The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner Ref. 5512 is a highly sought-after diver's watch among vintage Rolexes. A seemingly miraculous event occurred surrounding one such watch. The owner inherited it as a keepsake from his father and had worn it for over 25 years. One day, he lost it while rafting. Everyone had given up on the Submariner, believing it would never be recovered, but it was later returned to its owner. This is a moving true story.
Automatic winding. Stainless steel case (40mm). Water resistant to 200m.
The story of how I lost my father's watch and how I got it back
Sean J. Korich is many things: an avid cyclist, jazz enthusiast, former physics professor, father, husband, and currently a partner at the Portland law firm of Korich, Romano, D'Ascienzo & Goetz, where he focuses on intellectual property litigation, legal opinion work, and patent prosecution strategy related to high technology and emerging technologies.
He wouldn't call himself a watch collector, and in fact, for over 25 years he's worn just one watch: a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner, reference 5512, left to him by his late father, with a matte black dial and no date display.
"When I was growing up in the 1970s, my father always wore a Rolex Submariner. I can't even remember seeing him without it."
A Submariner given to him by his father's best friend
The 40mm dive watch was a gift from her father's close friend, Ralph Lear, who was then the owner of Sandrino's, a well-known restaurant in New York's Greenwich Village. "In early 1980, my father passed away suddenly, leaving my mother, at 37, a young widow with two young children. Deeply devastated, she decided to return the watch to Ralph."
After that, whenever Sean returned to New York, he would visit his aunt and uncle, Ralph's family, and old friends. "I used to go to Ralph's a lot. Really, whenever I had time, I would go there. Movie actors were always coming in and out of the store. I think I was 15 years old when I was introduced to Matthew Broderick, who voiced Simba in "The Lion King," and I remember having a sandwich with him."
I want my son to have it
On one trip, when Sean was 11 or 12, Ralph took him out on a Zodiac boat into Long Island Sound, sailing close to the shipping channel and far enough out to see huge cargo ships.
"Ralph spoke to me then and there. He said, 'I've been thinking about your father a lot lately. I'm sure he would have wanted you to have this watch.' He then handed the watch to me on the spot. I'm pretty sure Ralph himself owned the same model. I recall him saying that he bought two and gave one to his father."
Sean wore the Submariner almost every day for over 25 years, until one fateful incident in Idaho in July 2008.
To Idaho's "River of No Return"
That spring, Sean won a bid at an auction in Portland, Oregon, for a rafting trip down Idaho's Salmon River, known worldwide as one of the most beautiful rafting destinations in the United States. He planned the trip as a summer getaway with his then-girlfriend, Leah, who would later become his wife.
The Rolex Ref. 5512 is a robust diver's watch with 200m water resistance, a Triplock crown, and crown guards. However, it was too precious a watch to take on Idaho's famous rapids, the "River of No Return."
"I had intended to leave my Rolex at home, but I accidentally forgot to take it off. By the time I got to the river, it was already on my wrist. I had nowhere to put it, so I had no choice but to take it with me."
Put your precious watch in a nylon bag
He asked his guide where the safest place to keep his watch was, and was told to put it in a dry bag on the cargo boat, because if it fell into the river, the dry bag would float and be able to be retrieved.
"Relieved, I put my Rolex, wallet and keys in a small yellow nylon bag, put that in a dry bag and put it on the gear boat."
He was accompanied on the raft by Leah, a guide, and a group of former Notre Dame football players.
Rapid currents and capsizing of gear boats
The Salmon River, which stretches 684km, originates at Galena Summit and descends 2130ft to the Snake River. A few hours after setting off, the raft hit some serious rapids, classified as Class 4.
"Our boat made it through safely and was anchored in a calm spot waiting for the other boats." At that moment, the radio rang and the guides hurriedly ran up the riverbank. Something seemed to be wrong with the gear boat.
"While we were waiting, my passenger started fly fishing and pulled something out of the current. It was Leah's underwear."
One after another, the sight of the clothes floating down the river continued. The inexperienced guides had tied the bags "by the handles only," so when the boat capsized, the bags broke and everything was thrown into the river.
"All we had left were the clothes we were wearing and Leah's underwear. We still had a week left of our trip."
The pain of losing a family member's watch
The trip itself was a wonderful experience, thanks to the clothes and gear shared by guides and fellow travelers, but my father's Rolex was lost.
"Because of my carelessness, my father's Rolex sank in the river. It was so painful and frustrating. My mother and sister also treasured the watch, so I couldn't even explain to them what had happened."
Miraculous message arrived 16 months later
However, in November 2009, 16 months into the trip, he received a phone call from a rafting guide working for a company in Idaho other than the tour company he had joined.
"He said that while he was guiding a group on the Middle Fork late in the fall, near the end of the season, he found a small yellow pouch in the river bottom. Inside was a wallet, keys, and a 'worn old watch.'"
He tracked Sean down because his driver's license was still legible. The bag returned covered in sand, but his wallet, keys, and Rolex were still inside.
The Ref. 5512 still worked even after being submerged at the bottom of a river
"Despite being submerged at the bottom of the river for over a year and exposed to the freezing winter waters, the Rolex was still working. The crystal was scratched but not cracked, and there was no water or sand in the movement."
At the time, the family had just had a child, and due to his busy work schedule, he was unable to afford to have the watch repaired, so it was left in storage.
"That baby is now a teenager, and I finally took it to an authorized Rolex repair shop in Portland recently. They overhauled it and replaced the crystal, and they said the interior and bracelet are all original and there are no problems."
A watch returned from the bottom of a river
Thus, the Ref. 5512 was resurrected from the bottom of the river and returned to where it belonged: on his wrist.
