Sea Dweller - 1665 Great White (repair consequences)

[pabennett]

Hello,

I received a Sea Dweller as a gift from a family member in the 90s. He was a big scuba diver and traveled around the world diving with it. I didn't wear watches so it just sat in my house for years.

Later, in 2006, my mom decided to get it refurbished and give me the "cleaned up" working watch for my birthday.

During the repair, Rolex removed the mk1 tritium dial and put on a service replacement luminova dial.

A few weeks ago someone offered to buy the watch from me and I come to find out 1665 "Great Whites" are collector's items and valuable, yada yada yada.

My mom obviously knew nothing about this and Rolex never bothered to mention it to her before removing the original dial and hands.

Curious what you rolex experts think of this situation. How mad should I be? And why didn't Rolex mention the value of the watch in its original condition, and what do you think it's worth post repairs?

I tried to attached a picture of the watch.

The serial number is:

1665

5746182

Thanks in advance!

[pabennett]

bump

[kegan]

No ones gonna feel sorry for you that’s for sure. Sure as per usual Rolex screwed you
But it’s too late now to do other than be happy someone gave you an awesome
Vintage sea-dweller and your mom did something really nice for you too.

[Vincent65]

Yeah, no use "dwelling" on it now!

Sorry - great watch anyway. Enjoy. Your mother meant well...

[1665fan]

It still has value and something to be proud of

[Fatso]

Value aside, it's now a fully functional watch. Enjoy the clean white patina-free luminous dial and gold hands that will never get crusty for the next 50 years.

[Dan S]

Unfortunately, this happens all the time, and what Rolex did is simply their SOP. They replaced old damaged and worn parts with authentic new parts ... that's what they do. They don't see it as their business to track or estimate what your watch is worth on the collectible market.

[pabennett]

Originally Posted by Dan S

Unfortunately, this happens all the time, and what Rolex did is simply their SOP. They replaced old damaged and worn parts with authentic new parts ... that's what they do. They don't see it as their business to track or estimate what your watch is worth on the collectible market.

A heads up would be cool though...

[pabennett]

Originally Posted by kegan

No ones gonna feel sorry for you that’s for sure. Sure as per usual Rolex screwed you
But it’s too late now to do other than be happy someone gave you an awesome
Vintage sea-dweller and your mom did something really nice for you too.

Yeah, all is good except Rolex devaluing the watch by X thousands of dollars. My mom certainly didn’t think a “repair” would mean that.

[pabennett]

Originally Posted by Vincent65

Yeah, no use "dwelling" on it now!

I laffed

[pabennett]

Originally Posted by Fatso

Value aside, it's now a fully functional watch. Enjoy the clean white patina-free luminous dial and gold hands that will never get crusty for the next 50 years.

It does look nice and I do wear it now.

[pabennett]

But how about return the original parts the owner in a plastic bag instead of “ship to Switzerland and destroy”?

[oysterquartz17000]

Same thing happened to me. I only realised many years later (this was in the early 00's), however it also happened to a watch I will never sell as it was handed down to me, therefore it doesnt matter. If I was you I would treasure it, your mums gesture was from the heart, love your watch for that if nothing else.

[Fatso]

Originally Posted by pabennett

It does look nice and I do wear it now.

Good. The service hands and dial probably "only" knock off 10-20 percent of the watch's value, which only matters if you were planning on flipping it. Since it was a family member's watch you should probably NEVER sell it, and there's something really nice about wearing a 45 year old watch that is basically brand new

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by Fatso

The service hands and dial probably "only" knock off 10-20 percent of the watch's value ...

Impossible to even guess without seeing the condition of the watch prior to repair. As others have said, it's water under the bridge now, so enjoy your attractive watch.

[RolexDave68]

Originally Posted by Fatso

Good. The service hands and dial probably "only" knock off 10-20 percent of the watch's value, which only matters if you were planning on flipping it. Since it was a family member's watch you should probably NEVER sell it, and there's something really nice about wearing a 45 year old watch that is basically brand new

I’m with you 100%, enjoy the journey


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pabennett]

Originally Posted by Fatso

Good. The service hands and dial probably "only" knock off 10-20 percent of the watch's value, which only matters if you were planning on flipping it. Since it was a family member's watch you should probably NEVER sell it, and there's something really nice about wearing a 45 year old watch that is basically brand new

The watch does have sentimental value and would’ve been hard to part with.

It does look great refurbished and that is cool.

My beef is with Rolex removing and destroying original parts that I “owned” as a business practice. Why not send back with the watch?

And I’ve seen estimates for this watch with the original parts that come out to far beyond 10-20% of the refurbished value.

Hard to see why an official Rolex refurbishment would cause that kind of destruction in value for no particular reason.

Technically the original face and hands were still my property. Just seems like a weird business practice for Rolex.

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by pabennett

The watch does have sentimental value and would’ve been hard to part with.

It does look great refurbished and that is cool.

My beef is with Rolex removing and destroying original parts that I “owned” as a business practice. Why not send back with the watch?

And I’ve seen estimates for this watch with the original parts that come out to far beyond 10-20% of the refurbished value.

Hard to see why an official Rolex refurbishment would cause that kind of destruction in value for no particular reason.

Technically the original face and hands were still my property. Just seems like a weird business practice for Rolex.

Here is another thread on a similar topic. It may interest you because many of these issues were addressed.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=674970

[Styles Bitchley]

Originally Posted by pabennett

The watch does have sentimental value and would’ve been hard to part with.



It does look great refurbished and that is cool.



My beef is with Rolex removing and destroying original parts that I “owned” as a business practice. Why not send back with the watch?



And I’ve seen estimates for this watch with the original parts that come out to far beyond 10-20% of the refurbished value.



Hard to see why an official Rolex refurbishment would cause that kind of destruction in value for no particular reason.



Technically the original face and hands were still my property. Just seems like a weird business practice for Rolex.

Looking at auction results for true collector watches is foolish if you don’t understand the nuances of what makes them worth so much. I know it’s painful to imagine that yours worth a mint, but it’s far more likely it was an average example.


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[pabennett]

Originally Posted by Styles Bitchley

Looking at auction results for true collector watches is foolish if you don’t understand the nuances of what makes them worth so much. I know it’s painful to imagine that yours worth a mint, but it’s far more likely it was an average example.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That’s true. And I’m no watch expert. But would be nice to find out for sure if Rolex has returned the removed parts instead of “shipping them to Zurich to be destroyed”. Which is a weird move.

[pabennett]

Originally Posted by Dan S

Here is another thread on a similar topic. It may interest you because many of these issues were addressed.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=674970

Thanks

[Lol-x]

Technically the parts removed were your property, but Rolex requires you to relinquish ownership as a condition of their service and provision of replacement parts.

Rolex may not have expressly sought your consent to appropriate your property, but they may say it was an implied term of their service. This would be a difficult matter to imply.

If someone appropriates your property without your consent you do have a legal claim against them for conversion/detinue.

Unfortunately, these things happen.

[subtona]

They suck when it comes to caring about vintage value.

Do you have a pic of before, may have not been avoidable?

[lhanddds]

Too bad you didn't do a little research on this watch that you seem to have shown little interest in in in 2006. This has been Rolex standard operating procedure for years. At least it's worth a lot more than your $0 investment. Enjoy it for what it is, a gift.

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by Lol-x

Rolex may not have expressly sought your consent to appropriate your property, but they may say it was an implied term of their service. This would be a difficult matter to imply.

Their service estimates explicitly states that they will replace worn parts on an exchange basis only. And when you sign off on the estimate, you are agreeing to the terms.

[sillo]

Originally Posted by pabennett

A heads up would be cool though...

They do give a heads up of what's going to be serviced/replaced.

[Richard Carver]

All Rolex replacement parts are on an exchange basis. You are given a small discount from full price for trade value. I could probably get worked up over this if I could find that old box of f**ks I used to give but I won't.

I genuinely hope you never mentioned to your mother that her kind actions might have devalued your free watch a bit. :)

[BullMotorWerks]

Cool watch. I would enjoy it with all of the family history that goes with it. Who cares what is worth. It was a gift. One of my favorite watches is a worthless Timex Ironman. It is invaluable to me because my daughters gave it to me.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[pabennett]

Originally Posted by Richard Carver

All Rolex replacement parts are on an exchange basis. You are given a small discount from full price for trade value. I could probably get worked up over this if I could find that old box of f**ks I used to give but I won't.

I genuinely hope you never mentioned to your mother that her kind actions might have devalued your free watch a bit. :)

Update: I'm suing my mom and rolex for devaluing my watch. Can't let their behavior stand.

[haven_seeker]

Originally Posted by pabennett

Update: I'm suing my mom and rolex for devaluing my watch. Can't let their behavior stand.