My Grandfather's Watches

[FelixFJ40]

Hello, everyone. I'm new to the forum, new to Rolexes, and new to fine watches in general, and I'm hoping you can help me out.

My father has two Rolex watches that belonged to my grandfather before he passed away in '72. I've been told they were both made in the late '50s; neither are running. My brother took them to a local Rolex dealer in Cleveland, OH for service. The dealer then sent them off to the Rolex central service office who returned them saying that they both needed parts that were no longer available.

At that point my brother gave up, but I'd like to get at least one of these running if I can. So, I'm going to reach out to Bob Ridley and a few others names I've found on this site so far. We'll see how it goes.

Also, here are pics of each watch. Is there anything interesting you can tell me about them?

Watch #1:

[FelixFJ40]

And watch #2:

The way the markers are covering up the minute numbers... does that indicate that the watch had a new dial put on, or that it's a fake?

[1369]

If you want to refurbish them, two words.

Bob
Ridley

[rockyn]

What a nice looking pair of vintage Rolies. It would be well worth it to have both restored , especialy since they belonged to your Grandfather. Both dials look like they're in great shape.

[adam78]

You are correct; the dial on the second watch has been previously (and none-too-competently) refinished.

The first is a bubbleback; the second, a "semi"-bubbleback, looks to be an early Datejust model.

Nice heirlooms!

I would definitely recommend Bob Ridley (Watchmakers International) to restore these. He might even be able to have his dial refinisher (who does superb work) redo the Datejust's dial correctly.