Antiques Roadshow expert leaves Rolex watch owner jaw-dropped with valuation

An expert on the Antiques Roadshow left the owner of a Rolex watch stunned by their valuation of the item. It came after the guest shared that they had inherited the antique, which was said to have cost around £200 decades ago.

An episode of the BBC show filmed at Woodhorn Museum in Northumberland, which first aired in 2022 but has since been repeated, saw specialist Richard Price analyse the watch. He said that it was from Rolex's GMT Master range.

During the segment, which has attracted attention in recent days after being uploaded to the show's YouTube channel last week, Richard said: "Rolex collectors obviously know what this is and this is a Rolex Oyster GMT Master. And they refer to everything by the reference number. In this case, it is the reference 1675. It's also here on the bill of sale, which I see is from a Hong Kong retailer, in the early part of 1971."

READ MORE: Good Morning Britain host delivers 'catastrophic' breaking news after 'travel chaos'

READ MORE: Fearne Cotton breaks silence following marriage split with eight word statement

When asked who had bought the watch, the guest shared that it had been a "gift" to his dad, before telling Richard: "About five years ago he passed it to me for inheritance. He's still alive but he just thought give it to me to see what I want to do with it. And it's been in a drawer ever since."

Speaking about the watch's history, Richard said: "The airline industry in the 40s and 50s were making much longer trips. Transatlantic, for instance." He continued by saying: "And pilots used to fly and work on GMT - Greenwich Mean Time."

The specialist added: "You've probably heard of Pan Am, Pan American Airways, they were in discussion with Rolex in the mid 50s to develop a watch with an extra hand that could be set to GMT. This thing was developed, as I say, really specifically for PanAm, initially, in 1954. By 1959, or certainly just around five years later, this reference, which is the 1675, became the standard GMT Master."

He went on to praise the guest for having "all the paperwork" for the antique watch that had been inherited. Richard said to him: "What is so lovely about this is you've got all the paperwork, what we call in the trade the full set."

Assessing the watch, Richard said that the bezel is "original," adding: "Had it been changed, the value would have been reduced." He however said that the bracelet on the watch was "not original," having been replaced at some point.

Richard said about the bracelet: "This will be what they call a service replacement." He added: "The only thing that spoils it because otherwise it's lovely original condition."

He suggested that the watch would have been bought for just under £200 in 1971. He said: "That £200 fifty years ago has actually done quite well. If it had had the original bracelet, with the full set, we could have put two noughts on and made it £20,000."

Richard continued by saying that the replacement bracelet had reduced the valuation. Sharing his valuation, he said: "But it's not got the original bracelet so I'm going to take it back to, in this condition, around £14,000."

Jaw-dropped, the guest was visible surprised by the figure quoted by Richard. He reacted to the news: "What? Whoa! No way!" Richard asked: "You happy?" The owner responded as he laughed: "Yeah! I didn't expect that at all."

The segment has attracted reaction on YouTube recently after being uploaded to Antiques Roadshow's channel last week. One person wrote in the comments section just days ago: "Love his reaction in the end."

Others said they had expected the watch to be worth more. One viewer said: "I honestly thought it'd be worth a lot more than that. Hell you pay more than that for a modern day Submariner." Another said: "To be honest I thought it was worth more?"

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Threads.