Antiques Roadshow viewers were left disappointed when Alastair Chandler gave a staggering valuation to an ‘unpopular’ Rolex.
The hit BBC show saw expert Alastair taking to Alexandra Gardens in Cardiff on Sunday’s episode.
As the owner gave more information about the watch’s origins, she said: ‘It’s a watch belonging to my father who passed away just before Christmas.
‘My father was a welding lecturer from the 60s to the 80s and mid 70s, he had a student arrive from Oman.
‘Lovely boy… my dad helped him not just with his course but found him somewhere to live, found him a car to drive. So when it was time for him to go home, he wanted my father to have this watch as a thank you.
‘My father was not happy to accept it, but the student insisted and said he had gold ones, so really, this meant nothing and he would like my father to have it to remember him by.
‘But, we didn’t ever know whether this watch is a genuine Rolex watch.’
Yet fans of the show were not impressed, and quickly stormed X, formerly known as Twitter, with their opinions, with some complaining about how often Rolexes are featured on the BBC show.
‘Is #AntiquesRoadshow sponsored by Rolex? Every chuffing week!’…
‘The weekly #Rolex section #Yawn #AntiquesRoadshow’…
‘#antiquesroadshow Same boring Rolex stories every week’…
‘#antiquesroadshow just breaking for its usual Rolex commercial break’…
’19 minutes for the weekly Rolex #AntiquesRoadshow’…
The show expert went on telling more about the watch’s provenience: ‘There are certainly a lot of fake Rolexes, they’re probably one of the most faked watches around.
‘In about 1954, Rolex introduced one of their first lines of what they call sports watches now, which are hugely successful and have gone from the 50s all the way through to present day.
‘They’re a real collectible and iconic watch, but this particular model was designed in conjunction with the American Airline pan-am and their pilots.
‘Their flights were going more intercontinental, so they asked Rolex to create a watch with a dual time zone.’
Confirming the Rolex GMT was authentic, he added, leaving viewers quite surprised: ‘In the 1970s, there were fake Rolex being made, but this wasn’t a particularly popular model and I don’t think there were many good fakes at this period.
‘It’s got all the correct numbering, it’s got all the correct lettering, the hands are correct, the dials correct,’ he added revealing the pricy item could range between £7,000 and £10,000 at auction.
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