Granddad’s priceless reaction on Antiques Roadshow as watch he bought for £35 is now worth £40,000
A GRANDDAD was left gobsmacked on Antiques Roadshow after discovering a watch he bought for £35 is worth up to £40,000.
Roger Cooper, 71, bought the Omega Omega Speedmaster ‘Ultraman’ 51 years ago while serving in the Merchant Navy in Hong Kong.
But it has proved to be a shrewd investment as the watch has increased 885 times in value.
Roger said: “I was in Hong Kong and became friendly with a guy who knew a wholesaler who I could get a good price on a nice watch from for my 21st birthday.
“I spent £35 on it, which considering my weekly wage was £10, was quite a lot, but I’m very glad I held on to it for all these years now.
“I wore it while sailing dinghys until about 1983 so it did get bashed about a bit. I decided then to switch it for a cheap Casio and tuck the Speedmaster away safely in a drawer.”
PRICELESS
Roger, from Havant, Hampshire, has since sold the watch for £31,000 with auction house Gardiner Houlgate.
Auctioneer David Hare said: “The Ultraman is an extremely rare version of the more common Speedmaster made famous by Neil Armstrong wearing one on the Moon.
“The only difference is that it has a very rare red/orange second hand and was made in limited numbers only in 1968.
“The Ultraman featured in a Japanese TV series a few years later, which is how it has come to be known by this name. ‘These watches are extremely scarce and I only know of a couple of examples which have been sold at auction in recent years.”
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The gentleman’s bracelet stainless steel watch, which has a very scarce red/orange second hand, is in full working order.
There are some surface marks to the glass and hands as Roger used to wear it while sailing.
The watch was sold with its original import document from February 1969.