Found in a safe after more than 25 years - Daytona 6263 and GMT 1675

[kodiak]

Hello,

After a long time lurker here I decided I would finally join the forum as I have an interesting story about two of my uncles watches that were recently found. I've been interested in watches as long as I can remember. I purchased my first brand new Rolex - a GMT Master II in 1999 that I still wear today. My Aunt told me to come over to look at two watches that my uncle used to own.

My Uncle passed away a little more than 18 years ago. My aunt told me he had a safe that was locked and she didn't have the combination for it.

She very recently had the safe opened and there was among other things, two Rolex watches inside. She thinks they have been in the safe for the last 25-28 years. She said to come over to take a look at them and see what I thought. I was shocked to see an old self-winding Daytona and a faded GMT Master. Neither are in mint condition but they are both great looking watches.

The first is a GMT Master 1675. It is just the watch with no band on it. The serial number is 696XXX. I'm far from the expert on these but it looks to have the pointed crown guards. I've read about a "gilt" dial but don't know what that is or if this watch has it. I honestly don't even know if the crown guards are pointed but they look a lot different then what I have on mine.

The second find is the Daytona. I believe it to be a 6263. Again, I don't have the knowledge about these but in researching here and on google it appears to have what is called the sigma dial. I guess this is due to the "OT SWISS TO" at the bottom of the face. In the limited searching I have done it appears to be a somewhat rare combination to have both the sigma dial and the DAYTONA written in red on the face. The band is missing one of the middle pieces from the clasp portion and the crystal has some scratches on it but the face is very nice.

I took a bunch of pictures. I'll try to post some here. I really don't know what my Aunt has in store for the watches yet. I'm not sure if she wants to keep them or sell them. As I said I have been a long time lurker here and I have read about various vintage watches being sent down to Bob Ridley. I sent him an email today and placed a call to him as well to see if he can help. At the very least we are going to see what it will cost to have both watches serviced. Hopefully he can shed some light on how old they are, a value etc.

I know there are a lot of experts on the board here. If anyone has any info about these watches it would be great to hear. I'll take the band off of the Daytona next time I'm there to get the serial number. I tried to look up the date of the GMT with the serial number but didn't have any luck finding it. If anyone has any idea to the dates it would be great to hear.

Enjoy the pictures - I really hope they aren't too bad. I took them with my iPhone and it was really hard to get the face of the watch without any glare.

Dave