Re: 1936 Rolex Oyster bubbleback

Update!

After some very helpful emails with some very helpful individuals, I feel like I've learned a lot about this watch in a very short amount of time.  Go internet!

First of all, it's most likely Canadian, as it bears the mark of the company described here:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/steveno/aboutw.htm

This isn't totally surprising, as my granddad was known to travel to Canada occasionally, and they even spent at least part of their honeymoon there.

The numbers on the back actually make sense to me now -- the top number (87504) is the serial number, placing it in the 1936-1939 range.  The bottom number (2764) is the case number, which has been very helpful in finding similar watches out there in the world.

As far as its needed repairs, I took it to a jeweler today and he noticed a broken balance staff (or something like that), in addition to a missing screw and screw set on the Auto Rotor whathaveyou.  So it will likely be a non-trivial investment to fix, assuming we can find parts.  I'm not discouraged, though help/advice is appreciated. :)

So thanks, everyone, for all your help!  I'm defintely still interested in hearing any additonal information anyone might have, as well as any recommendations on who to have do the work.  Local is good, skilled/honest is better.

Thanks again!

--
Tim




On 2006-09-05 15:50:50 -0700, Tim Coulter <tim-at-sportbucket-dot-com@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> said:

I've got my grandfather's Rolex, and it's broken. I'd love to get it fixed/restored, but I'm not sure where to start.

In my casual research on the internets, I've found that the serial number indicates it was manufactured around 1936. It's looks to be made of stainless steel, and based on some verbal descriptions it appears to be of the 'bubbleback' variety. That's about all my untrained eye can discern from it. I can try to get some pictures if anyone's interested.

So here's some questions that hopefully someone has the time and/or inclination to help me answer:

1) Any idea how much something like this is worth? Will fixing/restoring it significantly increase its value? I'm not really looking to sell it, as its value to me comes from the fact that it belonged to my grandfather. But if it turns out to be worth a truckload of money, that'd be nice, too.

2) Is repair even a possibility? Obviously, I have no idea what's wrong with it, but I can't imagine that parts for a 70-year old watch are easy to come by. There's significant nostalgic value here, so I'd likely be willing to spend more than it's worth to get it fixed, but my willingness abruptly stops at around the $500 - $700 range.

3) Anyone care to share some of the history of these watches? I'm interested to know about their place in the Rolex lineup, how many were made/sold, what innovations they represented, etc. "Rolex" is one of those search engine keywords that brings up a lot of useless information, so I've had trouble finding any worthwhile reading on the subject.

Thanks for reading. Hope this catches someone's attention.


.

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