Originally Posted by
Haywood_Milton
Comex was a pioneer of much commercial diving from the late 1960s I think, in fact often employing former military divers, a large contingent of whom were from the UK. Our Clearance Divers are little recognised, but rightly legendary in their field.
Their needs for equipment that could function dependably at greater depths led to a unique collaboration with Rolex, whose booklets contained direct reference to Comex for decades.
You can get a flavour of the models which Comex used from my signature ( below ) which I use on another forum, but not this one, which lists the models I currently own. In the early days there were 5513s, rather special ones with helium escape valves, some with Comex logo dials and some not. I own one of the first few dozen by issue number. Then came 5514s, a unique reference model supplied only to Comex, again with or without logo dials. 1665 Sea-Dwellers ( 600m rather than 610m dial, and a logo ), 1680 Submariner, 16800 Submariner ( presentation watches after ten years service ), 16610 and 16600 followed, with a few more twists that I can't cover in a quick précis. They comprise a few thousand watches in total, but often just a few hundred or fewer of any specific permutation.
The various series of model variants, dials and Comex case-back numbers provide collectors with the sort of rewarding returns for study / progressive acquisition that they love.
While some over the years were given as gifts, used by office staff or simply sold outside the company, they were not available to the public. The proper tool watches with appropriate provenance are, in the main, worth more than a minty watch that never got wet.
There are some lovely stories surrounding the watches. Were some shipped in the bottom of a dive bell, a welded floor away from having to pay any import duty?
Thanks to a very good pal, I have a copy of the actual Rolex manifest detailing my 1665 Comex and its brothers delivered all those decades ago: a precious document matching Comex numbers to Rolex case numbers, establishing delivery date and location.
The men who owned the "working" watches were a different breed. My own Comex 1665 came with a copy of a dive log, detailing work in the North Sea which was often highly dangerous ( working in a collapsing trench at frightening depth ) or moving ( recovering bodies from a helicopter crash off a rig ). These were cutting edge, professional watches often used at the frontiers of man's experience, with sufficiently visible differences from mainstream models as to excite collector interest.
Some of you may have taken an hour to read the detailed memoir of a former RN Clearance Diver and then Comex diver who had sold me his Double Red 1665. I haven't read a more humbling account of another man's life, nor a better illustration of their watches' place in history. It is real life James Bond / Boy's Own stuff.
Call us mad, but there are sufficient people mad enough to throw big money at these historic watches to sustain the market for the foreseeable future, if not drive it ever higher.
For many Rolex collectors they are a grail, and the internet over the last 15 years has exposed a whole new world of collectors to their desirability.
If you have the chance to buy one, don't try to buy it cheap; just buy it as well as you can, enjoy it, and its value will probably take care of itself. Speaking as a boat and car man, I'd say that such watches are one of the less potty things a chap can get excited collecting.
Haywood
Comex 5513, Comex 5514, Comex 1665, Comex 16800 (x2), Comex 16600, Mil sub 5517 (x2), Mil sub 5513 (x9), Mil sub 5512, Submariner 6536/1, Milgauss 1019 (x3), DRSD 1665 (x2), Great White 1665, Disco-Dial Explorer II 1655 (x2), Submariner 5508, Submariner 1680 Red, Submariner 1680 White (x2), Submariner 5513 gilt Bart Simpson, Submariner 5513 gloss, Explorer 1016 (x2), Explorer 5500 and SeaKing GMT 116710LN.
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