I paid $45 for a vintage watch at a flea market – it looked scuzzy at first but its ticking gave away its real value
TALK about hitting the jackpot: A $45 flea market find thought to be a fake is now a potential goldmine worth thousands.
Despite the shabby appearance of his find when he first bought it, the thrifter’s gamble paid off handsomely.
A Reddit user revealed that he thought the Rolex he stumbled upon while shopping was fake, but it was an authentic piece from 1980.
“This was super scuzzy when I picked it out of a display case at a flea market,” the original poster wrote.
“I couldn’t quite convince myself it was real, but for a watch that was clearly quite old it seemed a bit too nice,” he said.
The author noticed the watch had “high-beat movement” and “very smooth winding.”
Further piquing his interest was that its case numbers matched with a stainless case.
There was also an 18K white gold bezel — the rim around the face — which seemed to have been produced in the 1980s.
Rolex is a watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland.
It was founded by Hans Wilsdorf in 1905 and has become synonymous with luxury.
“The case was too tight to get open so it was a gamble. In the end, I went home… and then came back and bought it,” he said.
When he went to a watchmaker, the expert confirmed the watch was an authentic Rolex from 1980.
He admitted he only had a “bit of thin hope” that it was real until the watchmaker opened it.
Four features ultimately convinced him it was a vintage Rolex.
First, he said the “winding mechanism was very smooth.” He could “hear the winding clutch gears spinning” without a “heavy ratcheting noise.”
“The movement ticks at a pretty high speed, nearly twice as fast as a typical decent vintage Swiss watch — this is part of why the sweep hand moves so smoothly,” he continued.
He also noted that the “case markings between the lugs were correct, including the model number matching with the features on the watch.”
Finally, the “serial number dated it to around 1980.”
‘The last item was pretty big for me,” he explained.
“Because while it became more common in the last 20 years, I’d never seen a fake from the early ’80s with a nice mechanical movement; most I’d seen were basically trash quartz watches.”
He said no one would believe him, but he only paid $45 for the piece.
“It cost me $300 to get it serviced and the case gasket replaced,” he added.
The watch could be worth around $5,000 in pristine condition, but the original poster wasn’t sure his watch could get that much.
A person in the comments section said the watch could go for $2,700 to $3,000.
Others simply congratulated the thrifter on his find.
“You’d pay far more for that for a higher-quality fake,” one person wrote.
“That’s amazing. You definitely scored big time with this one. And yes, I’ll admit I’m a bit jealous. Enjoy,” a second said.
“If you are one of the few people to ever find a Rolex at a flea market/thrift store…that is the universe telling you it’s yours,” a third wrote.
“Nice Classic design and wow….the brand. Congrats,” a fourth added.