Bob Ridley 6466 restoration

[tarponfly]

For years I have been in possession of my Grandfather's 6466 that was gifted to him by the crew of his submarine that he skippered in WWII, Tautog. Over the years he clearly had it serviced and ultimately it had had an aftermarket dial. Fast forward to 2020 and my interest peaking in watches, I found this forum.

Through the forum I discovered Bob Ridley at Watchmaker's International and sent him the watch. We discussed bringing the watch back to genuine Rolex parts (which was only the dial) and Bob sourced a beauty in my opinion.

This one will get passed along to my daughter given its size and hope she will do the same one day. Here are some pictures...sorry for the bad quality on the before shots.

[tarponfly]

Before shot (bad quality, sorry)

[Tools]

Looks great

[brandrea]

Thank you for posting, looks fantastic

Did the original have a SS crown? It looks like he replaced it with a gold one, unless it’s just the lighting.

[tarponfly]

Originally Posted by brandrea

Thank you for posting, looks fantastic

Did the original have a SS crown? It looks like he replaced it with a gold one, unless it’s just the lighting.

While in my possession, prior to sending to Bob, it did have a stainless crown. I am not sure about it's original configuration as my grandfather has long since passed and my father has memory issues.

I am over the moon with the restoration and have done my job maintaining this piece of my family history, hopefully my daughter will do the same!

[vintagewaferthin]

Looks great!

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by tarponfly

While in my possession, prior to sending to Bob, it did have a stainless crown. I am not sure about it's original configuration as my grandfather has long since passed and my father has memory issues.



I am over the moon with the restoration and have done my job maintaining this piece of my family history, hopefully my daughter will do the same!

Its really a fantastic heirloom indeed! I hope your daughter appreciates the watch and the man who wore it as well as the history of the reference

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

[jatco]

What a great piece..and job done by Mr Ridley. Looks fabulous..
A beauty of an heirloom...

[harry in montreal]

Give the kids a good lesson on opening the crown and then securing it down. My wife hasn’t yet mastered this. She’s not mechanically inclined

[jatco]

Originally Posted by harry in montreal

Give the kids a good lesson on opening the crown and then securing it down. My wife hasn’t yet mastered this. She’s not mechanically inclined

..that why my wife wears a quartz ..

[Old timer]

Your grandfather passed down the watch to you . . . and you plan to pass it down to your own daughter.

I plan to be doing something similar with my late father's Rolex (1500 Stainless Steel Date).

Aren't these watches GREAT? Running so long and well that we are able to do these pass-downs ...Thank you Rolex!

[zapokee]

Excellent work. That previous dial was dreadful. The "new" one is awesome!

Grandpa would be proud.