Antiques Roadshow expert scolds guest about watch before revealing value

An Antiques Roadshow expert was left astounded by a rare Rolex watch brought in for appraisal - although he did have a bone to pick with the gentleman who had brought it in.

The UK version of the long-running reality show headed an antiques fair in Roundhay Park, Leeds, where Richard Price met a man who wanted to know the value of a "double red" Sea Dweller Sub Mariner watch.

The guest began by explaining how he got his hands on the lavish timepiece: “Yes, it is mine. My brother gave it to me. He was working in Dubai and drilling water wells in the Emirates back in the early 70s and he came to visit.

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“I said to him, ‘I need to go into town and buy a new watch’ and he said ‘No you don’t you can have this one’ and he took that off of his wrist and gave it to me.”

Laughing at the guest's simple story, expert Richard replied: “This is the Rolex reference 1665 and this is what they call the ‘Double Red’, which is the first of the sea dweller submariners.

“The holy grail for the collectors of this. The double red is what they all want," Richard gushed, adding: "As exploration in particular, oil rigging and of course the Middle East, they demanded greater depth and so all of a sudden the sea dweller was born, and it went significantly deeper than the old submariner.

“Now, this strap is not original, tell me what happened there,” he noticed, prompting the guest to explain: “Well, I wore the watch every day for 40 plus years and this was the strap that I had on it.

“It broke so I thought I would get the watch serviced by Rolex and the chap said ‘You’re are going to need a new strap’ and I said ‘Well I would like to keep the old one’.”

Seemingly impressed with his decision-making, Richard continued: “Very sensible. The reason I am looking at the strap is absolutely original, it has all the various links which it should have.

“That date there, 1/72, that means the strap was made in the first quarter of 1972. These things were not the best sellers which is why everybody wants them now.

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“You have got the original strap, you have got the original end pieces, that is just lovely, lovely. And you have had it completely serviced. It is just in superb condition. Do you still wear it?”

The guest replied, admitting: “No, I don’t wear it because it feels a bit too heavy on my wrist, but I wore it up until a few years ago.

“But who needs a watch these days when you have a phone that tells you the time,” leaving Richard to gasp in disbelief.

The expert quickly fired back: “Oh, hang on, everyone needs a watch. Oh, I am not going to let you get away with that one.

“It has done pretty well, it is absolutely lovely. I think you are looking at a sensible figure of £35,000 ($43,456), possibly a little bit more.”

The guest was visibly shocked at the value of his watch and even refused to accept it was actually worth that much.

He exclaimed: “Goodness... £35,000 ($43,456) that is amazing! Thank you very much that is fantastic.”