Frankenstein Red Sub 1680 on Antiques Roadshow

[MrGoat]

Am I nuts for thinking it appraised much higher than it should have?


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[4rnold]

I don't know, for me the price is not correct since the watch is not correct.

In Europe, decent ones with papers and box go for around 40K, without papers 30K (price in dollar). So its appraised much less.

But still I would never pay that money for a Frankenwatch, but hey, maybe someone would for the dial etc... if genuine

[KY..]

15k for what looks like a wanna be 2 tone Red Sub?
Hmmm, maybe if all you need to do is replace the hands, outer bezel (not insert), & crown.

[MrGoat]

Appraiser said MK 4 dial, MK 3 insert were genuine to the 1974 case. Bezel, crown and hands are franken. I still don’t get the valuation but maybe the hands, crown and bezel are easier to source. Dial looked alright from my novice eye.


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[Juhuatai]

If the dial matches the case, I don't think the valuation is that far off.

[Dan S]

IMO, it's not a very interesting watch to appraise on a TV show. Even in original condition, there are millions of them.

[Swearengen]

Millions of Red 1680s, how so?

Originally Posted by Dan S

IMO, it's not a very interesting watch to appraise on a TV show. Even in original condition, there are millions of them.

[one80]

Originally Posted by Swearengen

Millions of Red 1680s, how so?

Doesn’t seem out of the realms of possibility - ~8 yrs between 67 and 65.

Is there a list of the production numbers for each model?

[TuRo]

Back in the 80s at auction you often saw 5513 and 1680 of all conditions with ‘upgraded’ bi-colour work…they were only £400-500 per watch (£1.5-2k in todays money) and a very small fledgling collector community though, so wasn’t frowned upon that much.
Mind you, back then my watchmaker jeweller pal was de-militarising Milsubs by drilling out lugs too - eeeeek !

[Swearengen]

I believe the red 1680 sub s/n range is from approx 2.0m to 4.0m and they weren't a very popular model. I can't believe they would have been anywhere near 50% of the total production, which would be required for them to represent 1m watches. My guess is they would be less than 5% of total production, and probably less, so the total red sub production is most likely much less than 100k. One can only guess the number of surviving watches

Originally Posted by one80

Doesn’t seem out of the realms of possibility - ~8 yrs between 67 and 65.

Is there a list of the production numbers for each model?

[ExplorerI]

How much is a red sub dial? Can’t imagine that watch is worth much more than its dial and movement

[Dan S]

Yes, people are taking comments very literally. :-)

My point was that a 1680 with a red line on the dial, while a great watch, is (in my view) just one particular example of a standard high-volume mass-produced vintage Rolex. Not antique, not rare by the standards of the show, readily available on the market. It's always fun to see a watch on AR, but I'm usually disappointed, as in this case. Occasionally they will show something special, like a 19th century PP repeater, or a watch with unusual provenance, but usually it's just something you can view any day on IG or various dealer websites.

Presumably, AR has a lot of options regarding the appraisals that they televise, and I don't know why they would choose a 1680, especially a bad one.