This rare vintage Rolex was rotting away in a forgotten drawer in someone’s home.
It has now been restored and it’s worth a life-changing amount of money.
This is a 1958 Rolex GMT Master, which means it is the original version of a super exclusive Rolex.
The watch was found in a drawer and it was in a terrible condition.
In car terms, this rare vintage Rolex is basically a barn find.
Obviously it wasn’t running, and the cosmetic conditions were pretty desperate as well.
The crystal was destroyed, the crown was stuck and the bezel wasn’t moving either.
However, after a careful restoration by Wristwatch Revival, it’s up and running again.
And it is now worth a massive amount of cash.
The first thing that had to be fixed was the bezel, which is made from a material with a super complicated name.
It’s called polyoxybenzylmethyleneglycolanhydride.
But people (understandably) just call it Bakelite.
Bakelite used to be used in old watches to provide luminescence but it s no longer used because it is literally radioactive.
The crystal and the gasket around it were replaced, too.
Amazingly, the movement looked pretty good for a watch that hasn’t been worn in ages.
There’s no rust, and nothing is missing.
So all it needed was an ‘oil change’, as it were.
Restoring the watch was no easy task but the result is outstanding, as you can see from the image down below.
A watch like this, in mint condition now that it’s been restored, is easily worth six figures.
The average price in the pre-owned market floats around the six-figure range.
There’s even one on sale from Chrono24 for $195,000.
Imagine that.
