"Unrepairable" Old Rolex? Advice Needed

[Jelder]

Hi All,

I've been a member for a long time, but never posted. Now I have a story to tell and need some advice.

While going through my mother's house recently after her death, I came across an old watch that belonged to my father, but I didn't have much recollection about it. I put it in a zip lock bag and took it home. I wasn't even convinced it was real. In fact, I assumed it was not.

Fast forward to today. I took it to an authorized dealer in my town and asked the gentleman who met me at the counter if they could take a look at it to verify its authenticity, though I told him I was pretty skeptical. He put it in a tray and said he would take to the watchmaker in the back. Five minutes later the watchmaker comes and asks me to tell him about the watch. I told him the story and he said he'd been working on Rolexes for over 20 years, and based on everything he knows and can see, that the watch is the real deal! Doesn't even need to open it up. Awesome.

Here's where things went downhill. It needs work. The crown and pin come out, it won't screw back down, and even though you can wind the movement, you can't set the time or date. He also tried to get the case back off but it's fused and the bezel/lugs or whatever they're called are stripped. He said they would have to cut the case to get it open and then would have to replace it with a new one. He also told me that Rolex won't even work on watches this old because there aren't replacement parts. He even said that recently Rolex denied service on 3 older watches for this reason. So- he basically told me there's nothing that can be done, and I might want to just sell it for spare parts.

This was my father's watch. I'd rather keep it and never get it fixed than sell it for cheap. Do I have any options? Is it truly a lost cause? Help!

Jay
GR Michigan

P.S. From what I can tell based on the serial number, it was made between 1967 and 1969. It also has a sigma dial, but from what I can tell those weren't introduced until later. I asked the watchmaker about this, but he said he didn't know. He did say every indication is that is a genuine dial.