Rolex 1675 bracelet

[Roddypeepa]

I have just been watching the bbc one programme antiques roadshow 2/10/22 and there was a nice ish gmt master dated from about 1961. The expert said he was happy with the case and dial but not the bracelet. It was well worn and stretched with “Rolex usa” stamped on the clasp. I didn’t catch the whole provenance but he basically said it was only available on the oyster. Is this true? The owner swears he didn’t swap out the bracelet. I thought that by the 60s it was an option on oyster and the first sports model to have jubilee?


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[StanGMT]

When I bought my 1675 GMT in 1967 it was definitely only available on the Oyster bracelet. I bought my Jubilee bracelet separately and have used it ever since, although I still have the original Oyster bracelet virtually unused.

Stan.

[Roddypeepa]

Fair enough. Thanks for the info. Don’t believe all the “expert” websites I guess that talk like the big I am


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[springer]

In the USA, you could have it either way. The Oyster or the Jubilee.

[TuRo]

In the UK, you could have it with whatever you wanted, as in 61 watch came loose head to dealer and they matched to bracelet from their separate stock.

Most tended to display on an oyster though I'm told so a lot got sold that way - The jubilee was nearly as popular (about 35/65) as an oyster from about 1956 to 1968 then it's popularity seems to have wained a bit over next 30yrs - some dealers tell me that the Jubilee take-up was only 1 in 20, or less, in later years.

This info from the 26 dealers I've interviewed who were operating in or around 1961, in UK and mainland Europe and Asia in the main.

Also the Jubillee was a catalogue offer all through the 70s, 80s and 90s on the GMT with it being available even up to the GMT 2 16710 version (they cost about 5% more than an oyster btw).

[actionkwj]

I've always understood that the dealer would swap bracelets if the buyer wanted it. Back then models were not as closely guarded as they are today; it was just a watch. And if the buyer wanted a different bracelet, the dealer would swap it to make the sale. Because why not?

One of my few complaints about Rolex today is how they don't want to mix and match things that should be switchable/swappable (?) like a bracelet, but I digress.


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[StanGMT]

To Emanuel, who has private-messaged me, I'm sorry, but I cant get my private reply to 'send'. Anyway, my answer is that I do not intend to dispose of the original bracelet from my watch because, together with all the papers and original tags, the bracelet consolidates the market value of the total package.

I hope you see this, Emanuel.

Regards,
Stan.