New (to me, in way) Red Sub 1680

[Oliver37]

Hi all,

Thought I'd share a watch that my dad gave me for Father's day (I am very lucky, I know). It's a neat story, which I'll share below, but feel free to jump to the pics if you'd like.

In circa 1971 a buddy of his went to Switzerland, and my dad, an avid surfer, having saved up the money asked him to buy a Rolex so that he could surf with it. $230 later, plus a $34 import duty that my dad almost couldn't afford, he was the proud owner of one of the few waterproof watches around.

I was born about 9 years later, and while I do remember holding a positively humongous and heavy metal watch at various points of my childhood, watches were not a "thing" in our household and I didn't think much of it until I got into watches around 2015.

I knew that he had a Rolex and I recalled its basic appearance, and I remember mentioning to him that it might be worth something (I believed it to be a Submariner from childhood memories, but I wasn't sure). I remember telling him "old Rolexes are worth a lot now - it might be worth like $6k".

Unfortunately, he couldn't find it, and hadn't seen it for many years. I asked him about it periodically, but no dice. Bummer. But a year or so later, he found it in one of his dresser drawers. It had fallen from the sock drawer down into the drawer below it, where it had probably remained hidden for the last ten years.

I took a look at it, and, while I was not an expert on Subs, I did notice the red writing and thought I'd heard something about the mythical "Red Sub" on the internet somewhere. Sure enough, his $230 Rolex that he'd lost for many years turned out to be the holiest of holy grails - a probably all original Red Submariner.

It looks like it has a Mark IV dial and the 2951xxxx serial dates it around 1970 if I am not mistaken. He said he has had it serviced but not in the last 25 years. It's possible some components of it have been replaced, but it's also quite possible that none of them have. He doesn't remember, and may not have known it if they had.

The bezel seems to have fat-ish markings and the hand and index lume seem to be of the same color. The date wheel has the same "open 6" as the dial. The crystal has seen better days and it looks like the case has been polished at some point. It is holding time just fine though I haven't tested it. No box and papers, but maybe they'll turn up in another drawer someday

Would love to hear from the experts anything else that you can observe from the pics. I will never sell it and I'm not super concerned about determining its precise value, but I am of curious to learn as much about it as possible!

[ar.parask13]

Congrats!

Such a great bond between son and father.
The watch looks amazing! The case is still fat.
It looks like the bezel is a replacement but some people here will know better.
Use some poly watch in the crystal and it will be as good as new


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[swish77]

Great story, congrats! Looks like it's had a polish and a newer, mid-'80s bracelet put on it, but that's super minor in the scale of things, especially since it's a family heirloom. The dial was never replaced, and that's the most important part on any vintage watch, of course. I bet the Sub would clean up great with a new top hat crystal and movement service.

[Styles Bitchley]

Holy moly. What a great story and what a gift! Serial places it a little newer than my 2.82 mk iv. Insert looks original or at least period correct to me. As mentioned, it’s a replacement bracelet. It’s definitely seen some action in its lifetime. Beautiful.

[Redmy]

What a nice story! Congrats and happy belated Father’s Day


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[FrenchBigCrown]

Nice story... and nice watch.

As swish77 writes... a new crystal and a service and it's good to go.

Health to enjoy.

[brandrea]

Great story and great find

[RolexDave68]

Great story, great piece, enjoy the journey


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[theflywrist]

What an awesome story and watch! Thanks for sharing, I hope you wear in best health for many decades to come!

[Jackie Daytona]

Very nice story.

Reminds me a bit of how I acquired my GMT master. It’s amazing how the values of watch people (non monetary) have changed so much over the years. They’re great watches, but it’s always neat hearing how to the original owners in these time frames they were still just a watch above all, and could easily end up in a drawer for a decade.

My fathers had stopped working and was also in a drawer/cigar humidor for years before he sort of gave it to me (traded for a quartz Seiko). Obviously a watch I don’t plan on parting with, well, sort of.... it will go to my son one day that never met my father but shared his birthday on some important milestone in his future a ways down the road.

[Oliver37]

Originally Posted by Dontknow

it will go to my son one day

Thank you everyone for your kind words, and Dontknow, that's the plan here too!

Now that I've set the time it looks like it loses 20-30 seconds per day. Not the end of the world, but considering its lack of recent service history, it probably wouldn't hurt to have it regulated and serviced.

I live about 2 miles from Rolliworks in Campbell, CA, and folks seem to have good things to say about them on this forum. Over the years I've heard about long wait times via Rolex direct, and I am not in love with the idea of shipping it somewhere else. I prefer to have only the movement serviced, nothing else (unless they happen to have a nice original bracelet lying around!). Cost is, of course, some consideration, but it's most important to "do the right thing" for this watch.

Any words of wisdom?

[swaini3]

Nice one..... :)
Pls take it to someone that deals with vintage Rolexes. Not a Rolex Service Ctr since you might lose your old parts that are valuable. There are great watchmakers here on the forum. I am sure someone that lives in your vicinity will be able to point you in the right direction (if you dont use Rolliworks).
Polywatch, I doubt, will be able to save that crystal. You want to ensure it is water proofed as well (done with your movement service).
Generally speaking its preferable not to polish the case or bracelet, but some people like the 'new' look. Thats for you to decide.

take and care and Enjoy it.

[sutats]

Great story and pics. What watch did your Dad wear after the Submariner? It must be something interesting if he had swept the Submariner aside to not care about it.

[Oliver37]

Originally Posted by sutats

Great story and pics. What watch did your Dad wear after the Submariner? It must be something interesting if he had swept the Submariner aside to not care about it.

I should have included that in the story - it's been a pretty steady diet of Timex Ironmans for the last 30 years!