ROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEX

hunterp27 · 2 December 2015, 08:55 AM

So the recent thread regarding polishing versus refinishing made me recall an nice find for a friend.........
I have a buddy who is Rolex trained and certified who branched out on his own many years ago. With all the Rolex watches in the DFW area he decided working for himself was a better proposition than working as the watchmaker for any of the large Rolex resellers (non-AD) here. He doesn't advertise or hustle for business, it's all word of mouth and he seems to stay quite busy. We've known each other since grade school and he's really quiet and low profile kinda guy. He works from a shop at his home where he will take "drop ins" if he knows you but mostly he picks up at several of the area resellers were customers can drop off their piece.
Anyway, he will do full serving, polishing, cleaning, refinishing, fixing broken parts and so on. As you can imagine over time significant amounts of polishing dust and debris accumulates from his polishing wheel. He basically would sweep it up and put it in a box and forget about it. Additionally he'd shake out the area rug and sweep that into the box too. It sorta looked like a box of grayish brown dust. After a number of years it dawned on him to take it and have the PM sorted from the SS and other metals only to find he'd accumulated almost 11K worth of gold. Quite a nice pile of Rolex gold dust you might say.

Hairdude1 · 2 December 2015, 09:02 AM

silverbullet818 · 2 December 2015, 09:12 AM

Woah!

Onikage · 2 December 2015, 09:12 AM

KrismanX · 2 December 2015, 09:16 AM

Sounds like its time to buy himself a nice little finder's gift.

Knappo 1307 · 2 December 2015, 09:26 AM

I like that story...

superdog · 2 December 2015, 09:30 AM

Very cool. Did he buy himself a new Rolex?

kleungsf · 2 December 2015, 09:30 AM

That's why jewelers and goldsmiths sweep their floors by hand. The dust and bits add up in the long run and in some cases tools are melted to recover the gold

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mr Daytona · 2 December 2015, 09:32 AM

Thats just awesome.

BBL · 2 December 2015, 09:34 AM

I like it!

droptopman · 2 December 2015, 09:35 AM

Great story.

MBYSF · 2 December 2015, 09:59 AM

Would love to see a pic of that

tritium8 · 2 December 2015, 10:03 AM

Awesome. Reminds me of sitting at the jewelers designing my wife's ring....small diamonds all over his desk and a few on the floor. Didn't seem to bother him.

brandrea · 2 December 2015, 10:07 AM

RichM · 2 December 2015, 10:13 AM

Good for him. It's like an Xmas bonus.

THC · 2 December 2015, 10:17 AM

Hmmmmm, I would need to see how much gold actually comes off during polishing for me to buy in to this... I honestly do not know though

padi56 · 2 December 2015, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by THC

Hmmmmm, I would need to see how much gold actually comes off during polishing for me to buy in to this... I honestly do not know though

Have to agree.

Lordofrolex · 2 December 2015, 10:19 AM

wow pretty crazy

Tri-Tip · 2 December 2015, 10:36 AM

Sounds like he owes a lot of people a total of $11,000. Maybe $3.00 each???

handsfull · 2 December 2015, 10:36 AM

11k worth of gold dust? Wow. That's quite a bit. I'm starting to understand why some cases are overpolished now - LOL.

LuminousMaximus · 2 December 2015, 10:42 AM

That's it! I'm Never polishing a watch again

SemperFi · 2 December 2015, 11:11 AM

Great story! If he would have sold the gold dust just a few years ago he would have had around 15K. Still a nice haul though.

cht · 2 December 2015, 12:56 PM

Really?

Gold is around $1,000USD an ounce.

So he had over HALF a POUND of GOLD???
Around 300 grams of gold dust??

THat's more than the weight of a FULL gold rolex model watch!

from polishing?????

Am I missing something?

locutus49 · 2 December 2015, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cht

Really?

Gold is around $1,000USD an ounce.

So he had over HALF a POUND of GOLD???
Around 300 grams of gold dust??

THat's more than the weight of a FULL gold rolex model watch!

from polishing?????

Am I missing something?

And Rolex gold is not pure gold. This story has a few holes in it.

hunterp27 · 2 December 2015, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by locutus49

And Rolex gold is not pure gold. This story has a few holes in it.

Sorry if you don't believe it. That's entirely up to you to snipe away behind a keyboard somewhere out there in the ether. No where did I state when he actually converted the pile of dust (price of gold fluctuation) nor did I state how long he accumulated the material. For the record, the price of gold was just about at an all time high and he accumulated the dust over a period of just less than 5 years.........and remember this ain't a hobby for him, it's a full time job with many many Rolex's coming through So ya, it really did happen and ya it was a rather large pile of dust. Consider the holes closed. Oh an one last thing, you are correct that a Rolex isn't 100% solid gold but it's dang close.

KenNethcole · 2 December 2015, 01:49 PM

This remind me of when I work at a lab where we sand blasted some gold products. There was a vacum that was sucking all the sand used for blasting. Every few months we would have to empty the vacum and send the sand out. The gold would then be separated from the sand and the owner of the company would get a big check for the gold.

Chaching · 2 December 2015, 01:01 PM

great story

Danny83 · 2 December 2015, 01:51 PM

Cool

BNA/LION · 2 December 2015, 01:53 PM

Awesome!

jrs146 · 2 December 2015, 01:53 PM

Haha wow! A good lesson as why to never polish, especially a gold watch!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

2 December 2015, 08:55 AM	#1
hunterp27 Banned Join Date: Sep 2011 Real Name: JHP Location: Fairview, TX Watch: WG 18039 Day/Date Posts: 789	Huge pile of Rolex gold dust So the recent thread regarding polishing versus refinishing made me recall an nice find for a friend......... I have a buddy who is Rolex trained and certified who branched out on his own many years ago. With all the Rolex watches in the DFW area he decided working for himself was a better proposition than working as the watchmaker for any of the large Rolex resellers (non-AD) here. He doesn't advertise or hustle for business, it's all word of mouth and he seems to stay quite busy. We've known each other since grade school and he's really quiet and low profile kinda guy. He works from a shop at his home where he will take "drop ins" if he knows you but mostly he picks up at several of the area resellers were customers can drop off their piece. Anyway, he will do full serving, polishing, cleaning, refinishing, fixing broken parts and so on. As you can imagine over time significant amounts of polishing dust and debris accumulates from his polishing wheel. He basically would sweep it up and put it in a box and forget about it. Additionally he'd shake out the area rug and sweep that into the box too. It sorta looked like a box of grayish brown dust. After a number of years it dawned on him to take it and have the PM sorted from the SS and other metals only to find he'd accumulated almost 11K worth of gold. Quite a nice pile of Rolex gold dust you might say.

2 December 2015, 09:02 AM	#2
Hairdude1 "TRF" Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Real Name: Alex Location: Chicago Watch: AP,PP, Rolex Posts: 37,156	__________________ Instagram: @Hairdude Watches in Collection 5070R, 5522A, 214270 MK1, 228238 16750, 26401, 5711, 116718, 116710LN, 116300, 16710"Coke", 372, 15300, 15703 (All Flipped) Official Member "Perpetual 30" Las Vegas GTG 2016 Official Member "WIS-CON" Las Vegas International GTG 2017 Official Member 'WIS-CON' Las Vegas Int'l GTG 2018

2 December 2015, 09:12 AM	#4
Onikage "TRF" Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: England Watch: 16710, 16628 Posts: 7,757	__________________ GMT II 16710 TRADITIONAL ( D- Serial #) ROLEXFANBOY P-Club Member #4

2 December 2015, 09:30 AM	#7
superdog 2024 Pledge Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Real Name: Seth Location: nj Watch: Omega Posts: 24,834	Very cool. Did he buy himself a new Rolex? __________________ If happiness is a state of mind, why look anywhere else for it? IG: gsmotorclub IG: thesawcollection (Both mostly just car stuff)

2 December 2015, 09:59 AM	#12
MBYSF "TRF" Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: LA / HI Watch: Rolex / Patek Posts: 475	Would love to see a pic of that __________________ Spread Aloha, -MB

2 December 2015, 09:12 AM	#3
silverbullet818 "TRF" Member Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Canada Posts: 839	Woah!

2 December 2015, 09:16 AM	#5
KrismanX "TRF" Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Real Name: Kristofer Location: Los Angeles, CA Watch: my feet. Posts: 2,364	Sounds like its time to buy himself a nice little finder's gift.

2 December 2015, 09:26 AM	#6
Knappo 1307 2024 SubLV41 Pledge Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Real Name: Jason Location: USA Watch: Sea Dweller Posts: 8,561	I like that story...

2 December 2015, 09:30 AM	#8
kleungsf "TRF" Member Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: San Francisco Posts: 45	That's why jewelers and goldsmiths sweep their floors by hand. The dust and bits add up in the long run and in some cases tools are melted to recover the gold Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

2 December 2015, 09:32 AM	#9
Mr Daytona "TRF" Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Real Name: Mr. Daytona Location: On the water Watch: Panerai Posts: 974	Thats just awesome.

2 December 2015, 09:34 AM	#10
BBL "TRF" Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Real Name: DM Location: USA Watch: DD-YG/DJ/Breitling Posts: 8,899	I like it!

2 December 2015, 09:35 AM	#11
droptopman "TRF" Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Real Name: Mark Location: Washington State Watch: SUBS and GMT's! Posts: 9,664	Great story.

2 December 2015, 10:03 AM	#13
tritium8 "TRF" Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Real Name: N8 Location: L.A. Watch: 216570 Posts: 1,745	Awesome. Reminds me of sitting at the jewelers designing my wife's ring....small diamonds all over his desk and a few on the floor. Didn't seem to bother him.

2 December 2015, 10:07 AM	#14
brandrea 2024 SubLV41 Pledge Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Real Name: Brian (TBone) Location: canada Watch: es make me smile Posts: 78,136

2 December 2015, 10:13 AM	#15
RichM 2024 SubLV41 Pledge Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Real Name: Richie Location: "Nowhere Man" Watch: out now,take care! Posts: 29,781	Good for him. It's like an Xmas bonus. __________________ "I love to work at nothing all day" TRF #139960

2 December 2015, 10:17 AM	#16
THC 2024 SubLV41 Pledge Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Real Name: Tom Location: Mandeville La Watch: 126333 Posts: 10,666	Hmmmmm, I would need to see how much gold actually comes off during polishing for me to buy in to this... I honestly do not know though

2 December 2015, 10:19 AM	#18
Lordofrolex "TRF" Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Real Name: Brandon Location: Los Angeles, CA Watch: Yes Please! Posts: 6,691	wow pretty crazy __________________ Rolex GMT Master II 116710LN Panerai PAM 359 Audemars Piguet RO 15300OR Follow me on Instagram: @b_jakobovich

2 December 2015, 10:36 AM	#19
Tri-Tip "TRF" Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: CA, USA Watch: Out!!! Posts: 6,474	Sounds like he owes a lot of people a total of $11,000. Maybe $3.00 each???

2 December 2015, 10:36 AM	#20
handsfull "TRF" Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Real Name: J Location: The great Midwest Watch: youlookinat? Posts: 2,369	11k worth of gold dust? Wow. That's quite a bit. I'm starting to understand why some cases are overpolished now - LOL.

2 December 2015, 10:42 AM	#21
LuminousMaximus 2024 SubLV41 Pledge Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: USA Watch: me hit Huge Lotto Posts: 6,512	That's it! I'm Never polishing a watch again __________________ “Every man Dies... Not Every Man, Really Lives.” – William Wallace - To really lives means to live your life to the fullest. It means to chase your dreams, take risks, and to love life. Since everyone’s fate is the same, why not live the best life that you possibly can? In order to really live,you must seize the day. Live each day as if it's your last and overall just do it! Today is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present...

2 December 2015, 11:11 AM	#22
SemperFi "TRF" Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Real Name: Angelo Location: Brooklyn, NY Watch: Rolex Submariner Posts: 42,164	Great story! If he would have sold the gold dust just a few years ago he would have had around 15K. Still a nice haul though.

2 December 2015, 12:56 PM	#23
cht 2024 Pledge Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Real Name: Chris Location: San antonio, TX Watch: 116610LV Posts: 2,143	Really? Gold is around $1,000USD an ounce. So he had over HALF a POUND of GOLD??? Around 300 grams of gold dust?? THat's more than the weight of a FULL gold rolex model watch! from polishing????? Am I missing something?

2 December 2015, 01:49 PM	#26
KenNethcole "TRF" Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Socal Posts: 861	This remind me of when I work at a lab where we sand blasted some gold products. There was a vacum that was sucking all the sand used for blasting. Every few months we would have to empty the vacum and send the sand out. The gold would then be separated from the sand and the owner of the company would get a big check for the gold.

2 December 2015, 01:01 PM	#27
Chaching "TRF" Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Real Name: None of ya #@! Location: Somewhere Watch: Many! 116718 GOLD Posts: 2,137	great story

2 December 2015, 01:51 PM	#28
Danny83 2024 ROLEX DATEJUST41 Pledge Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Real Name: Danny Location: Bay Area CA Watch: Yellow Gold Posts: 20,314	Cool

2 December 2015, 01:53 PM	#29
BNA/LION 2024 SubLV41 Pledge Member Join Date: May 2011 Real Name: Larry Location: San Diego, CA Watch: ROLEX Posts: 25,663	Awesome! __________________ ✦ 28238 President DD 18K/YG ✦ 16610LN SS Sub ✦ 16613 18K/SS Serti ✦ 16550 Exp II Non-Rail Cream Dial ✦ Daytona C 116500 ✦ 126710 BLRO GMT-Master II ✦ NEXT-->? ⛳ Hole In One! 10/3/19 DMCC 5th hole, par 3, 168 yards w/ 4-Iron.

2 December 2015, 01:53 PM	#30
jrs146 "TRF" Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Real Name: Josh Location: Lost in time Watch: Me Nae Nae Posts: 9,823	Haha wow! A good lesson as why to never polish, especially a gold watch! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ "Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own." -Jerome J. Garcia, Robert C. Hunter

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