Hello Patricia,
Thank you for sending in the photos of your uncle’s Rolex watch to Mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that today.
TITLE:
Gent’s, water-resistant, center seconds, stainless steel mid-size, manually wound wristwatch with a stainless steel Rolex Oyster link bracelet with deployment clasp (not shown), “Oyster Speed-King Precision” model, ref. 6420, case no. 270963, made by Rolex, Geneva, Switzerland, circa 1957/58. . .
PROVENANCE:
Originally purchased by Charles Shealy King January 30, 1958 by my uncle when he was serving on the USS Tidewater for a purchase price of $45. The watch was serviced on Nov. 22, 1971. His niece, Patricia Williams has the watch with its original box, the case it came in with the price tag attached.
DESCRIPTION:
Case – 30mm, two leaf, tonneau shaped case, polished and brushed stainless steel, round bezel with screwed-down case back and screwed down crown, fully integrated with a stainless steel Rolex Oyster link bracelet with deployment clasp (not shown). Most likely a Plexiglas crystal overlies the dial. . .
Dial - Silvered dial with applied steel boat shaped baton hour indices at the quarters except for the Coronet at twelve and dart-shaped steel baton hour indices at the balance of the hours. The open bar minutes/seconds track encircles the dial at the mid-baton level. There are steel luminous leaf (‘feuille’) hands and a red center seconds pointer. The dial is signed, “Rolex, Oyster Speed King Precision”. . .
Movement: Not shown but most likely the Rolex caliber 1215, a manually wound, rhodium-plated movement with 17 jewels. The movement also contains a straight line lever escapement, a monometallic balance, dual shock absorbers, and a self-compensating flat balance spring. I believe the movement carries the marking, “Rolex Precision” The case, dial, and movement are triple signed.
CONDITION:
Case – The photos are too blurry for me to make a decision about condition so I will assume it is in good-very good shape from what I can see.
Dial –Same problem but it looks relatively clean and proper in terms of the type of baton hours and the minute ring. I believe such watches with the red center seconds hand were labeled ‘Precision’ while those with a small subsidiary seconds dial were marked ‘Imperial’, although both were virtually identical otherwise.
Movement – Assumed to be original, genuine and functioning. Overall condition good-very good.
HISTORICAL:
The Rolex Oyster originated in 1926 and by post war times was fast becoming a true watch icon. Incredibly, the Oysters of today ago are wholly similar to this example from nearly three quarters of a century earlier.
However, the real point is, for all would-be collectors and enthusiasts, the Oysters provide a prestige, reliable watch that will probably never be ‘out of fashion’ and thus never prove a bad investment.
The 'Speed king' came to prominence during WW2 when Hans Wilsdorf (the Swiss founder of Rolex) offered that any prisoner of war held in German camps could order any Rolex model and pay the cost whenever. The idea was to raise moral and thousands of Rolex were ordered and sent on this basis into German POW camps. The most popular choice of model; the Rolex Speed king and the model continued to be manufactured into the 1970's. . .
The price is greatly dependent on the condition of the watch and I cannot honestly see it well enough to make a determination of its current condition. Therefore, I am going to provide you with a price range from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ and that explains the wide spread in the numbers when some of these watches were sold at various auctions in recent times. So, if it were determined that the watch is in very good condition the fair market value will be right in the middle of the range provided. If it is only in fair condition it would be below the lowest number, and if it were in mint condition it would be above the higher number. The range of fair market prices for this documented watch with provenance ranges from $1000-$1800. Retail prices, of course, would be higher.
I hope that this has been of some help to you with this wonderful family heirloom.
My best,
David