Last Chance To Bid on One of the Very First Rolex Submariners

Last Chance To Bid on One of the Very First Rolex Submariners

There’s less than 24 hours to go if you fancy bidding on one of the very first Rolex Submariner models, which has already set a new highest bid for auction platform, Watch Collecting.

Bidding on the piece, which was among the inherited possessions of “an oil-industry geologist” and is being sold without a reserve, has already reached £125,000 GBP (approximately $171,000 USD), surpassing the previous highest bid ever made through online auction house, Watch Collecting.

The Rolex Submariner Ref. 6200 was the third version of the iconic design to arrive to market, following 6204 and 6205 references. In the first few years of its life, the Submariner went through a series of rapid changes as Rolex looked for an identity that would stick with customers. This resulted in a number of small production runs and a great deal of variety in terms of design, both elements that appeal to Rolex collectors.

Rolex only made 300 pieces of the 6200 – or Big Crown Submariner – which earned the nickname for its 8mm Brevet crown. The reference also features Arabic numerals at 3/6/9 – now more closely associated with Rolex’s Explorer – and “Mercedes” hands.

This example lacks its original bezel insert and original bracelet, but its dial and hands are described as being “in remarkable condition” with its luminous material “evenly aged,” its case features “clear lines and bevel edges” indicating “a lack of polishing” and its A296 movement is “clean and running well.”

You can join the bidding for this early Rolex Submariner at Watching Collecting.

Check out HYPEBEAST’s Icons series, which looks at the impact of the Rolex Submariner.

A Tale of Two Rolex Deep Sea Specials

No. 35 is said to have been produced in 1965 and, along with being kept for a time by a museum in Germany, it was also offered for sale by Antiquorum in 2002. This example uses the “high glass” spec that is even thicker than the already comically thick “low glass” No. 1 mentioned above. That extra thickness helps to ensure a depth rating of 10 kilometers, which is some 33 times the ability of a modern Rolex Submariner. Also of note, and kindly confirmed by Phillips, is that No. 35 is fitted with a Rolex caliber 1570 that has had its winding rotor removed (presumably for fit). Also, note the caseback, which is different in both design and engraving from what was established by No. 1, showing the date and record depth along with the production number, but no mention of “Deep Sea Special” or the Rolex coronet.

Rolex’s New Watch Features Slivers of a Meteorite

Above: Bradley L. Bowers, founder of an eponymous industrial design studio based in New Orleans whose cloudlike paper Halo Light draws on celestial forms, wears a meteorite-​​dial Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona in Everose. $41,000. rolex.com.

The earth seems to get smaller every day, as its farthest reaches are increasingly accessible to even the most novice travelers. It’s no surprise, then, that in recent decades our collective attention—and wanderlust—has turned toward the heavens. Among those dreamers are titans of contemporary commerce with childhood dreams to fulfill, and Rolex, which is tapping into the zeitgeist—and the great unknown. The Swiss watch brand has taken inspiration from extreme travel and exploration since the early 1950s (see Rolex’s Explorer, Submariner, and Sea-Dweller models) and, with one of its latest introductions, is putting cosmic material to earthly use.

The 40-millimeter Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona is among Rolex’s most desirable models, but to acquire one in stainless steel with a simple black or white dial at retail, your wait will be counted in years. Released in 1963, the Daytona is a chronograph originally designed for racecar drivers with the technical requisite of a tachymetric bezel. (It was also intended for cosmonauts to wear in space—hence the name.) The dial on this new incarnation, the case of which comes in white, yellow, or Everose gold, is made from a sliver of meteorite, which was collected from fragments of an asteroid that exploded millions of years ago and traveled across the solar system. Even watch collectors, a cohort generally wedded to precision and uniformity, will be bewitched by the unpredictable metallic patterns found on each dial, with its unique crystallized formations that were set in motion by forces light-years away. It is a rare instrument that captures every instant with accuracy and, at the same time, also reveals a glimpse of the infinite.

This story originally appeared in the October 2021 issue of ELLE DECOR. SUBSCRIBE

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io