Rolex 1016 rebuilt by Vanessa at JOT

[Nicholas Bedworth]

This Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer was purchased by me in 1973 for the astounding sum of $100 at a Rolex dealer in Frankfurt, Germany. The dealer swapped the regular bracelet for a locking SCUBA style bracelet at the time of of purchase. A few weeks ago, having not worn the watch for decades, it somehow occurred to me that it would be a great fashion accessory as well as a good timepiece. The winder was broken, so the time couldn't be set, but at least the watch more or less ran.

Vanessa at JOT gave me sound advice as to an overhaul strategy, namely to concentrate on the inner workings of the watch, and avoid cosmetic
"improvements" such as repainting the luminous markings or overly aggressive polishing. She did an ultrasonic cleaning of the metal parts, and polished the plastic crown, and replaced a broken-off clasp, but otherwise, left things alone.

So being outside of the country much of the time, I told JOT to send it to my parents' house, until I could stop by and pick it up. The watch arrived the day before father's day. My dad, 96 this year, thought the watch was for him, and he misread the invoice for the repair as being $100. He couldn't get over the notion of having such an expensive watch! He was absolutely thrilled.

Uh, oh. Now what? How do I gently retrieve my prize possession? As it turned out, my trusty $53 Pulsar (typical of my level of expenditure on watches) has a day of the week feature, which would be very helpful in reminding father which compartment in his pill container should be opened in the morning. Being a practical type, he was quite happy to swap the Rolex for the Pulsar. A narrow escape!

Take a look at the results. I couldn't be happier.

[J!m]

I say let dad wear it as long as he wants.

He deserves it don't you think?

[speedolex]

Originally Posted by J!m

I say let dad wear it as long as he wants.

He deserves it don't you think?

Hear, hear. You inadvertently did something wonderful. Let it play out.

[Nicholas Bedworth]

Agreed all around...

In the end, he was made happy twice. Firstly, he was absolutely delighted to wear the Rolex for a while (he doesn't have any idea what a Rolex is), and secondly, was actually even more excited about knowing what day of the week it is! So he got two Father's Day presents.

He's also getting to the age where he might accidentally take the watch off and leave it someplace; it could be months to never before it resurfaced.

FYI from researching other threads, it looks like this watch has the T-22 service crystal rather than the original domed crystal. Does that have a negative effect on value, or is the crystal more of an "accessory" that one could swap out according to preference?

[Gaijin]

Yes I would let your Dad wear the watch as long as he wants to.

[droptopman]

Your 1016 looks great. Cool story too.

[Andad]

Nice restoration and nice gesture.....

[acf321]

X3 ... it's your Dad's until he won't be needing it any longer. Lovely watch BTW and even better year too :)

[jban5]

Great watch and story, it doesn't get much better.

I think the "let dad keep it" gesture sounds great but is unrealistic and could be dangerous, first to him and further to the watch.

[Nicholas Bedworth]

It's a fun story, and actually true. :)

[crowncollection]

Nice work, let your father wear it fir now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by J!m

I say let dad wear it as long as he wants.

He deserves it don't you think?

[acf321]

Nicholas, we've seen it on your wrist and it looks superb, however how about you a picture on your Dad's wrist so we can decide who it better suits? You'd only be 'loaning' it to him in any instance!

[Toronto Soup King]

Nice watch, good for you, and if your old dad doesn't give a hoot about watches I'm going to disagree with all these posters and say DON'T give him a vintage ten thousand dollar watch (one you've owned from new!!) he might lose or break or have stolen by some sharp-eyed young thief. Get him one of these instead, half the price http://imgur.com/9qxO6Ph (beat-up 1018 post-RSC rehab).

[rootbeer7]

Great story. My mother-in-law wears a diamond-dial datejust everyday and a sparkly bit of rubbish as her going out watch!!!

[J!m]

Originally Posted by Toronto Soup King

Nice watch, good for you, and if your old dad doesn't give a hoot about watches I'm going to disagree with all these posters and say DON'T give him a vintage ten thousand dollar watch (one you've owned from new!!) he might lose or break or have stolen by some sharp-eyed young thief. Get him one of these instead, half the price http://imgur.com/9qxO6Ph (beat-up 1018 post-RSC rehab).

It's a $100 watch but that doesn't matter.

You're missing the point.

[Toronto Soup King]

Originally Posted by J!m

It's a $100 watch but that doesn't matter.

You're missing the point.

Hmmm. Do you get a lot of traction with these unilateral pronouncements to total strangers? Because I've got to tell you, there's a difference between missing the point and disagreeing with it.

[J!m]

Let me rephrase: you missed the point of my post.

[Nicholas Bedworth]

It was certainly an interesting dilemma, right out of a sit com. His short-term memory is highly variable, so he has long since forgotten. And there was a little concern on my part about losing it, or his going to the emergency room and the watch disappearing along the way.

There's all kinds of stuff "lost" somewhere in the house, where they've lived for 70 years. Every once in a while I'll find a pair of binoculars, or the safety deposit box keys.

Nick

[Toronto Soup King]

Originally Posted by J!m

Let me rephrase: you missed the point of my post.

Right over my head, that's for sure. I'm looking through OP's post and cannot see anything about a loan, or his father being deserving of such a handsome gift or not, just a case of someone making a mistake. If someone's under the impression they've been given a gift when in fact that's not correct, the "giver" either has to reclaim his property or change his mind and actually make the gift. OP clearly didn't (originally at least) want to give his watch to his dad. I stand by my comments.

[speedolex]

Originally Posted by Nicholas Bedworth

It was certainly an interesting dilemma, right out of a sit com. His short-term memory is highly variable, so he has long since forgotten. And there was a little concern on my part about losing it, or his going to the emergency room and the watch disappearing along the way.

There's all kinds of stuff "lost" somewhere in the house, where they've lived for 70 years. Every once in a while I'll find a pair of binoculars, or the safety deposit box keys.

Nick

The only thing I will add is that both of my grandmother's, God bless them, made it to their mid-90's, needed assisted living facilities, and both had treasured bits of gold jewelry which 'disappeared' in said facilities and were never seen again. One grandmother's locket, the others wedding ring.

So as long as he lives in your home and in your daily care I'd have no concern, but if your father crosses that point to needing a nurse to come and go or relocated to a facility that's obviously the time to reconsider.

[Toronto Soup King]

Originally Posted by speedolex

So as long as he lives in your home and in your daily care I'd have no concern, but if your father crosses that point to needing a nurse to come and go or relocated to a facility that's obviously the time to reconsider.

This - theft from and abuse of nursing-home residents - seems to be a problem everywhere. When the time comes I will do my best to keep my old mum and dad out of those places (I'm not entirely sure my father is joking when he says he'll take steps to ensure he never sets foot in such a place) but wouldn't it be nice if we had better options for our elders...

[cajunron]

If it was me, I'd let dad wear it. But no one knows your situation like you do, so ultimately you should do whats in the best interest to you.