money) and a bracelet, or if it’s scratched up, then it will be worth less. Not as low as $500 - $1,000 IMNEO, but not five kilobucks. I’d say that if you want it, and as a remembrance of your uncle, you should keep it. Be fair to the others, but you don’t have to pay too much.

Another idea as an interim measure until you can ‘fix it up’: Sean Connery wore his Sub on a NATO strap. The grey-and-black ones are a little hard to find, but you can get a plain black 20mm one from an army surplus store for about five bucks. If you take the watch to Rolex for an overhaul estimate, they might give you the pins free. (They did for me, since the ones on the Sub were pretty grimy.) Probably wouldn’t look right with the gold, but you may find a strap that matches.

As for the case, they’re a solid piece of metal. Very strong, and very innovative when they came out.

That just seems… dishonest. Just my opinion, but I’d rather have a watch that resembles a Rolex than one that tries to pass for one.

15

[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.]
That just seems… dishonest. Just my opinion, but I’d rather have a watch that resembles a Rolex than one that tries to pass for one.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah. Maybe. I dunno. They’re nice watches, though. I had one for awhile. I have a weird thing about jewelry, though. After trying for a few months and failing to get used to wearing it, I gave it back to the person who gave it to me.

16

I’d first ask the other legatees if they’re interested in it. For all that are, tell them that it would be 5/6 the value given buy the jeweler. If there are still multiple people interested, then put all the names of those interested in a hat and draw.

StG