'Antiques Roadshow' guest gasps after expert tells him the value of his rare $57 Omega watch

The realization that time is money has everyone racing ahead to make the most of every hour and minute in a day, but in this fast-paced life, few people care to pause and take a look at the value of the timepieces on their wrists. Such is the story of a man who was a guest on "Antiques Roadshow," where he admitted that he had handled his watch roughly because he wasn't aware of its true worth. On an episode of the BBC show, the British man offered his prized possession for an appraisal and narrated the backstory of how it ended up in his possession.

The man told timepiece connoisseur and former horological consultant, Richard Price, that it was his parents who purchased the watch for his 21st birthday around a year-and-a-half after he had joined the Merchant Navy, as he had requested a ' nice watch' to mark the occasion, according to Metro.

After presenting an Omega Speedmaster Professional, the gentleman was informed by the expert that the accessory had a rich history. "We tend to call it the Moonwatch for the simple reason that the two boys, Armstrong and Aldrin, wore it on the Moon in July 1969. The first watch on the Moon," he explained. He also talked about how he got the watch from Hong Kong which excited the expert who said, "This is great. When you said Hong Kong, from the Far East."

The owner of the watch then pulled out a postcard written to his parents from Capetown, that read, ‘I’ve seen a watch, it might cost about £45 ($57).’ The postcard was accompanied by an important receipt which proved that the watch belonged to the gentleman.

While the watch was in a "slightly scruffy condition" it was still worth a lot. "used it fairly constantly up until around 1983. I was sailing dinghies quite a lot, so it got a bit of abuse," he said in the episode. The watch which had never been reconditioned meant that all the parts and features were still as they were in the 1960s. The expert referred to the watch as the Ultraman. "Made in 1968, only for a few months and most of them went out to the Far East," the owner said in the video. 

Price soon revealed the true worth of the watch saying, "I’m not gonna stick my neck out too much, but I’m gonna say, without any hesitation, it’s so rare, $50,000." The declaration was followed by gasps as the crowd was stunned to hear the price. 

In another such story, a US Army veteran was taken aback after realizing the true worth of his Rolex which was bought in 1975. David, who was the owner of the  1971 Paul Newman Rolex Daytona had bought the watch for $345, which was a month's salary for him at that time, according to Forbes. He later brought the timepiece to the show "Antiques Roadshow," which was held in Fargo, North Dakota, thinking that it might be valuable. However, he never saw what was coming. 

Appearing on the show, he shared that he was stationed in Thailand when he first thought of buying a Rolex. Later when he was transferred he finally got the opportunity to buy it, and almost 45 years later, the watch was worth a whopping, $700,000.