Now this happened to me a few years back and I am not so naive today. I had collected a few bubblebacks and the odd sub but wore mostly the standard stainless datejust for work and desk diving.
my local jeweler knew I had interest in Rolex and always called me when one came in for trade or sale and he is a truly nice guy. So I get the call and pop in to his little shop and he shows me a lovely silver dialed 1019 from the original owners father with a nice rivet band and very clean. My buddy Larry had already pulled off the back and it had a couple of service marks on it and was in very decent condition.
I was not selling watches to fund my habit back then so flipping it did not even cross my mind. I just told him that I really had no interest in it and he might get a nice price from Wingates or another dealer in Louisville, Ky which I promptly gave him the phone number.
Fast forward a week later and I thought, Hmmm, I really should have bought that nice 1019. I called Larry back and he recounted that he had sold it to Bob sight unseen for $4000.00. He was very happy as he had paid the son $600.00 for it and had offered it to me for....wait for it....wait for it.
$2000.00. Now you can hear me scream!!!!! So this goes into the urban legend series with the new corvette found in the ladies barn!!
Have a great day. michael
