Incoming 1680 Red

[Bladeshot]

Originally Posted by L.K Johnson

Great pick! The best sport Rolex out there. The lovely 1680!!

Thank you!

[RolexDave68]

Originally Posted by L.K Johnson

Great pick! The best sport Rolex out there. The lovely 1680!!

+1

[BrazenC5]

The 1680 red is a great watch to have in rotation. Congratulations!

Sent from my SM-G781U1 using Tapatalk

[Bladeshot]

Originally Posted by BrazenC5

The 1680 red is a great watch to have in rotation. Congratulations!

Sent from my SM-G781U1 using Tapatalk

Thank you very much!

[Richard2]

Nice, old but gold

[Bladeshot]

Originally Posted by Richard2

Nice, old but gold

Thank you!

[FrenchBigCrown]

Originally Posted by Bladeshot

This happened today! Big thanks to Springer for connecting me with the Red Submariner I’ve always yearned for.

He got a collection in and I had a hard time picking from a 5513, DRSD and this. I’ve chased and missed several Red Subs over the last few years.

Mark 6 dial, Mark 3 insert, tritium hands. An honest one without any casework. I really wanted the dome without cyclops. He and Ralph made that happen, too.

Thanks to all of you who keep posting watch photos and enabling me.

Lovely.

Health to enjoy dude.

[Bladeshot]

Originally Posted by FrenchBigCrown

Lovely.

Health to enjoy dude.

Thank you!

[uniqueMR]

Congrats. Enjoy it in good health!

[Bladeshot]

Originally Posted by uniqueMR

Congrats. Enjoy it in good health!

Thank you!

[Gaz1A]

Jealous looks delicious. Enjoy!

[Bladeshot]

Originally Posted by Gaz1A

Jealous looks delicious. Enjoy!

Thank you!

[Boopie]

Congratulations! That is a Grail for many! Wonderful looking example.

[Bladeshot]

Originally Posted by Boopie

Congratulations! That is a Grail for many! Wonderful looking example.

Thank you, my friend! Springer is a trusted resource and it’s lovely to be the caretaker of this piece.

[ronricks]

Great looking 1680. Dial looks flawless.

I have just (this week) started looking for one of these myself. Does it hurt the value of these if you have the case recut/polished by someone like LAWW or Rolliworks?

[Bladeshot]

Originally Posted by ronricks

Great looking 1680. Dial looks flawless.

I have just (this week) started looking for one of these myself. Does it hurt the value of these if you have the case recut/polished by someone like LAWW or Rolliworks?

Ron, good luck in your search. Does re-cutting a case hurt value? For many collectors, yes. Those who pride themselves on all-original may be turned off. When you find one, buy the seller, not the watch. Polishing is necessary sometimes. That’s a judgement call. Buy from someone who is well respected in vintage. Get some great advice from the group here.

I don’t have to have a perfect watch. I enjoy some of the imperfections that they get on their journey. But sometimes a watch is so far gone, refinishing the case is necessary.

Another Project Watch:
LAWW recut a 1968 case for me because it was so rounded that it needed the help. Also, the dial on that one was a horrid relume job, simply because back in 1980, it was a watch for telling time and no one really cared. They just wanted the dial and hands to glow, again.

Here is a link to that project watch, which I restored with the help of skilled vintage experts, in our forum. I disclosed everything I did and sold it on TRF. You can see what’s possible.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=632286

[PVR]

If you are in the market for a nice red sub, I saw that HQ Milton has 3 for sale that are all excellent examples. Just a FYI for anyone looking..

[Onequik135i]

And well worth the wait, congrats.

[Bladeshot]

Originally Posted by Onequik135i

And well worth the wait, congrats.

Thank you!

[ronricks]

Originally Posted by Bladeshot

Ron, good luck in your search. Does re-cutting a case hurt value? For many collectors, yes. Those who pride themselves on all-original may be turned off. When you find one, buy the seller, not the watch. Polishing is necessary sometimes. That’s a judgement call. Buy from someone who is well respected in vintage. Get some great advice from the group here.

I don’t have to have a perfect watch. I enjoy some of the imperfections that they get on their journey. But sometimes a watch is so far gone, refinishing the case is necessary.

Another Project Watch:
LAWW recut a 1968 case for me because it was so rounded that it needed the help. Also, the dial on that one was a horrid relume job, simply because back in 1980, it was a watch for telling time and no one really cared. They just wanted the dial and hands to glow, again.

Here is a link to that project watch, which I restored with the help of skilled vintage experts, in our forum. I disclosed everything I did and sold it on TRF. You can see what’s possible.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=632286

Grant - thanks for the tips! I am torn if I want to buy one that needs some work and do a 'project' like you did with the GMT or if I want to buy one that is already sorted and just get a service done. I have been doing a lot of research and there are a lot of interesting and fascinating nuances with the 1680 Red's. Seems most the value with these is obviously the dial, case, and having the original case back that is stamped with the date. I have found a few contenders but I seem to can't find all three. I have found one that I like that has a nice dial, very good case but it has a service case back without the stamp and for some reason that bothers me (I don't know if it should or how much that is really important) You really have a great example of a 1680 and I will be very lucky if I can find one with a dial/case as nice as yours.

[Bladeshot]

Originally Posted by ronricks

Grant - thanks for the tips! I am torn if I want to buy one that needs some work and do a 'project' like you did with the GMT or if I want to buy one that is already sorted and just get a service done. I have been doing a lot of research and there are a lot of interesting and fascinating nuances with the 1680 Red's. Seems most the value with these is obviously the dial, case, and having the original case back that is stamped with the date. I have found a few contenders but I seem to can't find all three. I have found one that I like that has a nice dial, very good case but it has a service case back without the stamp and for some reason that bothers me (I don't know if it should or how much that is really important) You really have a great example of a 1680 and I will be very lucky if I can find one with a dial/case as nice as yours.

Take advantage of the vintage community and post questions in a thread that you start, if you’d like help. I can’t help much but others can. (I’m not an expert).

I presume you have found this website. It’s a must read.

http://drsd.com/watch-info/red-sub/

Regarding the lack of a caseback date stamp, that feature was discontinued as below and as stated on the above website. Just because there is no date code on the caseback does not mean it’s a service caseback. Date code was discontinued from somewhere in the 3M range forward.

http://drsd.com/watch-info/red-sub/ <<<Caseback

The Red Sub casebacks starting with the 2M case numbers and ending with about 3.4M were stamped with a date code starting with “II 69,” and ending with “II 72.” Somewhere in the 3M range, the date code was dropped. It is pretty clear that all watches from 1973 onward did not have a stamped date code. Rolex service replacement casebacks did not have date codes.>>>

Happy hunting!

[Edge]

If you can afford the premium of going with someone who knows what their doing and can source a good example for you and you trust them. The extra cash is peace of mind imho. But every budget is different.

Good choice and a beautiful watch. Enjoy.

[Bladeshot]

Originally Posted by Edge

If you can afford the premium of going with someone who knows what their doing and can source a good example for you and you trust them. The extra cash is peace of mind imho. But every budget is different.

Good choice and a beautiful watch. Enjoy.

Thank you!