My father in law's Rolex GMT Master

[some.idiot]

I was told that you all may be amused by this and that I should share this with you.

I recently learned that my father in law had an "old, broken Rolex." I didn't believe him because I've always seen him as a budget watch guy. He dug it out of an old drawer and gave it to me....

My father in law was given this watch new/unused by his father. It was a gift when he went off to college at the US Air Force Academy in 1971. According to my father in law, he wore this every day, regardless of what he was doing. Eventually it "quit working" so he put it in a drawer.

His wife says that she has never seen this watch. They met in the early 1980s, so I believe that this watch has been sitting relatively untouched for around 40 years. My goal is to get it back to a working condition as a surprise to him.

[TimeToGo]

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Excellent project.

Do you the year of production? Curious which dial it would take..

[some.idiot]

Originally Posted by TimeToGo

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Excellent project.

Do you the year of production? Curious which dial it would take..

The serial number is 2.4 million, so 1970 I believe

[TimeToGo]

.
Thanks, I was wondering what type of dial it had but the condition does not permit that.

A 2.4 is good for a Mk-1 dial. 1969-70.
What year does the caseback have?

Nice insert also!

Keep us posted..

[some.idiot]

Originally Posted by TimeToGo

.
Thanks, I was wondering what type of dial it had but the condition does not permit that.

A 2.4 is good for a Mk-1 dial. 1969-70.
What year does the caseback have?

Nice insert also!

Keep us posted..

Would the year be on the inside of the caseback? There is nothing on the outside.

I personally do not like the insert at all and plan to replace it. I understand that this may be unpopular here. Maybe somebody would want to buy it or trade for it?

[BigBlue1]

Awesome. Good luck. Can’t wait to see it finished. Love that insert tooo

[Booth9999]

Cool project. Love to se his face when you return it functional.

[some.idiot]

Originally Posted by Booth9999

Cool project. Love to se his face when you return it functional.

Yeah, I'm curious how it will go. He is not a sentimental man at all. I have a feeling that he won't really care too much, to be honest. But it will mean a lot to me to get it back to him. I'm probably more excited about it than he would ever be.

[HERITAGE82]

That insert is glorious!!

[TimeLord2]

Very cool project. Was the bracelet part of the package? BTW save parts and yes that insert is very nice from a vintage standpoint and worth some ducats. The hands pretty not too bad from what I have seen on this forum but still corroded, the dial is toast. I don't know who you are having rebuild this watch, but someone sympathetic to vintage would be the way to go and they can help source period correct parts. Phillip or Bob Ridley are suggestions. IF you don't care about originality so much but just want it to work and perhaps you can source the parts as you go along, then take it to Rolex as they will insist on replacing the hands and dial and probably the insert. You will pay for those and the honor of keeping the used parts. They will let you keep them if you pay for them, I think 50% of the cost of new ones. The insert is probably worth about ±2K as is, so definitely keep it. Case looks pretty nice. I'm sure your father in law will love it, especially coming from you.

[some.idiot]

Originally Posted by TimeLord2

Very cool project. Was the bracelet part of the package? BTW save parts and yes that insert is very nice from a vintage standpoint and worth some ducats. The hands pretty not too bad from what I have seen on this forum but still corroded, the dial is toast. I don't know who you are having rebuild this watch, but someone sympathetic to vintage would be the way to go and they can help source period correct parts. Phillip or Bob Ridley are suggestions. IF you don't care about originality so much but just want it to work and perhaps you can source the parts as you go along, then take it to Rolex as they will insist on replacing the hands and dial and probably the insert. You will pay for those and the honor of keeping the used parts. They will let you keep them if you pay for them, I think 50% of the cost of new ones. The insert is probably worth about ±2K as is, so definitely keep it. Case looks pretty nice. I'm sure your father in law will love it, especially coming from you.

Unfortunately there was no bracelet. I'll ask him if he still has it around somewhere. Otherwise I'm going to get a replacement.

He wears all of his watches on a NATO strap, so I wonder if he ditched the bracelet a long time ago.

[some.idiot]

Originally Posted by TimeLord2

Very cool project. Was the bracelet part of the package? BTW save parts and yes that insert is very nice from a vintage standpoint and worth some ducats. The hands pretty not too bad from what I have seen on this forum but still corroded, the dial is toast. I don't know who you are having rebuild this watch, but someone sympathetic to vintage would be the way to go and they can help source period correct parts. Phillip or Bob Ridley are suggestions. IF you don't care about originality so much but just want it to work and perhaps you can source the parts as you go along, then take it to Rolex as they will insist on replacing the hands and dial and probably the insert. You will pay for those and the honor of keeping the used parts. They will let you keep them if you pay for them, I think 50% of the cost of new ones. The insert is probably worth about ±2K as is, so definitely keep it. Case looks pretty nice. I'm sure your father in law will love it, especially coming from you.

Sorry if this is a duplicate. I responded to 2 posts here and my response doesn't seem to be showing up..

There are no bracelet with the watch. I will obviously ask him about it. I've already told my watchmaker that I would like a bracelet that is appropriate for the watch.

My FIL puts all of his watches on NATO straps, so it's quite possible that he got rid of the bracelet a long time ago.

[Jackie Daytona]

Really cool project. Look forwards to following along and seeing the final result.

[brandrea]

Welcome to the forum and please keep us updated

[Bxtek]

Originally Posted by some.idiot

I was told that you all may be amused by this and that I should share this with you.

Whoever told you that would be CORRECT! Thanks so much for sharing this watch and the story that goes with it. I love this kinda stuff! That is a very cool piece. Looking forward to the restoration journey and to seeing it when you're all done.

Just out of curiosity, are you doing a full restoration? Or, just a clean up and service/repair to get it working again? I am thinking if you just cleaned up the dial, date wheel, hands and only replaced the crystal.....the patina'd look would be a cool piece to wear just like that!

[some.idiot]

Originally Posted by Bxtek

Whoever told you that would be CORRECT! Thanks so much for sharing this watch and the story that goes with it. I love this kinda stuff! That is a very cool piece. Looking forward to the restoration journey and to seeing it when you're all done.

Just out of curiosity, are you doing a full restoration? Or, just a clean up and service/repair to get it working again? I am thinking if you just cleaned up the dial, date wheel, hands and only replaced the crystal.....the patina'd look would be a cool piece to wear just like that!

I am trying to figure out what I'm doing as we go. People have offered different opinions and I'm trying to reconcile it all in my mind.

My original thought was to replace the crystal and bezel insert and keep everything else as much as possible. The dial looks horrendous, though, and I suspect I'm going to end up with a new one as well as a date wheel and bezel insert. At that point it's going to essentially look new, so why not get new hands as well?

I can understand the concept of keeping things as period-correct and original as possible. What I'm debating is what is truly important here. This watch will never be sold, as far as I'm concerned, so its resale value is of little importance to me. I would like something that first and foremost runs, and second reminds my father in law (and me, and whoever it gets handed down to) of what it is and what it can be. To me that means it just needs to look good and keeping it 100% original is a very low priority.

[harry in montreal]

WoW. Thanks for sharing. I absolutely love finds like this in their orig state. I think you have a decision to make on the dial. You could clean up the dial ans then just reinstall it in its damaged state. You can also buy a correct dial to match the year of the case and maybe accept a damaged example. I’d look for a better but rough dial If cost is a factor. You need a new date wheel, crown and crystal.

[some.idiot]

Originally Posted by harry in montreal

WoW. Thanks for sharing. I absolutely love finds like this in their orig state. I think you have a decision to make on the dial. You could clean up the dial ans then just reinstall it in its damaged state. You can also buy a correct dial to match the year of the case and maybe accept a damaged example. I’d look for a better but rough dial If cost is a factor. You need a new date wheel, crown and crystal.

I'll have to see what I can find for an original dial. I quickly looked around last night and they were like $5,000 - 20,000. That's really not worth it to me just to get it back in serviceable condition and give it back to my FIL. I don't know.

[ronricks]

Originally Posted by some.idiot

I'll have to see what I can find for an original dial. I quickly looked around last night and they were like $5,000 - 20,000. That's really not worth it to me just to get it back in serviceable condition and give it back to my FIL. I don't know.

There are several watch makers who can clean up that dial a bit for you. I would have the movement serviced and the plexi replaced and maybe the crown and that would be it.

[psv]

Wonderful project. Please keep us posted.

[rusty427]

Great project, I would like to see a sympathetic restoration too!
The insert is a beauty as I mentioned on another forum, it shows the life the watch has seen.
Looking forward to progress updates.

[zapokee]

I have a similar 1675 GMT from 1971 with the same super-fat-font insert, serial number 2.9 mil. The dial on mine is a long-E MK 1.

[Waterproofpt]

I would be inclined to have the movement serviced. Clean up the case. Don’t polish it though. Clean the dial and hands without damaging them further. Replace the datewheel and crystal. Maybe the crown too at this point. Reassemble with the original dial and hands and insert.
Then take your time to live with it and start the search for an appropriate dial and hands (if necessary) and insert……. If you want.
Hanging onto the original parts, it seems isn’t necessarily important to you, but would make a nice compliment to the watch if you did replace them. Or when the time comes and you do find a good insert, you could sell the original.
If it were me though, I’d hang on to the original parts if I did replace them.
Enjoy the ‘journey’.


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[some.idiot]

Originally Posted by Waterproofpt

I would be inclined to have the movement serviced. Clean up the case. Don’t polish it though. Clean the dial and hands without damaging them further. Replace the datewheel and crystal. Maybe the crown too at this point. Reassemble with the original dial and hands and insert.
Then take your time to live with it and start the search for an appropriate dial and hands (if necessary) and insert……. If you want.
Hanging onto the original parts, it seems isn’t necessarily important to you, but would make a nice compliment to the watch if you did replace them. Or when the time comes and you do find a good insert, you could sell the original.
If it were me though, I’d hang on to the original parts if I did replace them.
Enjoy the ‘journey’.


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That's something I considered. I will definitely hold on to all of the original parts. I could get it back in a usable condition and then collect more authentic/original parts over time. Those sorts of things can always be changed.

[Waterproofpt]

Meant to add that the original parts and their condition are part of the story behind this watch. Nice to preserve that.


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[interestedwatcher]

Michael Young in Hong Kong will be able to restore that dial for you.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CTMO6x1r2nQ/?hl=en

[Lol-x]

Originally Posted by interestedwatcher

Michael Young in Hong Kong will be able to restore that dial for you.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CTMO6x1r2nQ/?hl=en

I would not be so confident from my unfortunate experience with the guy.
Also you risk Rolex branding the watch as a fake with a re-fabricated dial done in China and reduce the historical provenance and value significantly.

[Ftech1]

Cool project and thanks for sharing. Please keep us updated.

[lab rat]

Good luck with this. Great find, and beautiful thing to do for your father in law.

[Toronto Soup King]

Wow, thank you for posting this, OP. About dial restoration: I have a 1016 which I bought with a similarly wrecked dial, and was assured by more than one internet friend that the dial would be restore-able. Turned out to not be reasonably restorable, pity, everyone turned me down and said they couldn't do it. I ended up putting a service dial and (pricey correct long) hands on the watch instead and am happy with it; I have the originals anyway. Your dial looks to be as damaged as mine, if not more so: https://imgur.com/a/5F5qr1T