BBC Antiques Roadshow expert collars guest for treatment of £35k Rolex watch: ‘Not letting you get away with that!’
Antiques Roadshow expert hounded one of his guests for his cheeky remark about why he no longer wears his rare and vintage Rolex watch.
Host Fiona Bruce and the team of experts were thrilled to be at Roundhay Park in Leeds to find some hidden treasures the guests had brought along.
During tonight’s classic repeat episode, a gold handbag that was left in a safety deposit box by an anonymous benefactor, and an album of rare Antarctic photos leave some of the experts stunned.
However, it was Richard Price who was left feeling thrilled but equally annoyed as one guest brought along their rare Rolex ‘double red’ Sea-Dweller watch.
The guest explained: “Yes, it is mine. My brother gave it to me. He was working in Dubai and drilling water wells in the Emirates back in the early 70s and he came to visit.
“I said to him, ‘I need to go into town and buy a new watch’ and he said ‘No you don’t you can have this one’ and he took that off of his wrist and gave it to me.”
Laughing at the simple story, Price said: “This is the Rolex reference 1665 and this is what they call the ‘Double Red’, which is the first of the sea dweller submariners.
“The holy grail for the collectors of this. The double red is what they all want. As exploration in particular, oil rigging and of course the Middle East, they demanded greater depth and so all of a sudden the sea dweller was born, and it went significantly deeper than the old submariner.
“Now, this strap is not original, tell me what happened there,” Price noted, leaving the guest to explain: “Well, I wore the watch every day for 40 plus years and this was the strap that I had on it.
“It broke so I thought I would get the watch serviced by Rolex and the chap said ‘You’re are going to need a new strap’ and I said ‘Well I would like to keep the old one’.”
Impressed with his decision-making, Price continued: “Very sensible. The reason I am looking at the strap is absolutely original, it has all the various links which it should have.
“That date there, 1/72, that means the strap was made in the first quarter of 1972. These things were not the best sellers which is why everybody wants them now.
“You have got the original strap, you have got the original end pieces, that is just lovely, lovely. And you have had it completely serviced. It is just in superb condition. Do you still wear it?”
Admitting his fault, the guest said: “No, I don’t wear it because it feels a bit too heavy on my wrist, but I wore it up until a few years ago.
“But who needs a watch these days, when you have a phone that tells you the time,” leaving Price to gasp in shock.
He snapped back: “Oh, hang on, everyone needs a watch. Oh, I am not going to let you get away with that one.
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“It has done pretty well, it is absolutely lovely. I think you are looking at a sensible figure of £35,000, possibly a little bit more.”
The price of the watch left the guest stunned and added: “Goodness… £35,000 that is amazing! Thank you very much that is fantastic.”