GUEST:
In the spring of 1995, I, I read an article about the Rolex Daytona, and I'd always been a car enthusiast, and I could appreciate that it had a great history around car racing, and I just love the look of the watch. And so I went to a Rolex dealer, and they basically laughed at me and said, "We get one or two of these a year, so, pretty much forget about it." So I started looking in the classified ads, and sure enough, a gentleman about 100 miles away from me was advertising two of these watches, a white face and a black face. I called him immediately and said, "I'd like to purchase the white face." And he said, "Well, I think I'm gonna keep that for myself, but I'm willing to sell you the black face." I spoke to my wife about it, and she was pregnant with our second baby, and she basically said, "Are you sure you want to invest this kind of money on a watch at this point in time in our lives?" And I said, "Well, I, I think it might go up in value." And she was nice enough to say, "Sure, go ahead." And, and, uh, we met at a local shopping mall. I paid him in cash and, and I had got the watch.

APPRAISER:
How did you know it was real when you were buying it from him?

GUEST:
I, I really didn't know. I mean, I, I knew it was in the box, never been worn, and I went through the paperwork, I felt comfortable with it. And I think this was before the counterfeit watches were a thing. Uh it was prior to the internet. It, it looked like the real deal, and, and so I went for it. I've worn this watch almost every day for 25 years. I've laid bricks and painted and built fences. And a matter of fact, this watch has been left on a picket fence more than once just because we were working around the house, and I needed to set it down, and then in the middle of the night, I'm, I go, "Oh, my gosh, the watch is on the picket fence." (laughs) I went out in the middle of the night, grabbed it. It's got a lot of wear and tear on it.

APPRAISER:
Well, as you know on ROADSHOW, having all the documents really helps a piece a lot, and you're not the original owner, but you only bought it less than a year after the original owner purchased it.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
And even though the warranty only lasted for a year, collectors want to have that piece of paper. So, you have all of that. You've got the original booklet on it, and you have the hang tags, with matching serial numbers. Usually, watches that are unworn, as you know on ROADSHOW, are worth a lot more money. And if this watch was mint, yes, that's gonna definitely help it. But in your case, the fact that you've worn it so much outside may have helped the value on this watch quite a bit.

GUEST:
Interesting.

APPRAISER:
Between 1994 and 1995, Rolex used an organic varnish on the face of the watch and on the black dials. So luckily, you didn't get a white dial.

GUEST:
(laughs)

APPRAISER:
You got a black dial. They have the white subdials, and your subdials are starting to change color. That is now a good thing, and that's only because of the ultraviolet light is affecting that organic varnish that's on the dial. The more it's going to be outside, the darker those rings are gonna get over time. Now, you have one of the newer versions of the Daytona Cosmograph, which used an automatic winding movement manufactured by Zenith. It was the El Primero movement. They were the only people making an automatic chronograph movement at the time. So, Rolex finished the movement. It's got all of Rolex's features in it, it's signed Rolex on the movement, but it was actually made by a different company for Rolex. I see you paid $5,700 for it, which your wife was worried about you making a poor investment...

GUEST:
(laughs)

APPRAISER:
...with another baby coming into the family. What do you think this watch is worth today?

GUEST:
I, I'm thinking in the $20,000 range, maybe?

APPRAISER:
Well, this model today, the Zenith Chronographs right now, are really trading around $20,000 to $25,000.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
Right now at auction. Add the paperwork to it. Now you've got it up to $30,000.

GUEST:
Wow.

APPRAISER:
Now...

GUEST:
(laughs)

APPRAISER:
Add the fact that you wore it outside and hung it up on the fence.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
And let the U.V. rays do their number on that dial, almost doubles the value. This is $50,000 to $60,000...

GUEST:
Wow.

APPRAISER:
...at auction right now.

GUEST:
Wow, I would not have thought that at all. Wow, that's surprising to me.

APPRAISER:
So, you know, it's not every day you get ten times on your investment, okay.

GUEST:
Yeah. For sure.

APPRAISER:
And if you had the white dial, I think it's going to go back down to the $30,000 range at auction...

GUEST:
(laughs)

APPRAISER:
...so it was a good thing that the guy did not sell you the white. Just...

GUEST:
Wow, yeah. Yeah, I've been very, I've been very happy with the black dial, actually.

APPRAISER:
It's, it's worked out really well with you.