Grandpa’s 1950s Rolex coming back to life
My Pa Bill was a farmer and successful cattle breeder and by the 1950s had done well enough to buy a Rolex Shock-Resisting gold case ouster style watch.
He died suddenly following an operation on his leg led to a blood clot. He was a fit and healthy man all of his long life and enjoyed nothing more than fixing up some old piece of kit or repurposing some equipment for a new lease on life.
Ten years after his death and his Rolex came to my attention from my mother: cracked glass, missing parts and a borrowed hour hand, non-genuine band and butchered lugs.
A year of working with a local Swiss watchmaker in Adelaide, Australia (trained by Patel Philip), and his Sydney-based parts dealer and we got a breakthrough: genuine Rolex spares were found in Europe that matched this small Rolex calibre and case.
The watchmaker is chuffed at how well the repair has gone, with a leather band fitted via repaired lugs.
Old Pa would be well-pleased with bringing this quality mechanism and beautiful piece of mid-century Rolex design back for a new life.
Keep the memories alive
some pict would be nice
Awesome watch and awesome story.
What a wonderful tribute to your late father - wear that vintage beauty in good health🤙❤️🤙
Well done, what a fantastic job of restoring a wonderful timepiece.
I'm working on a few old pieces myself at the minute, I hope to one day have results like these.
What a nice story - and a watch to match it, too!
Great bit of family history, rent that out for an RM Williams magazine article?!!
Gorgeous watch, even more beautiful story.
I'm not really into Rolex (or gold), but I have to say, that is one fine looking watch.
Very cool story and it is wonderful to have the watch. I think it is important to note that back at that time Rolex didn't have the kind of undertones that exist today. It was a well made watch among other choices, at similar prices. It wasn't the status symbol we know today.
Hello all and thanks for all the comments.
Exciting day today to go and pick up the watch from the watchmaker, Daniel Vogt of Adelaide.
Some of his comments out of interest to the group:
a very challenging refurb because of several missing parts and several non genuine parts.
he wasn't sure it was going to work - but his quote was contingent on successfully getting it going again.
some additional cost to cover the genuine parts sourced in Europe.
Exciting to have on the wrist and was talking to my daughter on the way home, telling her about my grandfather's life, how he built up a farming/cattle enterprise over decades while raising a family, through the 1950s, 60s and 70s ... all the conversations the watch would have overheard in that time, the family history it would have witnessed, that we will never know but can only imagine.
The comment that Rolex wasn't the luxury brand it is now, back then, makes sense. Pa was not into luxury, he was into things that were reliable and worked, as well as had some aesthetic appeal or charm. You could tell that from his cars, his clothes and he also played a mean saxophone and was a keen fan of jazz and big bands.
My mum told me this afternoon he'd be very happy to see the old watch back ticking again. She never thought it would be back, when she spotted it in a cupboard in her widowed mother's place and expressed some interest in it.
It was handed over without a second thought, by Nanna, and passed on to me too, in my turn, also without a second thought.