Auction Risks-- RED SUB

[descartes]

A well known auction house is offering a Red Sub with a pre-sale estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. The strong estimate appears to be based on the fact that the dial is meters first and tropical/brownish.

BUT, there appears to be an issue. Here is the description:

ROLEX REF 1680 RED SUBMARINER TROPICAL STEEL Rolex, "Oyster Perpetual Date, Submariner, 200 m = 660 ft, Superlative Chronometer, Officially Certified," case No. 3762876, Ref. 1680. Made in 1974. Fine and rare, center seconds, self-winding, water-resistant, stainless steel wristwatch with date and a Rolex stainless steel Fliplock bracelet with deployant clasp. Accompanied by a Rolex fitted box.

Clearly, this is a "Franken-watch." The dial is meters first (and to my eye a Mark II), which would never find itself in this 3,76M case unless it was pieced together after the fact. (Plus, the dial looks like sh!t). In fact, one wonders how that dial could have made its way into into a later case.

The auction house describes the dial as "original", but it is certainly not original to that watch.