1949 Model 4500 Rolex & Silver Box
Watch
GUEST:
He's my great-uncle, and he was in the Air Force, and he retired a brigadier general. He traveled all over the world. He was in lots of military battles, flew fighter planes all over during the war, retired to Virginia. And he was a member of all different kinds of military organizations.
APPRAISER:
And he was in World War II also.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
And a fighter pilot in World War II.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Out of the hundreds of items you brought, we just picked a few just to give a little theme of him. So, tell me about the first picture here.
GUEST:
It's just a picture of him getting in one of his jets that he flew.
APPRAISER:
Okay. And then this picture right here?
GUEST:
This is one of his commanding officers, Jimmy Stewart.
APPRAISER:
Jimmy Stewart was his commanding officer.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
And then, tell me a little bit about the box.
GUEST:
The box is a presentation box. He served in the military committee for NATO, and it is dated on there for 1965 to 1967.
APPRAISER:
Okay. And the box is sterling silver, and that would have been given as a presentation. But the item I wanted to focus on is this watch right here.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So, it's a Rolex. It's a model 4500. It's an anti-magnetic watch. It's one of the few Rolex chronographs that only has a 30-minute registry. This one also has a gold bezel on it. It has luminous hands, a luminous dial. It has a telemeter function, which was for pilots or drivers. This particular one was built in 1949. This would have been the highest end of what a pilot would have had. And, of course, being a general, that would probably be the watch that he would have wanted to have had. The collector market on early Rolexes has dramatically gone up, and originality is... is the key factor. Underneath the rather tattered plastic original crystal is a dial that is literally unused. It's pristine. And in the market of rare Rolexes today, that is almost unheard of. It is exceptionally rare to find in this condition. And when I opened that box and-- of course, this isn't the watch that you showed me first.
GUEST:
No, it's not.
APPRAISER:
That was a different model Rolex-- and saw this, I was rather excited. You didn't even know that it existed there, other than that it was another Rolex, I guess?
GUEST:
Yes, because the one we brought was probably his everyday watch.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
This one was just in his jewelry box.
APPRAISER:
So, any idea what the value of this watch is?
GUEST:
I have no idea.
APPRAISER:
At retail, the value of the box would be around $1,000, and the value of the watch would be very easily $70,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my gosh! (laughing) Oh, my gosh!
APPRAISER:
It's the real deal. If the crystal was off, that dial would just glow. With a loop, I was able to look in through sort of the stained and... and cracked crystal to see what's under there. And I was in shock when I realized how perfect that was. Just an amazing piece that he left you.
GUEST:
Wow. (laughs) Thank you.
APPRAISER:
Did you have any idea?
GUEST:
No.
APPRAISER:
(laughs) No idea?
GUEST:
No.
APPRAISER:
If you had the original box and the original paperwork with it, that would probably add $20,000 to the watch.
Appraisal Details
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