ROLEX. - Lot 102

ROLEX. Submariner. "Comex Ref. 5513. No. 2837906. Circa 1971. Steel diver's wristwatch. Case: round, graduated bezel with black numerals, three-point signature screw-down crown, screw-down caseback, signed and numbered on the caseback "5513" and engraved on the outside "Comex", inside bears the last three serial numbers "906", inside marked "IV.70", signed. Dial: black "SWISS T<25", round and rectangular hour markers, stylized hour and minute hands, central second hand with railway minute track, signed. Movement: automatic, calibre 1520, 26 jewels, signed. Bracelet/Fastener: Oyster bracelet and folding clasp with safety catch, signed (end links and bracelet 501B - 93150 / clasp X1 - 93150). Diameter: 40 mm. Wrist circumference: 17 cm approx. Condition report given for information only: Sold as is, traces of wear and tear, scratched glass, dial, insert, winding crown and service hands, all changed presumably during routine maintenance at Rolex in the early 1980s, nice even patina of the tritium indexes, movement not functional at time of catalog writing, the balance moves but does not actuate the anchor, plan a complete overhaul, no warranty. PROVENANCE. This watch, which was passed on to the current owner by a former Rolex technician, is a rare specimen in the production of early divers' wristwatches, as it is a "prototype" version of reference 5513, already fitted with the helium valve. As far as watches produced for the COMEX are concerned, few models are known to date from this series of the helium-valve-equipped reference 5513, produced before the reference 5514 designed especially for the COMEX. THE COMEX. Known for its pioneering underwater exploration technologies, Marseille-based Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises, better known as COMEX, is a French scuba diving company founded by Henri Germain Delauze in 1961. Instead of catering to the growing recreational diving clientele, COMEX focused primarily on commercial diving and underwater exploration. A leader in the underwater operations sector, COMEX has pioneered many advances in hyperbaric testing facilities and the use of different gas mixtures, all with the aim of enabling humans to dive deeper and stay underwater longer. ROLEX AND COMEX PARTNERSHIP. Inventor of one of the world's first diving watches, Rolex shared a common goal with COMEX: both companies wanted to reach greater depths and develop exploration of the underwater world. Although the first Rolex watch equipped with a helium valve appeared in 1967 under the name Sea-Dweller, it was then a very recent technology. In order to perfect and improve this new technology, Rolex teamed up with COMEX in the early 1970s to obtain test data for their various diving watch models under real-life conditions. As part of this strategic partnership, Rolex supplied COMEX with Submariner and Sea-Dweller models, in exchange for which COMEX provided detailed notes and analysis of their performance. These Rolex watches for COMEX were subjected to rigorous professional use in extreme conditions that only a handful of divers have been lucky enough to have on their wrists; many of them have been damaged or disappeared over the years, and few examples of the first production run are still in circulation. One of the most interesting aspects of the Submariner watches supplied by Rolex to COMEX is that, despite the fact that the Sea-Dweller was created a few years earlier with the helium valve, a few examples were also fitted with this device during the 1970s. The brand even created reference 5514, a specific model dedicated to COMEX, a Submariner without date equipped with a helium valve, a model used by divers in their daily missions. Later in the partnership, Rolex also began equipping Sea-Dweller divers with dials featuring the COMEX logo, making these two models the most popular among divers in the 1970s. REFERENCE 5513 "COMEX However, our example is not a reference 5514. It's a standard reference 5513, modified by Rolex with what might be considered a "prototype" fitted with the helium valve and "Rolex COMEX" engraved on the back, probably originally used for testing purposes.