GUEST
I brought my stepfather's Rolex watch that I found with a bunch of medals and everything. He was a POW in World War II at Sagan, Germany, in Stalag Luft III.
APPRAISER
Okay.
GUEST
And that's the one that this book was written, and that's the one that the movie was based on.
APPRAISER
Now that's the famous movie The Great Escape with Steve McQueen, a very famous and iconic movie. And your stepfather, he was the real... Cooler King.
GUEST
He wrote his own book, Sage, but this one, Paul Brickhill was one of the POWs and he wrote about them.
APPRAISER
Okay, and if we open the book to this page, he is... Upper left.
GUEST
This was a friend of his that did a sketch, and then a painting, you know, with the supplies they had.
APPRAISER
How long was he in the prison camp in Germany?
GUEST
Well, first of all, Stalag Luft III I'm not really sure of how long he actually was in that one because he really was in the OSS, he was a spy. And if they knew he was a spy they would execute him.
APPRAISER
Right.
GUEST
So he posed as a pilot. When he was getting captured he got rid of all his OSS stuff. He had been working behind enemy lines in North Africa making manure bombs to delay the Nazis as they were coming. He was captured several times and was in solitary confinement 15 times. But he did survive.
APPRAISER
He did survive. He escaped.
GUEST
He escaped several times and got caught. The final one was after this incident happened. He was in charge of getting rid of the sand while they were digging the tunnels, but he was not one of the 75 that escaped that night. I'm not sure, he probably was in solitary confinement again.
APPRAISER
And the movie was based on these experiences, and they got a lot of the stories and information from him.
GUEST
They did.
APPRAISER
They did. The watch does date to the end of World War II. It is 1940s.
GUEST
Oh.
APPRAISER
It is a Rolex.
GUEST
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER
It is a chronograph watch-- it has two buttons that operate chronograph functions on the face, which are the side dials and the sub dial. It's a stainless steel case, typical of what they would have worn during the war or during that period. Now, what makes this watch special is that it has an original black dial, which is very rare. We do not see it on watches of this time period. So that adds quite a bit of the value and quite a bit of interest to it. It makes it more unusual and highly sought after by collectors. It's a wonderful watch, condition is wonderful. So now...
GUEST
Yes?
APPRAISER
I see-- I know you're waiting. This watch today, I feel this will sell very easily at auction between $40,000 to $50,000.
GUEST
Oh, my gosh.
APPRAISER
Don't fall out of the chair on me now.
GUEST
No, I started to say. Okay.
APPRAISER
I did say $40,000 to $50,000.
GUEST
$50,000?
APPRAISER
It is an exceptional watch, it's a rare watch, the story is wonderful.
GUEST
Mercy. (chuckles) Thank you.
APPRAISER
You're welcome.
GUEST
That is... oh, my goodness. I love this show.
Passport
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