The popular PBS series Antiques Roadshow made a stop in Bonanzaville, North Dakota last year, as always the usual collections of folk art, antique furniture, and collectibles showed up. But one man showed up with his Rolex Oyster Cosmograph that he had purchased in 1975 for the sum of $345 ($1,986.52 adjusted for inflation). He had the original box, receipts, and even the original blank warranty form.
He explained to the appraiser that he had ordered the watch through military's base exchange while he was stationed in Thailand serving in the US Airforce with the intention of using it while scuba diving, but after spending a full month's salary on the watch he decided it was too precious to use in the saltwater, so he left it in the box. Upon leaving the military he moved back to the US he put the watch in his safety deposit box for over 40 years.
The watch turned out not to just be a nice vintage Rolex but one of the rarest and highly sought after Rolexes ever made, an Oyster Cosmograph reference number 6263, better known as the Daytona thanks to Paul Newman. The rare Mark II dial, in new old stock condition, with all of it's original documentation, was appraised to sell at auction for between $500,000 to $700,000.
Watch the appraisal here.
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