Incredible tale of the ultimate Rolex barn find in the Mojave Desert
- A watch collector has made the ‘ultimate’ Rolex barn find deep in the Mojave Desert
- He simply followed the signs leading the way to a thrift store in the Las Vegas desert
- After advising a browsing local not to let go of his classic Rolex for too little money – his kindness paid off
Published on Jun 05, 2024 at 9:11 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Jun 06, 2024 at 4:19 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
In a story that’s proof that good vibes bring good things, one watch collector made the ‘ultimate’ Rolex barn find deep in the Mojave Desert.
While it might seem like an unlikely location, he simply followed the ramshackle signs leading the way to a thrift store.
After advising a browsing local not to let go of his classic Rolex for too little money – his kindness certainly paid off.
READ MORE! Rolex unveils stunning new timepieces for 2024 with a few surprises
The store in the Mojave Desert
Watch collector and content creator, John Karambelas is the owner of the Instagram page @barnfindwatches.
He was en route from Vegas to his home in LA when signs to a random thrift store in the middle of the desert caught his eye.
After he followed the signs, he came upon a nice store, before asking the owner what watches he had on offer.
While nothing in stock was of interest, a browsing local was keen to interject.
The man with the Rolex
He asked Karambelas whether he was looking for a Rolex and told him that he had a Rolex Explorer he’d purchased while stationed in Da Nang, Vietnam, as a marine between 1967 and 1968.
The local had planned to sell the watch to the thrift store for $100 – the same he’d paid for it in 1968.
Karambelas warned him not to, advising that it ‘could be worth thousands of dollars’.
Not unlike this veteran who discovered the true worth of the rare 1960 Rolex he purchased decades ago.
When the shop owner encouraged him to bring it to the Mojave Desert store, he rang within half an hour to say he couldn’t track it down.
Karambelas carried on his journey home from the Mojave Desert, firmly believing he was out of luck – and down a Rolex.
And we love tales of lucky people unearthing rare Rolex, like this one found that is so rare it had an expert baffled.
And this Rolex that a surfer found on the ocean floor, which has been fully restored.
The Rolex Explorer
To his surprise, 10 days later Karambelas received a call from the man saying he’d finally tracked it down.
“I drove the 400-mile round trip and ended up buying ‘my Explorer’,” he enthused.
“It was a Rolex Explorer Mk1 1967. And it was real.
While the box, papers, and band were missing, the original crystal remained intact as it had been kept in a tin for 30 years – but it doesn’t matter to Karambelas.
“I’ll never sell that watch,” he concluded.
Want more Rolex news? One of the rarest Rolex watches in the world, completely different to others, sold for a record $3.5million at auction.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
