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5641 Steel Ref 6200 Rolex Submariner
"James Bond";
The 6200 Submariner is simply the most
desirable and rarest of all production Submariners. This is a
very early Submariner, in fact it is the first
“James Bond”; most likely from 1955/56. It was the first of the
'thick case' Submariners rated to 600 feet and as such is fitted
with the ultra rare Brevet crown, in fact it was the first model to
be so fitted. Like the 6204, the very first Submariner, it
has neither the name "Submariner" nor the depth rating on the dial.
But it does have the 'Explorer' style dial with large luminous 3/6/9
numerals and large luminous batons for the remainder. The movement
is the 10.5 ligne Rolex calibre A296, the very last of the classic 'bubbleback'
movements. The movement is un-numbered. The dial is
65%, whilst the case & movement are both 95%. Width 38mm;
Lug to Lug 48mm; Height 13mm. It takes a 20mm strap and a folded
Oyster one is fitted. Price upon application
18k
Kew A
Arguably one of the rarest of all Rolex watches, as Rolex have confirmed
in writing that there are only 24 of these 18k versions of the Kew A
Oyster. In our book I wrote that all the 136 Kew A movements were cased
in “boy’s size” steel Speedkings, when I wrote it I obviously believed
it to be true and I did not discover the truth until about 3 years ago
when I first saw an 18k version.
The watch is model number 6210 and bears case number 97471, which makes
it the fourth watch made. These 18k versions are very different from the
steel ones; they are a full size watch with a very high quality dial,
which is unique to this model. The dial is silvered with applied gold
diamond cut baton markers and a Rolex coronet at the 12 position. There
is a sunken subsidiary seconds at 6 and the hands are gilt leaf shaped
with a slim luminous insert. The text on the dial appears on no other
Rolex watches; under the usual Rolex Oyster there is the line
Observatory Chronometer and around the subsidiary seconds dial are the
words printed in red “Kew A” Certificate. I
have owned one of these watches for about 2 years now & it has a prime
place in my collection, however I was disappointed that my watch had the
wrong hand fitted; that is luminous hands on a non luminous dial. I am
very pleased to note that this watch now being offered has exactly the
same hands & dial, so this was obviously the factory specification. Go
to the link at the left to see both watches together & compare.
The movement is a Rolex 10½"' Hunter which is (unusually) finished in
pink gilt, not the usual rhodium and instantly appears to be of very
high quality, the escape jewel is in a screwed chaton and all the edges
of the plates are exquisitely finished. However the eye is drawn to the
balance assembly because the balance cock is polished steel and the
balance itself is not the usual superbalance but rather a classic thin
rimmed Guillaume one with 20 mass screws and 2 regulating screws, a
blued Nivarox hairspring with 12 turns and a Breguet terminal curve. The
escapement itself is also different with a club tooth lever, a
straight-line layout & a double roller.
The Kew A test was by far the most stringent timekeeping test in the
world and before Rolex submitted this group of watches; no one had ever
attempted to obtain certification for other than single pieces. The full
story of these watches & Kew is explained in much greater detail in
chapter 13 of our book. The movement of this watch (4249) took almost 2
years to obtain its certificate; having first been submitted to Kew on
the 8th of September 1948 and finally emerging successful of
the 25th January 1950, thereby making it one of the last to
gain certification.
The
case is 95+% and the movement and dial are both 95%.
£17,500.00
(approx. $33,000.00 US)
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5512 Rolex 3484 Chronograph case
number 047726 dating from 1943 One of the first
Rolex chronographs, this stainless steel model 3484 chronograph dates
from 1943. This model is one
of the rarest of Rolex chronographs & bears more than a passing
resemblance to a Patek Calatrava, with a perfectly circular case, a
knife edge bezel and simple straight lugs. Using the Valjoux 23
movement, which has 17 jewels and a single 30-minute register it is one
of the first modern style Rolex chronographs. The perfect
original silvered dial has is sunk for the two subsidiary registers, and
has not suffered the discolouration often seen with these watches. The
dial has applied pink arrowhead markers, an applied pink Arabic “12”
with an applied pink Rolex coronet just below, an outer black tachometer
scale and in inner blue telemeter scale and the word “Antimagnetique”
below the centre post. The pink leaf style hands have luminous inserts,
however none of the luminous still functions. All of the timer hands are
blued steel. The movement is
the rhodium finished, 17 jewel Rolex finished Valjoux 23 calibre
unadjusted and (as with all chorongraphs from this period) has no shock
protection for the balance. £11,500.00
(approx. $22,000.00 US)
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5653 "Double Name" Sea
Dweller, model 1665, box & papers case number 17XXXXX, made in 1967.
Price upon application
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View
case back sticker
View
Papers & wallet
View
Papers detail
View
dial close up
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5634 Rolex 18k 6265 New Old Stock Daytona Cosmograph with box, papers & sticker
Rolex Oyster Cosmograph Daytona Chronograph, model number 6265, case number 62XXXXX, made in 1980. One of the very last of the Valjoux powered Daytona, as can
be seen by the 'Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified' text on the dial;
what also makes the dial unusual is that the arms of the state of Oman
overprinted in gilt on the 12 hour register. The Omani Royal Family gave Sea
Dwellers to members of the SAS who fought in Oman in the late 60s and early 70s
and there is considerable history of this, click
here for details. The movement is a 13 ligne Valjoux cal 727 , which is the most heavily modified version of the basic Valjoux 72, it has 17 jewels and is adjusted to 3 positions, a free sprung Rolex micro stella balance and gold train wheels. The gilt dial is in perfect condition with applied gold indices, and the word “Cosmograph” in black around the 12 hour register, the addition of the SCOC text on the dial means that it does not say "Daytona" on the dial. The watch is essentially unworn, just look at the image of the case back sticker on the left. The dial is 99%, whilst the case & movement are both 95+%. Price upon application
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5004 18kt Yellow gold 3 piece case bubbleback
The dial also has an applied gilt Rolex coronet below the 12 and gilt minute and 5 minute markers around its circumference, it is signed Rolex and Oyster Perpetual below the 12 and Officially Certified Chronometer above the 6. The watch is a model number 3131, the case number is 492502 and the movement is numbered N89225. These watches were made in the 1950s by which time the bubbleback was almost out of production; so most of these enamel dials were fitted to the later style bombe or precision watches. So bubblebacks with enamel dials are very rare, this is one of only two that I am aware of. This is the very watch shown on page 203 of our book and was previously sold at Sotheby’s NYC on June 23rd 1997, for $36,101. 90 including premium etc). Please note that the digital reproduction of this dial does not do it justice; it is not 2 tone blue; rather it is a single deep blue colour. Diameter 32mm; Lug to Lug 41mm; Height 14mm It takes a 17mm strap and a new crocodile one with an original 18k Rolex buckle is fitted; also note that the watch comes in its original box.
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5632 Stainless Steel Rolex 6240 "Paul Newman" Oyster Daytona Chronograph Rolex Oyster “Paul Newman” Chronograph, model number 6240, case number 34XXXX, made in 1972. Without doubt the most desirable of all Rolex chronographs, the Oyster Paul Newman (the one with screwed pushers) is by far the scarcest. Whilst perhaps 10 to 15% of the earlier 6239/6241 (non screwed pushers) were made with Paul Newman dials, less than 5% of the 6262/6265 ones seem to have been been so fitted. However, well over 60% of the 6240s seem to have been fitted with PN dials. These proportions come from my personal observations over 20 years of collecting Rolex watches and through discussions with other collectors. The movement is a 13 ligne Valjoux cal 727 , which is the most heavily modified version of the basic Valjoux 72, with a free sprung Rolex micro stella balance and gold train wheels. Like the other “oyster” Paul Newmans (6263/6265) the dial on these watches is 2 colour only, without either the red “Daytona” or outer red seconds track. Nevertheless they are a supremely attractive dial with the applied white gold square hour markers seeming to hang over the outer black seconds track. The European & US markets seem to prefer the black dial with cream registers, whilst the oriental markets prefer this cream dial, black register version; in the orient this configuration is known as the “Panda” dial for obvious reasons.
The dial is 95+%,
whilst the case & movement are both 95%. £45,000.00 (approx. $86,000.00 US)
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movement
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5560 Rolex 6036 Triple Calendar Oyster Chronograph The most
valuable of all Rolex models are the Oyster triple calendar
chronographs, with a ref. 6036 making a
world record price of 322,000 Swiss Francs (around $220,000 US) at
auction in Geneva in April last year. These are by far the most complicated timepiece ever sold by Rolex, with 7 hands, 2 buttons, 2 adjusters not to mention the winding crown. Also despite
the word “Oyster” on the dial and the screwed back & crown they were
NOT waterproof and so the premium that Rolex charged was not seen by
most customers as being worth while. |
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View movement &
case back detail
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5229 Rolex Triple Calendar Chronograph, ref 5036 The most valuable of all Rolex models are the Oyster triple calendar chronographs, with a ref. 6036 making a world record price of 322,000 Swiss Francs (around $220,000 US) at auction in Geneva in April in 2002. Received wisdom has always said that there were three iterations of the Oyster triple calendar chronographs, the 4767, introduced in 1948 and using a completely unmodified Valjoux 72c movement, deep case and with external protrusions for the adjuster buttons. This was replaced in the early 1950s with the 6036 which introduced the slimmer case with external protrusions and a Rolex modified movement and in 1957 the 6236 was introduced, this had an even more modified movement, a 3 piece case and no external protrusions. However this watch changes the received wisdom, as it is a previously unknown reference 5036 and is quite obviously the missing link in between the 4767 and the 6036, as it has the case of the 4767 and the 1st generation Rolex modified movement of the 6036. As I was unable to find any references to this model number in any Rolex literature, I was at first very doubtful of this watch. However whilst searching through all my literature & documentation, I found a reference to the model. This was in a letter from Rolex Geneva, knowing this I then took the watch to Rolex London who examined it in great detail, after an hour they pronounced the watch genuine. So this is, almost certainly, the rarest of all Rolex calendar chronographs; none of the Rolex triple calendar chronographs were very popular when new as they were very similar to models produced by many other companies using the same movement. Also despite the word “Oyster” on the dial and the screwed back & crown they were NOT waterproof and so the premium that Rolex charged was not seen by most customers as being worth while. The case is a “monobloc” construction with a very deep integral bezel and screwed back; there are two adjusters at the 8 and 10 positions operating the date & month indicators respectively. The dial is a two toned gilt with applied steel “pyramid” hour markers, applied steel Arabic 12 marker and sunken registers. There are cut outs in the dial for the Month & Day indicators, which are both in Italian, and there is an outer track for the date of the month. The month indicator hand has a red tip, the other hands are steel “leaf” style with a luminous insert and there are luminous dots at the outer edge of each of the hour markers. The movement is a Valjoux 72c with several Rolex modifications, the shock protection is now Kif flector, rather than Incabloc, the train wheels are now pink gilt and the uncut balance wheel has adjusting screws.
The case is 95+%
and the movement and dial are both 95%.
Price upon application
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