Earlier in June this year, Australian surfer Matt Cuddihy posted a few Instagram Stories to document what he had found while snorkelling in Noosa.

Surprisingly one of those items was a Rolex watch, which is still ticking.

“I was just snorkeling around the same areas I normally go to in Noosa, and there seemed to be a bit of sand that had shifted and exposed more rocks than normal,” Cuddihy said via watch enthusiast website Fratello. "I found seven surfboard fins wedged between rocks. Looking over, I noticed a Rolex Submariner with its band caught under a rock. The glass was partially frosted over from the sand moving around it for so long.”

The watch was a vintage Rolex Submariner. The watch was still working despite being encrusted in sea debris and having a severely scratched crystal. 

And this isn’t the first time Cuddihy has found a watch during one of his dives.

“I normally post my treasures on Instagram, and through that, I have reunited one surfboard fin to a guy that had lost his at the same spot that I found one which was in perfect condition,” he said. “Then a few weeks back, [I reunited] an Apple Watch with a local guy that lost his in a recent swell.”

As for the Rolex, Cuddihy enlisted a watch collector friend to investigate the worth of the timepiece and what he should do with it next. “He is getting it evaluated and checked out by some people that actually know what they are looking at,” he said. Rolex Submariner goes from anywhere between $10,000 to upwards of $50,000.

Not bad for a discarded find at the bottom of the sea.

Check out a pre-owned submariner at 545 currently available for sale.