The Rolex Tritium

Taken from AR.

[@michaelfleming8490]

This is the highly desirable “milsub.” Unfortunately, this particular example has been terribly messed with. The sword hands and the bezel (which should have minute graduations around the entire bezel, not just for the first 15 minutes) which have been replaced by standard Submariner hands and bezel. That is easily explainable for the fact that this happens routinely when Rolex services their watches and replaces crucial parts because of their lack of interest in vintage heritage and a greater concern to make the watch shiny and new with the latest and “greatest” parts. But the most troubling thing is the fact that there are lug holes in the case which is completely inconsistent with a milsub. I don’t know if somebody drilled lug holes in there and then attached that steel oyster bracelet that we see or what happens. But it’s a travesty and a tragedy and this watch is definitely not worth £35,000 after everything that’s been done to it. And the appraiser was incorrect when he said that the Royal Navy specified there must be minute graduations for the first 15 minutes. That has been a standard feature on the Submariner bezel since the beginning. What the Navy specified was that there had to be minute graduations around the entire bezel; which is, again, one of the unique features of a milsub.

[@dellwright1407]

I'm afraid you are wrong about what you wrote "terribly messed with" - no it hasnt! . Milsubs WERE issued with Mercedes hands and 15 mins bezel. You are confusing the 5517 (only Sword Hands) with the 5513 which could be Sword Hands OR Mercedes Hands - and also could be 60min bezel insert OR 15min bezel insert.

[@actionarslan]

At the end, he's like, now give me my watch back

[@mikekamler]

hahaha! That's exactly what I thought! :D

[@watchettv]

lol so true

[@samuelpezzetta7084]

Same :D Give me back my precious watch!!

[@anazyakub3836]

Totally!!

[@thatnickjones]

I'm addicted to these videos. I don't even care about watches. I just find their reactions so genuine. The appraisers often allow the moment to "breathe," which makes it even better. It's always great to see someone realize the resale value of an item that they ascribe so much sentimental value to.

[@gregoryspatisserie9858]

Agreed haha!

[@daviswendye]

Guy with his good boi pupper in the background. 💕

[@mulemule]

*It shows that scarcity trumps condition. What a find!*

[@johnmc3862]

The presenter should be in James Bond, just for his accent.

[@artkingofwholefoods74]

That first watch was cooool. 😎

[@spanishjohn420]

the guy didn't want to give it back! lol

[@kurtschlarb9762]

That Tritium paint on the dial and hands went dark around 1989.

[@silverstar4289]

The host said the words quickly, but these watches were made for Special Boat Service- British version of SEALS, with a lengthier history of achievement. Their Army counterpart is SAS. Which answered my wonder as to why it is a traditional watch, opposed to a very large face and wrist bands for the cold water diving with dry suits. It was made for service on all sorts ofwater operations, beyond scuba

[@511dydy]

So british the way he reacts

[@robertgregory1927]

Love it!

[@simonlunt353]

Great watch l love it not because of its price tag but what made me laugh was that the man that gave him the value was shaking his hand l was thinking is he going to say thank you and walk away 😂

[@ravey99]

A really positive reaction from the owner for once instead of just saying, yeah fine, whatever.

[@sarcastamusraconteur6881]

i don't think i have ever heard someone respond with "yeah,fine,whatever".

[@johnmc3862]

Watching the videos mate. 😂

[@Edward1312]

A MilSub how could you not know, its one of the most desirable Rolexes!!

[@geraldjyrkinen4276]

Awesome 😎

[@kencur9690]

“Now I know you must have paid a fortune for it, but I’m sure you could make a quid or two out of it.” “I bought it for 400 pounds.” That’s when the look of our friendly expert turned monstrous. His restraint was visibly apparent as his thundering gaze froze on his newly established, yet instantly eternal arch-nemesis. “Perhaps I shouldn’t do gardening it...” “Oh no you must, you *must* ...muhahahahahahaha!”

[@TheFiown]

I never took my Rolex off and even when building and restoring a house or gardening. The glass had been badly scratched with my wrist got trapped but it polished back naturally over time. I would never sell it.

[@johnmc3862]

On your last buck, you’d sell it. 😂

[@TheFiown]

@@johnmc3862 I have been on 'my last buck' more than once and homeless twice but I have always managed to keep my head above water and my Rolex on my wrist. I DID sell my jewellery by weight for food mainly for my dogs but some things will stay with me.

[@peterhoare3219]

I had a 80s Seiko digital. You could wear it in the shower, the surf, use it all day to hammer nails, wear it in a nuclear blast. Didn't affect it

[@katerinapatiniotis5598]

The auctioneer was holding on to the watch.....and the old man was looking rather nervous...😝😝😝

[@alphalunamare]

he must wear it in the garden so that the Tritium gets excited enough to glow in the dark!

[@MichaelWilliams-mo1vv]

Lovely looking watch. I believe known as a 'mil sub' however it should have sword shaped hands .

[@phreak761]

They were stolen when he had it serviced.

[@bsame]

@@phreak761 it wasn't stolen, Rolex just doesn't give the parts back

[@evilish888]

Brits are sofa king classy and respectful Cheers

[@vecernicek2]

Did he give him the watch back?

[@mike62mcmanus]

The expert didn't want to let go..

[@khunstefan]

The hands are wrong, bezel is wrong. I would like to see the case better, coz I can't determine if it has lug holes. 2:32 into the clip it looks like it have lugholes, and that is wrong. Still its a cool watch and really valuable since t have the correct dial and case back.

[@milsub59]

Is it the right back for the head? ....nice thing, but messed about .

[@Ronbo710]

I wish it had the sword hands.

[@CorvusOfMellori]

Wow.

[@axiomist1076]

Hell, I wouldnt sell it. Id wear it every day.

[@jimroadhers]

Why didn't he tell the guy about Tritium and it's properties? It glows 24hr a day without any light...oh well

[@HughesEnterprises]

The tritium in that thing died in the 1980’s. Nothing left of it today.

[@lecorsaire2283]

OMG. He probably had the bezel and hands replaced during some service.

[@rmartin5285]

Now if you put 400 quid into Apple or Microsoft in 1977...........cooool watch!

[@Xapi3]

Sword hands have been replaced. What a shame

[@jensc.h.548]

Wrong, the model with the sword hands has the markers all around the bezel

[@Xapi3]

@@jensc.h.548 that was probably replaced as well

[@timothythomas1626]

$500.000 Dollars if not more

[@jesustrevino4159]

At the beginning of the video I thought it was Gordon ramsey talking

[@katerinapatiniotis5598]

jesus Treviño Sounds like a classy Gordon Ramsay.

[@slowbill432]

O POSH NOW

[@smr144]

And as always, Rolex is King

[@George-dk8cm]

The watch looks wrong, how did he mount a bracelet on a milsub?

[@Wraggsterino]

MrHarrison true dat bro.

[@JS97278]

There are bracelets that can go over fixed bars, Bonklips for example

[@ckirkwood6193]

I suspect he had the fixed bars drilled out so he could put a bracelet on it. The hands were wrong as was the bezel…probably replaced during service….😢

[@brandonm4471]

Him: This isn't the james bond watch Me: oh well Him: its better than that me: *does the cardi b head turn*

[@overman2306]

It is worth about £150k in 2024

[@gabec6522]

Pawn stars well it's not in the best shape looks like it's been through war 10dollars

[@matthewc4451]

Pounds of what

[@dellwright1407]

££ not lbs.

[@pauldoyle3034]

90⁰

[@arghjayem]

This guy clearly hasn’t read any of the James Bond books. In the books Bond wears a Rolex But not specifically a Submariner. The Submariner was only linked to Bond when it came to filming Dr No.....they needed a watch for Connery to wear and they ended up using one of the Stunt Guys’ watch. This stunt guy was a former Royal Navy Diver who had been issued a Rolex Submariner during his service and that’s how it ended up on Bond’s wrist. Quite appropriate really considering Bond is supposed to be a formal Naval officer so could’ve been issued a Submariner himself. But in the books Bond wears a Rolex Explorer, although it’s never specifically called that just referred to as a Rolex sports watch, but the author (himself a former intelligence officer and naval officer) wore a Rolex Explorer and because the whole idea of Bond is inspired by his own experiences and life in the intelligence service it’s safe to say Bond was wearing a similar watch to him. I mean Live and Let Die is the first time in a James Bomd novel that Rolex is mentioned but it’s never stated which particular model, but he does use it under water so safe to assume it’s a sports watch with a reasonable amount of water resistance, so could point to a Sub but I still contest that it is far more likely to be an Explorer for the aforementioned reason.

[@xpusostomos]

Bond wore a Seiko, Roger Moore told me.

[@Prabhu_njd]

it's not worth that much as what they guy say.. cos it has a replaced dial and hands maybe due to servicing.. that dial has reapplied lumes on the indices.. so that watch is still unique and rare but worth much less than an all original milsub..

[@7071t6]

WTF i have a Casio that cost me $10.00 and i can still tell the time and if you want a 660 ft approved watch then i will see you when your down at that level under the water, which i doubt if anyone on this upload has been down that deep under water for a start ? Its like anything these days its very easy to find out about things that are wroth $$, but its only worth $$ if the people are going to pay for it, like the first digital watches the Gold with REd dials try to find an original Casio or other branding of the same watchs when the dials were digital ?

[@Goodlar]

+7071t6 did you even make a point? Either way, it's obviously not about using it for it's intended purpose for a lot of people. It's about collection value, potential investment and certainly status for some. "I have my *insert cheap time telling device here* and it tells the time just fine" is also a fucking wank thing to say. You clearly missed the thing about watches, to the point that I doubt you were even serious to begin with

[@Prabhu_njd]

@@MT-kx2uc every vintage watch collector cares. Cos as long as the wattch doesn't have period correct parts then it's merely like a franken watch.

[@And-rc9yy]

shame it keeps crap time

[@dellwright1407]

Untrue, when serviced and regulated (as it should be every 10 years) it will keep great time.

[@And-rc9yy]

That depends on your interpretation of great.

[@dellwright1407]

@@And-rc9yy Very good time then.... even my Seiko Alpinist keeps good time. If you want perfect time then get an Apple Watch or use your phone. These vintage Rolex pieces are gorgeous - just unfortunately now very expensive.

[@And-rc9yy]

@@dellwright1407 My post is 3 years old, when I look at it now I'm a little ashamed of my statement. I've never personally owned a Rolex, though I used to frequently belittle a friend who had three. He was forever having to reset the time. I just got a bad impression of them (even though I was slightly envious).

[@thomaswright1069]

I'm sorry Antiques Roadshow but your expert is wrong on many counts here! The bezel on a Milsub should have markers around the hole circumference of the insert to assist the operator with more detailed tracking; early examples with the Explorer dial, which this is not, do however only have the first 15 marked. Furthermore, it should indeed have 'sword' hands and these are not them. I do not doubt that the expert is correct by stating that it is a Military issue Submariner, but I suspect that the hands and the bezel have been changed during a service, which he failed to mention. Indeed the lume on the hands appears very white for a watch of that age, suggesting that they are replacements. This is a very desirable and rare watch but the expert's appraisal of it is rather confusing!

[@PhilipKerry]

The Royal Navy requested that only the first 15 were marked so you are wrong mate , with your use of the word operator I assume that you are American so that explains your mistake .....

[@auxiliary4023]

Not only are the hands and bezel incorrect but also the case must be to fit the bracelet as the original fixed bars wouldn't allow it. It's a mess and that presenter is a waste of BBC rations.

[@MrChrissy1r]

I happen to know that most of these Super duper "finds" are in fact set up by the producers of the programs, inasmuch as known items, are "brought along at "random to be valued", but the fact is everything is already known about them!!

[@janebrown1706]

Oh I wonder if U get any joy out of anything?

[@louispaulrutko4384]

I have a submariner Rolex from 72' not this one T from GB mine goes to three thousand feet and it's op which is SWEEP movement and the Rolex value is $8000 on site this older Rolex is below par in movement and diving depth and is much older whereas mine is the top of the line for submainers

[@rosshouston8771]

Flute bands

[@masterbeethoven8209]

Flute bands?

[@lecorsaire2283]

Who cares. A Sea Dweller is not a MilSub. They are not rare. It is not about water depth, chronometer vs. non-chronometer. It is about rarity. You cannot buy one of these military Subs unless you have a spare $100k.

[@derhampaul2182]

It's old

[@dellwright1407]

Exactly - the oldest sport model Rolex are the most valuable ones. Rolex Daytonas can go for £400k +. 1950s and 1960s regular submariners can go for £300k + Old Milsubs cost a fortune now.

[@derhampaul2182]

It's all scratched up

[@dellwright1407]

You could put a new crystal on a watch like this... but dont polish it... will ruin the value.