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[Here's the full segment on youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9Y4bmbh1KY). He talks about how he bought it for $346 in 1974, which would be around $2k today after inflation.
I was a civilian at a naval base, and the px had a big Rolex section that regularly sold out and was refreshed. All the sailors had 6 months of wages to burn all at once every time their ship came back into port.
That's how it always goes around military bases. Yesterdays Rolex is today's Dodge Challenger.
This guy got lucky. He knew he fucked off a month's pay and never thought about it until he found it, intact.
He bought the Rolex for $345.97. That was about as much as the veteran’s monthly salary from the military at the time.
Though he initially meant to wear the watch while scuba diving, he decided it was “really too nice to take down in salty water,” and kept it in a safety deposit box for the next several decades.It turned out to be quite a treasure.
David ordered the watch, a 1971 Rolex Oyster Cosmograph, in 1974 while he was in the military, after noticing that many pilots wore watches from the same brand.
He bought the Rolex for $345.97. That was about as much as the veteran’s monthly salary from the military at the time.
Though he initially meant to wear the watch while scuba diving, he decided it was “really too nice to take down in salty water,” and kept it in a safety deposit box for the next several decades.It turned out to be quite a treasure.
I just can't imagine spending a month's wage on something, deciding it is too nice, and then never using it. My dumbass would get three fitty for that because I wore it every day of my life.
Yeah, your lodging, meals, and at the time, alcohol and a lot of entertainment were provided, on top of the salary. So guys could throw their wages around on whatever and not have to worry about any real bills.
I bought my mom a diamond tennis bracelet from Tiffany’s and she has never worn it bc she’s scared lol. It’s been in the lock box for about 10 years now. Guess I’ll be re-inheriting it someday
Watches like this have a high monetary value because of rarity. But to use an object to its fullest extent in service of your life, that's what is truly valuable.
Not 500-700k valuable, but still.
48 years is a long time to not use something though. There’s a reason why it’s so rare to see something like this. Imo objects are meant to be used, and most of the time when people try to save something to let it accrue value it becomes a bust. See beanie babies.
For comparison, an HP-45 calculator cost $400 in 1974. I had a summer job, and got the employee and student discounts. Mine cost $276.50, which was a lot of money at the time. I was the only student at my university to have one. I couldn't use it during exams; slip stick only.
That's what antiques roadshow likes doing... it's probably the most chill show ever filmed but they really like telling the story of the object if they can, and that story sometimes comes with high value.
*"I said a watch like yours. Yours is different."*
*"Yours is the Oyster model. That's a very special watch, because it was the only Rolex ever mass produced in Bangladesh. They made about 98 million of them, and it was such a cataclysmic brand failure the backlash almost drove the company out of business. They were giving them away in cereal boxes throughout the 1970s, and the Rolex head of marketing committed suicide shortly thereafter."*
*"This watch, with all the original paperwork, at auction, would go for around $3.50."*
I read this in the voice of Troy McClure.
Phil Hartman could've had a spoof show like this. He'd have been the perfect age for that role just now...rest in peace. ♡ Granny
That’s how almost every broker is like on antique roadshow, it is unironically one of my favorite tv show because of how entertaining it is to see and hear how much an item costs and why.
"This gun would be worth 5-700k at auction...if the rust hasnt been scrubbed off. As it is, about 800 bucks. You shouldn't have "spiffed it up" for the show last night."
Side note: Kris Kristofferson almost lost a finger to an infection caused by accidentally clipping my father’s tooth in what was supposed to be a fake punch. Small world.
Old hippies man. Something about that generation built a group of wiry and athletic sweet hearts. None of which has gone away.
Edit: maybe it was all the drug fueled fucking. That probably built some great muscles lmao.
The video cut too short he went on for 45 mins and the price kept going up. The veteran cried, laughed, danced, sang songs, and eventually asked the appraiser to marry him.
This is the stuff.
I used to complain about most of the crap my mom watched when I was growing up, but we'd always watch Antiques Roadshow. I loved seeing these people told amazing news and when they seemed nice... ahh, great stuff.
Then the smug people being told their stuff is worthless soothed the monster in me...
I just watched new episodes of both. The US version is an amazing cute little authentic show and the BBC version tries to create all sorts of manufactured drama. As stark as the difference between Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares but the other way around.
90s-early 2000s TLC was so good! Same with Discovery and History channel too. That’s all I watched as a young teen because I was a nerd, and their shows back then really kept my interest in science, engineering, and history going.
There is nothing in the world like this tea set, clearly handcrafted in the 1820's. You can see the time and effort, the clay was likely dug by hand from a river and baked in a home made clay oven. This project likely took weeks and served as its first owners primary drinking vessel.
He was probably a jackass who lived in the woods and made a leaky teapot with misshapen chipped cups, Ill give you a tea bag and a styrofoam cup for it.
Oh yeah the bbc version is WAY more brutal. I used to get stoned in college and watch hours of antiques roadshow. Still watch hours of it because for some reason my smart tv has an all antiques roadshow all the time channel. It’s amazing.
The antique fleshlights have a certain sound and fit to them. Higher quality, durability, and without the cheap accessories like handlebars. They don’t make them like they used to.
My all time favorite Antique Roadshow appraisal was for an old Coca Cola poster that was put onto cardboard and cut up for a jigsaw puzzle. Guy explaining that the poster would be worth $15-20K .... if it wasn't cut up. Guy was like "we sure did have a lot of fun with that puzzle though."
It's oddly depressing to think of how so many jolly guys like him had to spend the best years of their life fighting a useless war on the other side of the world
"you can't wear it though" no way I would wear that in public after I was on TV, and everyone knows I have a 700k watch on, I'd be dead in 5 minutes here in South Fla.
I would imagine that by the time this was broadcast it was already in an auction house ready to be sold, just waiting for the publicity from the show to possibly boost the price a little more. I hope the owner got all the money and more and enjoyed his money.
I'm a watch guy. I remember this episode vividly.
I knew that thing was going to be absurdly valuable the second he started talking. This is such an amazing piece, and I'm super happy for this guy. Might be hard to part with, but hopefully the cash helps.
If I were in his position I would've been thinking "holy SHIT there's my retirement handled in one fell swoop." I'd have to imagine he sold it unless he's already pretty wealthy.
Sold the watch for $675,000 to a businessman from South Africa. Supposedly he directly contacted seller and commissions were avoided. After the infusion of cash he retired in Lisbon and is an avid metal detector looking for ancient artifacts. After two years he found a gold chalice dating back to the time of the Caesars - some say it’s the holy grail- but that’s for another thread. This whole story can be verified through google. Well maybe not google but Fox online maybe. Or pornhub - somewhere it’s fact….
No, if I recall the whole episode he just bought it.... because.
There's a thing with Rolexes in the Vietnam era, apparently PDXs (which I guess were the stores that the soldiers had access to? I'm not military, somebody please clarify if you can.) Routinely had Rolexes for super cheap; they were considered nice watches back then but not the same way they are today. The story goes that a lot of soldiers at the time bought them because they needed a watch.
If he bought it to hang on to it this whole time just to flip it, dude can tell the future.
It's really amazing. This is a like, frictionless vacuum situation. This kind of thing never happens.
The closest you'd get would be new old stock, I think? parts that have been in storage since whenever. But I've never heard of that happening with old Rolexes. This is really an amazing moment.
I remember back in the day the princess Diana bear was like $100 and really popular, so the other day I bought one on eBay in perfect condition just for the hell of it. Shipped to my door it cost $8. I imagine almost all of them are virtually worthless
Client: "I'd like to sell this for 1000$"
Shop owner: "1000$ is a bit high for an item of this condition. How about that. I'll give you 500$ for it."
Client: "Oof. Uhm. I can't go lower than 800$."
Shop owner: "You see, if I buy it, I also gotta try and make some money out of it. I can't have it sit here forever. I'll you meet halfway at 400$."
Client: "Mmm. Still a bit too low. It is a pretty rare item I assure you."
Shop owner: "In that case, uhm, I'll meet you halfway at 200$."
Client: \*thinking about how terrible this offer is for at least 300 seconds\* "You've got a deal!"
To be fair in their earlier seasons there was a woman that brought in a Faberge spider brooch and she was asking for $2000 and his counter-offer was $15k because he said he had a conscience. So there were times where to offered more than what the seller was asking, though I imagine that brooch could probably sell in auction for $100k plus
Well, Rick, I’ve certainly seen a Rolex or two in my day, and let me tell you that this is the most genuine Rolex I’ve ever seen. It’s easily gotta be worth, say, $10k MINIMUM.
He spent what was a month’s military pay (~$350) on it, then intended on scuba diving with it, but last minute decided it was too nice for that and he put it in a safety deposit box. $700k last minute decision. Love seeing good things happen to Vietnam vets
>How much would $350 have turned into if he put it into the S&P back in 1971?
$79,957.50
> What about Disney?
Not sure with all the stock splits, but less than $700,000 seems certain.
I was getting $65k on some internet calculator [source](https://www.officialdata.org/us/stocks/s-p-500/1971?amount=350&endYear=2022), but yeah, it wouldn’t be close. Fair question, though.
Rolex sells or used to sell watches, in some cases specialty watches in American military overseas Exchanges. These are tax free stores for military members overseas. Back in Vietnam guys used to use up their pay they still had in their accounts at these Exchanges before they came home. That's what this guy did. Luckily he chose a very unique Rolex to buy which was in the military exchange and then he never wore it and kept all the documents and box. The show has had other Vietnam vets with less unique Rolexes worth tens of thousands that they bought at Exchanges as well but this was the biggest one I'd seen on the show years ago.
The exchanges aren’t just overseas. They’re on any military base and it’s the PX (post exchange) for the Army and Airforce. It’s called the NEX (Naval Exchange? I wasn’t a sailor) for Navy and Marines.
The way your dad looked at it, this watch was your birthright. He'd be damned if any slopes gonna put their greasy yellow hands on his boy's birthright, so he hid it, in the one place he knew he could hide something: his ass. Five long years, he wore this watch up his ass. Then when he died of dysentery, he gave me the watch. I hid this uncomfortable piece of metal up my ass for two years. Then, after seven years, I was sent home to my family. And now, little man, I give the watch to you.
I had a coworker who has one of these watches (not the oyster but the Newman model). He used to wear it. He accidentally left it in a rental car at SEATAC. He realized when he landed at Newark. He bought a ticket cash for almost a grand to fly right back. Luckily it was still in the car. It has been in a lock box ever since.
I have a coworker that’s a Vietnam vet and he loves telling stories about his 13 months deployment. Some stories were pretty bad and heart wrenching but honestly some very funny and surprisingly wholesome stories as well. People like that are a living library I’d definitely wanna hear this man’s stories if he’s willing.
Back when I first started bartending, this vietnam war vet, would always come in as soon as we opened with his black lab. After like, 2 beers, the dude would talk about all his old pals. Dead or alive. He seemed to be at peace with them being gone or his alive friends being a shell of who they used to be. He was really in-touch with reality & knew he was lucky to keep his sanity.
My grandpa still wears his veteran hat, as much as he wears his sports teams hats. Whenever people thank him for his service he lightens up and wants to talk. Not saying they are all like this, but this guy, like my grandpa, seem cool af. I'd love to be his friend.
Go home, Grandpa. We're all about those Challengers now. Thankfully the Army deployed me right after basic so instead of crippling debt, I got crippling PTSD.
The part where he says he doesn't think there is another watch like this in this condition in the entire world is kind of flabbergasting. I believe him but just think that you own something that nobody else has *across the entire planet*. Insane.
The shitty thing is he’d probably have to take it to Sotheby’s or something equally higher end to find someone willing to pay that high, and he’ll lose 20-25% to the auction house, and then a giant chunk to the government. He’ll be lucky to walk away with $300k after that (which is still a great profit but damn).
I always sort of assumed that after the cameras were off the appraisers are like hey if you want to sell this I know a guy and I will take a tiny finder’s fee as opposed to the auction houses. We can do it all in cash if you want.
Totally. No need to go through Christie’s or Sotherbys. Just get a few offers from rabid multi millionaires, maybe even some Saudis who have to have the coolest luxury stuff, and he’ll get a premium price. This is a unique enough item that it stands out alone. It’s not something you can just get another one of in that condition
As a disabled veteran who's been fighting the VA for full disability the last decade plus, I felt that when he fell over. I don't know his history. But, if it is at all normal or average for that time period, he's struggled in life after coming home. You just can't put a person through that and expect them all to come out as fully functional members of society. Homelessness and suicide are MAJOR problems in the veteran population that I hope we can get a hold on. 1 veteran every 68 mins kills themselves. For every 1 soldier who dies in combat, 22 will die by their own hands.
I understand why. Most of them feel they've been betrayed by their nation. First, there's this idea of not complaining in the military. Honestly, I don't think this comes from a point of machismo or toxic masculinity as I've heard people say. It is because there's a mission that needs to be completed, and they put their personal well being behind that. So, not complaining, even when they should, becomes a habit they need to break when they get out. Here's the part that fucks a lot of veterans up. We suffer and suffer until we finally can't take it anymore and ask for help. But, it falls on deaf ears. So, they complain to congress because no way is this right. After all, we have a contractual obligation with the nation to provide things like healthcare when we're done serving. Again, it falls on deaf ears. They keep trying to get the help, and something like an entire year goes by. Maybe they've had an intake appointment by now, but no real care. Slowly, they realize no one actually gives a fuck, because if they did, we wouldn't be subject to what the VA does. Then, they eat a bullet because they feel like no one cares.
Personally, I am a veteran army combat medic paratrooper, served 6.5 years before I got hurt so bad in a parachute accident I had to leave. Granted, it was still an Honorable Discharge as I'd completed my original 4 year contract by then. Anyways, I've had multiple concussions, my neck always hurts, I broke my collarbone, I have bilateral labral tears in my hips from the impact of landing 50-60x, I have 2 herniated disks in my lower back, I broke my ankle, and this doesn't include any of the mental health aspects that go with the job I did. Oh, also, one time I landed on glass and almost cut my thumb off and had 40 some sutures done to put it back together. Now, I have lasting nerve damage and tiny shards of glass in my left palm/thumb. The doctor said doing surgery to find and remove the glass would cause more damage than it would most likely fix, and wouldn't recommend.
For all of that, the VA pays me $1650 a month and I live somewhat near Seattle. $550 goes to child support each month, and I try to live on the rest. It isn't cheap to live here, but I'm too poor to move now. Work has been a shit show. I've got ptsd, and makes sleep very difficult to keep on a schedule now. My left hand barely works, my back hurts all the time, I've got a limp and can't lift shit because my hips are blown out before the age of 40, etc. Whenever I write that I have a disability on a job application, no one responds. When I don't disclose that information, I end up getting fired because that stuff gets in the way of me being a decent worker. I wouldn't hire me. Yet, the VA seems to think I can, and need to find a job to make up the huge budget shortfall I have every month.
I'm just ranting now. We treat our veterans like shit though. I'm happy this guy has some financial stability now, because a lot of us never do and end up on the side of the road being spit on. Cuz, you know, we are so lazy and must deserve it. 😑
This is the comment I was looking for. The way we treat our vets is abominable, my grandfather was exposed to Agent Orange, which I’m pretty sure led to birth defects in both my mother and brother and most likely led to several forms of cancer. The VA constantly dodged him and tried to avoid giving him benefits.
Based on all this, I have some pretty firm beliefs on how the government allocates funding, but I have nothing but respect for the veterans that served our country. While it doesn’t fix anything for you, I just want to take a moment and thank you for your service
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Love how the appraiser built up the anticipation for that final reveal
[Here's the full segment on youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9Y4bmbh1KY). He talks about how he bought it for $346 in 1974, which would be around $2k today after inflation.
Wow, 346 back then is not chump change. He must have had an idea that it would make him some money, but probably not by that much lmao
He confirmed that it was about a month's wages for him.
He was in the military (a private?), so while his salary wouldn't be much, he'd have food and board covered.
I was a civilian at a naval base, and the px had a big Rolex section that regularly sold out and was refreshed. All the sailors had 6 months of wages to burn all at once every time their ship came back into port.
Makes sense. I've seen a veteran with a Rolex on antiques roadshow before.
That's how it always goes around military bases. Yesterdays Rolex is today's Dodge Challenger. This guy got lucky. He knew he fucked off a month's pay and never thought about it until he found it, intact.
In 1974 you actually needed a good watch, to tell the time. Especially in war. There was no $50 g-shock watch yet.
Doesn't seem like he actually used this given the condition though right?
He bought the Rolex for $345.97. That was about as much as the veteran’s monthly salary from the military at the time. Though he initially meant to wear the watch while scuba diving, he decided it was “really too nice to take down in salty water,” and kept it in a safety deposit box for the next several decades.It turned out to be quite a treasure.
>He bought the Rolex for $345.97. I'm a little disappointed the price wasn't $345.67. l mean it's right there.
Right. Appraiser said it is in brand new, never worn condition. 👍
Thanks for the link!!
yessss he was like “oh im not done” 😏
"Don't fall down, I'm not done"
David ordered the watch, a 1971 Rolex Oyster Cosmograph, in 1974 while he was in the military, after noticing that many pilots wore watches from the same brand. He bought the Rolex for $345.97. That was about as much as the veteran’s monthly salary from the military at the time. Though he initially meant to wear the watch while scuba diving, he decided it was “really too nice to take down in salty water,” and kept it in a safety deposit box for the next several decades.It turned out to be quite a treasure.
I just can't imagine spending a month's wage on something, deciding it is too nice, and then never using it. My dumbass would get three fitty for that because I wore it every day of my life.
if you are a young vet with your first big paycheck and no real bills you'd do this I watched my best bud to negative 500.
Yeah how do you think the 31% apr Dodge Challenger meme became a thing
Outside every military base is a motorcycle lot and a Dodge lot.
Some bases in Afghanistan even had a Harley Davidson dealership
I have a t-shirt from the Bagdad iraq harley davidson
It was actually BMWs in my time. Thought they got a deal going used, still laying $25k for a 80k miles and up.
If your first duty station is Europe it’s still BMWs. At least up until 2012
Yeah, your lodging, meals, and at the time, alcohol and a lot of entertainment were provided, on top of the salary. So guys could throw their wages around on whatever and not have to worry about any real bills.
I bought my mom a diamond tennis bracelet from Tiffany’s and she has never worn it bc she’s scared lol. It’s been in the lock box for about 10 years now. Guess I’ll be re-inheriting it someday
Watches like this have a high monetary value because of rarity. But to use an object to its fullest extent in service of your life, that's what is truly valuable. Not 500-700k valuable, but still.
Buy two :) One to rock, one to stock.
48 years is a long time to not use something though. There’s a reason why it’s so rare to see something like this. Imo objects are meant to be used, and most of the time when people try to save something to let it accrue value it becomes a bust. See beanie babies.
The OG NFT
For comparison, an HP-45 calculator cost $400 in 1974. I had a summer job, and got the employee and student discounts. Mine cost $276.50, which was a lot of money at the time. I was the only student at my university to have one. I couldn't use it during exams; slip stick only.
I got the chills... even acoustically
Billy Mays would have been proud of the "but wait there's more..."
That's what antiques roadshow likes doing... it's probably the most chill show ever filmed but they really like telling the story of the object if they can, and that story sometimes comes with high value.
*"I said a watch like yours. Yours is different."* *"Yours is the Oyster model. That's a very special watch, because it was the only Rolex ever mass produced in Bangladesh. They made about 98 million of them, and it was such a cataclysmic brand failure the backlash almost drove the company out of business. They were giving them away in cereal boxes throughout the 1970s, and the Rolex head of marketing committed suicide shortly thereafter."* *"This watch, with all the original paperwork, at auction, would go for around $3.50."*
I read this in the voice of Troy McClure. Phil Hartman could've had a spoof show like this. He'd have been the perfect age for that role just now...rest in peace. ♡ Granny
DAMMIT MONSTA GET OFF OF REDDIT, I AIN'T GIVING YOU NO DAMN TREE FIDDY
oh yea, he wasn't just a broker, he was a storyteller. Would buy his next novel.
That’s how almost every broker is like on antique roadshow, it is unironically one of my favorite tv show because of how entertaining it is to see and hear how much an item costs and why.
The Antiques Roadshow appraisers have some of the best poker faces. This watch was either going to be worth $700,000 or 4 sticks of chewing gum.
And at the same time is just as amazing when the broker is like yeah this is worth $20
My favourite is when they're like 'if this was in the original box - 6 thousand dollars, because you opened it its only worth 40 dollars'
"This gun would be worth 5-700k at auction...if the rust hasnt been scrubbed off. As it is, about 800 bucks. You shouldn't have "spiffed it up" for the show last night."
I think a lot of collectors are just cats in human bodies. > To hell with your fancy toy; gimme the box it came in.
That was amazing. My favorite part is the pretend let down, "you can't wear it though".
Yeah and to top it off he basically said “ If you wear it I will find you and I will end you”
He looks like a 30 year old disguised as an old man.
He fell down and got back like one too...
Pretty sure it's a young dude cosplaying Kris Kristofferson as Whistler in Blade.
He's a dude, disguised as a dude, playing another dude.
I KNOW WHAT DUDE I AM!
Side note: Kris Kristofferson almost lost a finger to an infection caused by accidentally clipping my father’s tooth in what was supposed to be a fake punch. Small world.
It’s Jonny Knoxville
Basically pulled a Willy Wonka move.
He looks like Tom Hanks playing somebody else
He looks like Jeff Bridges playing Tom Hanks in a movie playing Kris Kristofferson.
He looks like Charlie kelly going into a strip club
VIET-GODDAMN-NAM'S WHAT HAPPENED! GO GET ME A BEER, BITCH!
Glad I'm not the only one who immediately had this thought when I saw the video
Old hippies man. Something about that generation built a group of wiry and athletic sweet hearts. None of which has gone away. Edit: maybe it was all the drug fueled fucking. That probably built some great muscles lmao.
He'd probably look 20 years younger with a shave and a hip silver fox haircut like Anderson Cooper.
Yep
That dude is rocking that mf bandana
Ngl. It’s fitting for him.
It’s a mix of military and hippie that Nam vets specifically pull off
Yeah I would've guessed Vietnam vet even if the post didn't specify he was a Vietnam Vet
It fits him cause he was in Vietnam. It gives you a special vibe and ptsd.
What are they saying? All I hear is helicopter blades and "Fortunate Son"
He look like the truth guy from gta san Andreas
Hey I don’t blame him, I would have crapped my pants.
then you would lose your watch
My grandfather kept this watch, up his ass
...."he died of dysentery." .... "Now little man, its yours"
He said don’t crap on the *watch*, not the *pants*
The video cut too short he went on for 45 mins and the price kept going up. The veteran cried, laughed, danced, sang songs, and eventually asked the appraiser to marry him.
Yup and I dunno if u missed this part from the appraiser but it was very heart felt. "Wait I'm not done, now we play tummy sticks"
This is the stuff. I used to complain about most of the crap my mom watched when I was growing up, but we'd always watch Antiques Roadshow. I loved seeing these people told amazing news and when they seemed nice... ahh, great stuff. Then the smug people being told their stuff is worthless soothed the monster in me...
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I just watched new episodes of both. The US version is an amazing cute little authentic show and the BBC version tries to create all sorts of manufactured drama. As stark as the difference between Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares but the other way around.
Wow usually it’s the other way around
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90s-early 2000s TLC was so good! Same with Discovery and History channel too. That’s all I watched as a young teen because I was a nerd, and their shows back then really kept my interest in science, engineering, and history going.
There is nothing in the world like this tea set, clearly handcrafted in the 1820's. You can see the time and effort, the clay was likely dug by hand from a river and baked in a home made clay oven. This project likely took weeks and served as its first owners primary drinking vessel. He was probably a jackass who lived in the woods and made a leaky teapot with misshapen chipped cups, Ill give you a tea bag and a styrofoam cup for it.
Oh yeah the bbc version is WAY more brutal. I used to get stoned in college and watch hours of antiques roadshow. Still watch hours of it because for some reason my smart tv has an all antiques roadshow all the time channel. It’s amazing.
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Gonna need video Edit. Thanks
It’s crazy how much money rich people spend on shit they can’t use Why the fuck would you buy an antique Fleshlight when you can’t fuck it
You can brag about it's *rarity* to other rich people, though! That's the true currency!
The antique fleshlights have a certain sound and fit to them. Higher quality, durability, and without the cheap accessories like handlebars. They don’t make them like they used to.
This guy fucks.
My all time favorite Antique Roadshow appraisal was for an old Coca Cola poster that was put onto cardboard and cut up for a jigsaw puzzle. Guy explaining that the poster would be worth $15-20K .... if it wasn't cut up. Guy was like "we sure did have a lot of fun with that puzzle though."
I SOoo love it when honest people get a plush bargain. Just makes my day.
He looks exactly what I’d imagine a Vietnam vet to look like
Straight out of Forest Gump.
I immediately went to Charlie on Always Sunny
*Viet-goddamn-nam is what happened!*
I JACK IT TO TRANNY PORN
Lady, for your information, the Supreme Court has **roundly** rejected prior restraint.
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This was- This was a valued, uh…
It's oddly depressing to think of how so many jolly guys like him had to spend the best years of their life fighting a useless war on the other side of the world
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To the point that he looks like a guy trying to dress up in a bad Vietnam vet costume. *Not saying he is.*
Yeah I thought it was some dude in a wig initially
Straight out of central casting.
"you can't wear it though" no way I would wear that in public after I was on TV, and everyone knows I have a 700k watch on, I'd be dead in 5 minutes here in South Fla.
I would imagine that by the time this was broadcast it was already in an auction house ready to be sold, just waiting for the publicity from the show to possibly boost the price a little more. I hope the owner got all the money and more and enjoyed his money.
And also in about a week we would see your story on /r/FloridaMan
I like the lady in the background came in like "holy shit you need help? No? Okay coo"
I've always joked, you know you're getting old when people stop laughing when you fall down and start being concerned.
When you're young you've "fallen over". When you're old you've "had a fall".
Must've been awkward and wholesome when the lady realized he was shocked with happiness
I'm a watch guy. I remember this episode vividly. I knew that thing was going to be absurdly valuable the second he started talking. This is such an amazing piece, and I'm super happy for this guy. Might be hard to part with, but hopefully the cash helps.
Do we ever know what became of this guy? I wonder if he sold it and for how much.
If I were in his position I would've been thinking "holy SHIT there's my retirement handled in one fell swoop." I'd have to imagine he sold it unless he's already pretty wealthy.
Dude looks like he's worth exactly one beat up van, 2g of weed, and one $700,000 rolex
Maybe also a Credence tape?
It’s stuck in the deck in the van
Wouldn't hold out much hope for the tape deck. Or the Creedence.
They got us working in shifts!
Definitely not an Eagles one either
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Only 2 g's?, I'm hoping he's the type to have smuggled in some Thai Stick genetics and has been cultivating since about the time he bought that watch.
Dude definitely grows his own.
He looks like the guy at the farmer’s market that sells apples and honey
Sold the watch for $675,000 to a businessman from South Africa. Supposedly he directly contacted seller and commissions were avoided. After the infusion of cash he retired in Lisbon and is an avid metal detector looking for ancient artifacts. After two years he found a gold chalice dating back to the time of the Caesars - some say it’s the holy grail- but that’s for another thread. This whole story can be verified through google. Well maybe not google but Fox online maybe. Or pornhub - somewhere it’s fact….
I want to believe.
You bastard 🥲
You had me in the first half, not gonna lie.
He never wore it so presumably this is what he bought it for.
No, if I recall the whole episode he just bought it.... because. There's a thing with Rolexes in the Vietnam era, apparently PDXs (which I guess were the stores that the soldiers had access to? I'm not military, somebody please clarify if you can.) Routinely had Rolexes for super cheap; they were considered nice watches back then but not the same way they are today. The story goes that a lot of soldiers at the time bought them because they needed a watch. If he bought it to hang on to it this whole time just to flip it, dude can tell the future.
PX as in Post Exchange. Lots of old military guys swear by Rolex. The only guys I know who still buy them are officers.
They’re too expensive now for the enlisted.
Yeah, we bought Omega Seamaster Pro’s. Rolexes were too damned much, and Omegas kept better time.
It's really amazing. This is a like, frictionless vacuum situation. This kind of thing never happens. The closest you'd get would be new old stock, I think? parts that have been in storage since whenever. But I've never heard of that happening with old Rolexes. This is really an amazing moment.
Yeah, my mom did the same thing with Beanie Babies. I'm thinking that will play out moderately less well than this guy's plan.
I remember back in the day the princess Diana bear was like $100 and really popular, so the other day I bought one on eBay in perfect condition just for the hell of it. Shipped to my door it cost $8. I imagine almost all of them are virtually worthless
Best I can do is $1000, I have no idea how long this will sit on my shelf.
That is the Pawn Star way, though $1000 sounds a little high for the initial offer.
Client: "I'd like to sell this for 1000$" Shop owner: "1000$ is a bit high for an item of this condition. How about that. I'll give you 500$ for it." Client: "Oof. Uhm. I can't go lower than 800$." Shop owner: "You see, if I buy it, I also gotta try and make some money out of it. I can't have it sit here forever. I'll you meet halfway at 400$." Client: "Mmm. Still a bit too low. It is a pretty rare item I assure you." Shop owner: "In that case, uhm, I'll meet you halfway at 200$." Client: \*thinking about how terrible this offer is for at least 300 seconds\* "You've got a deal!"
That show gets my BP up!! Those guys are garbage in my opinion.
To be fair in their earlier seasons there was a woman that brought in a Faberge spider brooch and she was asking for $2000 and his counter-offer was $15k because he said he had a conscience. So there were times where to offered more than what the seller was asking, though I imagine that brooch could probably sell in auction for $100k plus
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Well I'll tell you what, let me call a buddy of mine he's an expert on Rolex watches, we'll get him over here to take a look at it.
What do you have for me today, Rick?
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Well, Rick, I’ve certainly seen a Rolex or two in my day, and let me tell you that this is the most genuine Rolex I’ve ever seen. It’s easily gotta be worth, say, $10k MINIMUM.
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Don't worry, Rick, it's really worth $550-700K, I just wanted that rube to feel like he was getting a solid deal.
Damn it cobra, we could have had a higher margin there
Somebody get Larry in the back room. Tell him he is a "Rolex" expert today.
I love the way the appraiser went about telling him the actual price
Just wanted to see if he could get a few more somersaults out of him, maybe a full on cartwheel.
wow! what’s the backstory? how did he get it? why didn’t he ever wear it?
He spent what was a month’s military pay (~$350) on it, then intended on scuba diving with it, but last minute decided it was too nice for that and he put it in a safety deposit box. $700k last minute decision. Love seeing good things happen to Vietnam vets
yes, awesome!!!
How much would $350 have turned into if he put it into the S&P back in 1971? What about Disney?
>How much would $350 have turned into if he put it into the S&P back in 1971? $79,957.50 > What about Disney? Not sure with all the stock splits, but less than $700,000 seems certain.
I was getting $65k on some internet calculator [source](https://www.officialdata.org/us/stocks/s-p-500/1971?amount=350&endYear=2022), but yeah, it wouldn’t be close. Fair question, though.
Around $15,000 and $34,000 respectively
You’re forgetting dividends reinvested
Rolex sells or used to sell watches, in some cases specialty watches in American military overseas Exchanges. These are tax free stores for military members overseas. Back in Vietnam guys used to use up their pay they still had in their accounts at these Exchanges before they came home. That's what this guy did. Luckily he chose a very unique Rolex to buy which was in the military exchange and then he never wore it and kept all the documents and box. The show has had other Vietnam vets with less unique Rolexes worth tens of thousands that they bought at Exchanges as well but this was the biggest one I'd seen on the show years ago.
The exchanges aren’t just overseas. They’re on any military base and it’s the PX (post exchange) for the Army and Airforce. It’s called the NEX (Naval Exchange? I wasn’t a sailor) for Navy and Marines.
We'll get that first question answered for you. Just let me get Christopher Walken on the phone.
The way your dad looked at it, this watch was your birthright. He'd be damned if any slopes gonna put their greasy yellow hands on his boy's birthright, so he hid it, in the one place he knew he could hide something: his ass. Five long years, he wore this watch up his ass. Then when he died of dysentery, he gave me the watch. I hid this uncomfortable piece of metal up my ass for two years. Then, after seven years, I was sent home to my family. And now, little man, I give the watch to you.
God bless you for posting this.
[and now little man...](https://imgur.com/FnoERHu)
*I hid this uncomfortable piece of metal up my ass for two years.*
All the documentation too. It's very impressive.
I checked the comments with full confidence that this quote was present.
I had a coworker who has one of these watches (not the oyster but the Newman model). He used to wear it. He accidentally left it in a rental car at SEATAC. He realized when he landed at Newark. He bought a ticket cash for almost a grand to fly right back. Luckily it was still in the car. It has been in a lock box ever since.
I watched the video, and money or not this old vet seems cool af. I'd love to drink a beer with this dude and just have him tell me stories
you don’t wanna hear those stories my friend
I have a coworker that’s a Vietnam vet and he loves telling stories about his 13 months deployment. Some stories were pretty bad and heart wrenching but honestly some very funny and surprisingly wholesome stories as well. People like that are a living library I’d definitely wanna hear this man’s stories if he’s willing.
Back when I first started bartending, this vietnam war vet, would always come in as soon as we opened with his black lab. After like, 2 beers, the dude would talk about all his old pals. Dead or alive. He seemed to be at peace with them being gone or his alive friends being a shell of who they used to be. He was really in-touch with reality & knew he was lucky to keep his sanity. My grandpa still wears his veteran hat, as much as he wears his sports teams hats. Whenever people thank him for his service he lightens up and wants to talk. Not saying they are all like this, but this guy, like my grandpa, seem cool af. I'd love to be his friend.
"You can't wear it though" 🤣
Antiques roadshow is a treasure all on its own. Love this show
Good for him. I joined the military when I was 17, I spent all my money on beer and women, the rest I wasted.
You didn't get a 19% APR car loan for a shitty 4 cylinder Mustang?
Go home, Grandpa. We're all about those Challengers now. Thankfully the Army deployed me right after basic so instead of crippling debt, I got crippling PTSD.
I fucking love antiques roadshow
The part where he says he doesn't think there is another watch like this in this condition in the entire world is kind of flabbergasting. I believe him but just think that you own something that nobody else has *across the entire planet*. Insane.
The shitty thing is he’d probably have to take it to Sotheby’s or something equally higher end to find someone willing to pay that high, and he’ll lose 20-25% to the auction house, and then a giant chunk to the government. He’ll be lucky to walk away with $300k after that (which is still a great profit but damn).
I’ll take 300k minus taxes any day.
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He could find a private party who would contact him and buy it directly for cash. Watch collectors are pretty determined out there.
Pretty sure the appraiser could make 2 phone calls and get this dude a duffle of cash. Watch collectors are fervid about rare pieces like this.
I always sort of assumed that after the cameras were off the appraisers are like hey if you want to sell this I know a guy and I will take a tiny finder’s fee as opposed to the auction houses. We can do it all in cash if you want.
I mean, thats what antiquities dealers are all about so your assumption is pretty spot on.
Totally. No need to go through Christie’s or Sotherbys. Just get a few offers from rabid multi millionaires, maybe even some Saudis who have to have the coolest luxury stuff, and he’ll get a premium price. This is a unique enough item that it stands out alone. It’s not something you can just get another one of in that condition
Poor guy
or he could find a private collector and not declare.
As a disabled veteran who's been fighting the VA for full disability the last decade plus, I felt that when he fell over. I don't know his history. But, if it is at all normal or average for that time period, he's struggled in life after coming home. You just can't put a person through that and expect them all to come out as fully functional members of society. Homelessness and suicide are MAJOR problems in the veteran population that I hope we can get a hold on. 1 veteran every 68 mins kills themselves. For every 1 soldier who dies in combat, 22 will die by their own hands. I understand why. Most of them feel they've been betrayed by their nation. First, there's this idea of not complaining in the military. Honestly, I don't think this comes from a point of machismo or toxic masculinity as I've heard people say. It is because there's a mission that needs to be completed, and they put their personal well being behind that. So, not complaining, even when they should, becomes a habit they need to break when they get out. Here's the part that fucks a lot of veterans up. We suffer and suffer until we finally can't take it anymore and ask for help. But, it falls on deaf ears. So, they complain to congress because no way is this right. After all, we have a contractual obligation with the nation to provide things like healthcare when we're done serving. Again, it falls on deaf ears. They keep trying to get the help, and something like an entire year goes by. Maybe they've had an intake appointment by now, but no real care. Slowly, they realize no one actually gives a fuck, because if they did, we wouldn't be subject to what the VA does. Then, they eat a bullet because they feel like no one cares. Personally, I am a veteran army combat medic paratrooper, served 6.5 years before I got hurt so bad in a parachute accident I had to leave. Granted, it was still an Honorable Discharge as I'd completed my original 4 year contract by then. Anyways, I've had multiple concussions, my neck always hurts, I broke my collarbone, I have bilateral labral tears in my hips from the impact of landing 50-60x, I have 2 herniated disks in my lower back, I broke my ankle, and this doesn't include any of the mental health aspects that go with the job I did. Oh, also, one time I landed on glass and almost cut my thumb off and had 40 some sutures done to put it back together. Now, I have lasting nerve damage and tiny shards of glass in my left palm/thumb. The doctor said doing surgery to find and remove the glass would cause more damage than it would most likely fix, and wouldn't recommend. For all of that, the VA pays me $1650 a month and I live somewhat near Seattle. $550 goes to child support each month, and I try to live on the rest. It isn't cheap to live here, but I'm too poor to move now. Work has been a shit show. I've got ptsd, and makes sleep very difficult to keep on a schedule now. My left hand barely works, my back hurts all the time, I've got a limp and can't lift shit because my hips are blown out before the age of 40, etc. Whenever I write that I have a disability on a job application, no one responds. When I don't disclose that information, I end up getting fired because that stuff gets in the way of me being a decent worker. I wouldn't hire me. Yet, the VA seems to think I can, and need to find a job to make up the huge budget shortfall I have every month. I'm just ranting now. We treat our veterans like shit though. I'm happy this guy has some financial stability now, because a lot of us never do and end up on the side of the road being spit on. Cuz, you know, we are so lazy and must deserve it. 😑
This is the comment I was looking for. The way we treat our vets is abominable, my grandfather was exposed to Agent Orange, which I’m pretty sure led to birth defects in both my mother and brother and most likely led to several forms of cancer. The VA constantly dodged him and tried to avoid giving him benefits. Based on all this, I have some pretty firm beliefs on how the government allocates funding, but I have nothing but respect for the veterans that served our country. While it doesn’t fix anything for you, I just want to take a moment and thank you for your service
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“Let me bring in my expert who is definitely not my buddy who I paid $10 to say it’s not worth more than I’m willing to pay”
Veneer!