Appraisal: Rolex Gold & Diamond Bracelet Watch, ca. 1955

GUEST: We had gone to Europe in 1958 to visit places that my father had known when he was a child, and we were shopping in Geneva, in Switzerland.

And we saw this watch in the window of a watch shop.

We all admired it, and then we left.

And my father secretly went back and bought the watch and gave it to my mother for Christmas.

It was a nice surprise.

APPRAISER: Wow.

GUEST: And we all recognized it.

We all said, "Oh, that beautiful watch!"

(chuckles) I don't wear it very much, because I'm just not used to dressing up with jewelry a lot.

But my mother was, and I can picture it on her arm.

It's simple, but it's beautiful.

APPRAISER: And that was 1958?

GUEST: '58 or '59.

APPRAISER: Uh-huh.

GUEST: We were there both summers, in Europe.

APPRAISER: The watch, at first glance, looks like a golden diamond bracelet.

The most interesting part is that the watch was made by Rolex.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: So Rolex has always been noted as, as a waterproof watch, a diver's watch, the Oyster Perpetuals.

But Rolex did, especially in the '50s and '60s...

GUEST: Ah!

APPRAISER: ...they did-- mainly for distribution in Europe, not so much the United States-- they made, and had contracted to be made, lots of very wild and really designer and just great-looking ladies' fashion pieces.

I'll show you how-- of course, you know how it works.

When you open it up here and here, there is a manual wind Rolex watch in the center.

And when we measured it, it's six-and-a-half inches.

Standard is about six-and-three-quarter to seven.

So it's possible that one link had been taken out.

But it seems to have, uh, fit you fine, and it seems to fit most people.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: The watch then, also, it's on a hinge, and it comes back up.

GUEST: It made it easier to wind, wind it.

APPRAISER: To be able to wind it.

GUEST: Yeah, 'cause I... APPRAISER: Otherwise you'd never be able to wind.

GUEST: Yes, exactly.

APPRAISER: So that was for the winding, and then that cover.

So it just becomes a absolutely beautiful piece of jewelry that could be worn as a watch or just as a bracelet.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: The engraving is all completely done by hand.

It's some type of stylized leaves.

It's all 18-karat.

Rolex always used the highest quality of material in all of their watches.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: So the diamonds by today's standards would probably be a F to G in color and a VVS in clarity.

And there's approximately two-thirds of a carat of diamonds in the top of the bracelet.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: The 18-karat gold is very thick, it has a very good gauge to it.

Rolex was noted for that small movement.

GUEST: Oh, was it, really?

APPRAISER: That, that was the movement that they did in a lot of their fashion pieces.

GUEST: I think that when you look at it, you think, "Oh, my gosh, that's so expensive."

But when we were in Switzerland in 1958, gold was $32 an ounce.

(laughs) APPRAISER: An ounce!

GUEST: I mean, it wasn't anything-- I don't, I don't even know what gold is worth now, but it's... APPRAISER: Right now, it's $1,740 an ounce.

GUEST: Wow, and so the difference between that for... APPRAISER: It's a big difference, yes.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: Do you have any idea what your dad paid for it back in '58 or '59?

GUEST: I was maybe 13 or 14 years old, and money wasn't... APPRAISER: You didn't care.

(both laughing) GUEST: ...my main interest.

APPRAISER: Generally speaking, it probably would have been somewhere in the $500 to $700 price range.

In 2022, in the retail market, this watch would probably be priced somewhere between $12,000 and $15,000.

GUEST: Wow!

I thought it would be $1,000.

Something like that!

(both laugh) I don't buy jewelry.

APPRAISER: Each link's $1,000.

(laughing) GUEST: Yeah, right.

Wow!

(laughs)