2001 Rolex GMT 'Coke' - Mis-matched Papers
Discussion
All,
would appreciate some advice. Have a dear old friend who needs to liquidate some cash. Going to sell his GMT Coke which has been his daily for the last 24 years and deffo has patina to demonstrate that, particulary fading to the red part of the bezel.
Watch was bought from an AD back in 2001 (which has since ceased trading). In prepping to sell it, it appears the serial number on the watch doesn't match the paperwork. He is properly freaking out over this. He only had it serviced a couple of times and worries that the watch he sent off isn't the watch which has been returned. Thinking that he may somehow may have been duped, he took the watch to another AD at the weekend and they have confirmed it is indeed a 2001 GMT Coke - just not the one which matches his box / papers.
I know Rolex doesn't issue replacement papers although he can send it to be serviced which I guess would demonstrate authenticity but is the value going to be severely reduced as it doesn't have matching box / papers.
This guy is arrow straight so however unlikely this story sounds I believe him 100%.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
would appreciate some advice. Have a dear old friend who needs to liquidate some cash. Going to sell his GMT Coke which has been his daily for the last 24 years and deffo has patina to demonstrate that, particulary fading to the red part of the bezel.
Watch was bought from an AD back in 2001 (which has since ceased trading). In prepping to sell it, it appears the serial number on the watch doesn't match the paperwork. He is properly freaking out over this. He only had it serviced a couple of times and worries that the watch he sent off isn't the watch which has been returned. Thinking that he may somehow may have been duped, he took the watch to another AD at the weekend and they have confirmed it is indeed a 2001 GMT Coke - just not the one which matches his box / papers.
I know Rolex doesn't issue replacement papers although he can send it to be serviced which I guess would demonstrate authenticity but is the value going to be severely reduced as it doesn't have matching box / papers.
This guy is arrow straight so however unlikely this story sounds I believe him 100%.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
“Faded bezel” GMT’s can attract a small premium with collectors, particularly “Pepsi’s”, such are the vagaries of Rolex collectors.
Regards the non matching papers, your mate is s
t out of luck there, unfortunately. Is your mate sure he’s looking at the serial number, and not the model number?
Next best thing is to send it into Rolex for a light service without a polish and then you’ll get a warranty card back with it. On a common piece like a GMT, that is arguably worth more on the used market as it’s been recently serviced and proven genuine by Rolex.
Regards the non matching papers, your mate is s
t out of luck there, unfortunately. Is your mate sure he’s looking at the serial number, and not the model number? Next best thing is to send it into Rolex for a light service without a polish and then you’ll get a warranty card back with it. On a common piece like a GMT, that is arguably worth more on the used market as it’s been recently serviced and proven genuine by Rolex.
Whilst disappointing to find this out now - it's not the end of the world and I don't see a common Coke 2001 GMT being reduced 15-20% without the original guarantee papers, especially if the rest of the set is there and any servicing invoices/warranties. I also wouldn't expect a big premium with the faded insert on a Coke 16710.
Might be different if it was a fat font Pepsi 1675 or perhaps even the original insert to a 16760 but a 16710... easily and reasonably cheaply found and swapped to taste.
Have a chat with Dom H of Hackett watches and see what he thinks/offers. I sold him my ~2001 Coke with box, no papers a few years back. Absolutely lovely watches but almost certainly nothing special in the Rolex world, though it's worth identifying what dial he has and upselling it wherever possible.
It's nice to have a full set but, ultimately, it's for wearing and telling the time. Maybe a collector won't want it but someone will bite his hand off if it's in generally good condition, for a few hundred less than the equivalent full set.
If he is super lucky, someone out there may have his papers... there is a swap thread on the Vintage Rolex Forum for papers without their watches. I have someone else's 16600 Sea Dweller papers I need to put up, over there!
Might be different if it was a fat font Pepsi 1675 or perhaps even the original insert to a 16760 but a 16710... easily and reasonably cheaply found and swapped to taste.
Have a chat with Dom H of Hackett watches and see what he thinks/offers. I sold him my ~2001 Coke with box, no papers a few years back. Absolutely lovely watches but almost certainly nothing special in the Rolex world, though it's worth identifying what dial he has and upselling it wherever possible.
It's nice to have a full set but, ultimately, it's for wearing and telling the time. Maybe a collector won't want it but someone will bite his hand off if it's in generally good condition, for a few hundred less than the equivalent full set.
If he is super lucky, someone out there may have his papers... there is a swap thread on the Vintage Rolex Forum for papers without their watches. I have someone else's 16600 Sea Dweller papers I need to put up, over there!
Box and Papers doesn't seem to make a huge different when looking at dealer prices maybe about £1k, £9k vs £10k on a 2001 watch looking at WF pricing but it probably knocks more off for a private or trade sale (good excuse to beat you down) .
I would reach out to the RSC as they may well have sent the wrong watch back plenty of 2001 GMTs get serviced there so it could have happened, another thought is how many of us take the bracelet off to look?
I would reach out to the RSC as they may well have sent the wrong watch back plenty of 2001 GMTs get serviced there so it could have happened, another thought is how many of us take the bracelet off to look?
dom9 said:
Whilst disappointing to find this out now - it's not the end of the world and I don't see a common Coke 2001 GMT being reduced 15-20% without the original guarantee papers, especially if the rest of the set is there and any servicing invoices/warranties. I also wouldn't expect a big premium with the faded insert on a Coke 16710.
Might be different if it was a fat font Pepsi 1675 or perhaps even the original insert to a 16760 but a 16710... easily and reasonably cheaply found and swapped to taste.
Have a chat with Dom H of Hackett watches and see what he thinks/offers. I sold him my ~2001 Coke with box, no papers a few years back. Absolutely lovely watches but almost certainly nothing special in the Rolex world, though it's worth identifying what dial he has and upselling it wherever possible.
It's nice to have a full set but, ultimately, it's for wearing and telling the time. Maybe a collector won't want it but someone will bite his hand off if it's in generally good condition, for a few hundred less than the equivalent full set.
If he is super lucky, someone out there may have his papers... there is a swap thread on the Vintage Rolex Forum for papers without their watches. I have someone else's 16600 Sea Dweller papers I need to put up, over there!
On a private sale I'd have thought around £1500 lower would be the norm unfortunately. With dealers that are backed by authenticity guarantee etc it is less of an issue but for a private sale buyers are wary and conscious that paperwork makes it easier to sell on. One option is to sell through Chrono24 and offer free authentication certificate provided by themMight be different if it was a fat font Pepsi 1675 or perhaps even the original insert to a 16760 but a 16710... easily and reasonably cheaply found and swapped to taste.
Have a chat with Dom H of Hackett watches and see what he thinks/offers. I sold him my ~2001 Coke with box, no papers a few years back. Absolutely lovely watches but almost certainly nothing special in the Rolex world, though it's worth identifying what dial he has and upselling it wherever possible.
It's nice to have a full set but, ultimately, it's for wearing and telling the time. Maybe a collector won't want it but someone will bite his hand off if it's in generally good condition, for a few hundred less than the equivalent full set.
If he is super lucky, someone out there may have his papers... there is a swap thread on the Vintage Rolex Forum for papers without their watches. I have someone else's 16600 Sea Dweller papers I need to put up, over there!
fflump said:
On a private sale I'd have thought around £1500 lower would be the norm unfortunately. With dealers that are backed by authenticity guarantee etc it is less of an issue but for a private sale buyers are wary and conscious that paperwork makes it easier to sell on. One option is to sell through Chrono24 and offer free authentication certificate provided by them
As does ebay now, the largest (?) global marketplace, and if you want to roll the dice on Facebook... fake papers are easy to get hold of.I am not here for an argument but just looking on ebay (coke 16710s) and the vast majority are £8-10k but the watches for sale vary significantly in the details. 'Full sets' (and that means everything down to the ADs DNA) going for a premium but there are different years; NOS, battered, insert fonts, service inserts, hole cases, no holes, 3185s, 3186s, dial variations, service dials, end link variations, 78360s, 78790s, different numbers of links, mismatched clasp dates, polished lugs, service crystals, box, hang tags, etc, etc, etc. The potential to differentiate two GMTIIs is endless and is/should all be priced to a point. But many of those variations appear fall within a ~£2k spread.
My experience is a given 2001 GMTII of identical spec and condition to another watch, one with the original guarantee, one without, isn't -£1,500. At say £1k less (and I think a tighter figure than that) the 'no original warranty watch' will find a buyer faster, from a larger pool. Finding a NOS 3186 GMTII with the warranty cross-shopping it with a 2001 without... That would be a whole other ball game. Full set, good condition, etc. watches tend to be newer, for obvious reasons. Newer (when we're not talking vintage collectibles) tend to be worth more, irrespective.
Anyway, different experiences are what makes the world go round and I was hoping to make the OP's mate feel a bit better. He's not hugely out of pocket after all these years... a few 10s of pounds a year, maybe.
the-norseman said:
Don't send it to Rolex RSC for service, they will insist on changing loads of stuff as its "vintage" now and it will lose its charm.
They will give you options and a cost as to what you want done (at least they did with my same vintage GMT 2). Decline accordingly for the minimum for a warranty, and go from there. Even if you decline everything, you’ll still get it back with some sort of serial number linked paperwork from Rolex which is far more desirable than no paperwork.Gassing Station | Watches | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff