Back in July, we brought you the incredible story of Ric’s lost Rolex Submariner replica for sale. Australian professional surfer Matt Cuddihy found the watch while he was snorkeling and collecting rubbish off the Queensland coast near the surfing town of Noosa. Ric saw our story on Fratello, and before long, he had proven his connection to the lost perfect replica Rolex thanks to an inscription on the back of the watch, which simply reads “R. Outrim, Presented 1971.” It turns out that it had been under the ocean for four years — first lost in 2019, then found in 2023. (A quick side note, dear readers: we came across a separate story of a luxury fake Rolex found in Queensland, which we covered here. It is unrelated to Ric’s story.)

The moment Ric knew that someone had found his watch, he “broke down and wept.” When he realized that he would get the watch back thanks to Matt’s honesty and efforts, he said, “I am so grateful for this to be returned. It’s unbelievable. You would never think this could happen. I am so emotional.”

Life’s adventures with a fake Rolex strapped to the wrist
Ric had a special attachment to his cheap replica Rolex Submariner. It had accompanied him on every twist and turn of his life’s journey since he received it at 18 years old from his father, a sailor and former member of the Royal Australian Navy. Those adventures included tying the knot, winning a few sailing races, backpacking across Europe, and working in Switzerland. The copy watch was a connection to his father, who died in the early 2000s. “It’s finally come back home; it’s a big thing,” Ric said.

Overjoyed, Matt told Fratello that he was “stoked” that Ric had gotten his aaa quality replica Rolex back. “I am so stoked for Ric. His Rolex is right back where it should be — on his wrist telling time and ready for more adventures. I told him I didn’t want to see it in my aquatic garbage collection again!” In addition to sharing his find on Fratello in an attempt to find the owner, Matt had also posted on his social media to more than 25,000 followers. At the time he was overwhelmed by the response, but it was only by chance that Ric had seen the Fratello story and reached out.