“If you would have told me $1,500 I would have been happy.”
This came through my Twitter feed (thanks @DanGordon!) and I had to share. What an amazing, awesome, incredible, heartwarming story – about a Rolex GMT-Master Ref 6542, owned by the same person since original purchase. I’ll give a short summary here, but you absolutely must watch the video (below) to see for yourself this special watch and the moment that its potential value is made known to its owner.
This entire story unfolds before our eyes on Antiques Roadshow (a wonderful show, by the way). As the video reveals, the watch was purchased by the gentleman (then serving in the Army) in Zweibrucken, Germany in 1960. The gentleman had no clue what he was buying, he had not even heard of Rolex before — he was simply going on the good recommendation of his Sergeant to “buy a Rolex watch” before he returned to the States. And so he did — for $120.35. And he’s got the receipt to prove it! Though it may not seem like much, $120 was more than a month’s salary for the gentleman when he bought the watch — unquestionably a big purchase for him. Even better, though, is that the guy actually bought two of Rolex watches, spending another month’s salary on a Rolex for his father. And when the owner hears the estimated auction value of his Rolex GMT-Master Ref 6542….well, a genuinely emotional and heart-melting reaction comes fort. You have to see it to appreciate it. Enjoy!
Is this one of the most genuine reactions of the season?https://t.co/xNujqzUrbU
— Antiques Roadshow (@RoadshowPBS) April 5, 2016