1124
Rolex
Ref. 1665
Sea-Dweller “Double Red MK 1 Patent Pending”
An early and very rare stainless steel diver’s wristwatch with date, center seconds, gas escape valve, “Double Red MK 1” dial, Patent Pending case and bracelet
Full-Cataloguing
- Patent Pending Case and MK 1 dial with date code IV.67 and “396” stamped on the inner caseback
- Delivered with a letter from the original owner, a professional diver who was given the watch by Rolex
- Retains its original parts such as handsets and crown from Rolex service
This watch belongs to that rare first generation. Its Mark 1 dial features the classic double-red text “Sea-Dweller” over “Submariner 2000” printed in equal-sized fonts, the red ink having gently faded to a soft pink over nearly six decades. The case back was stamped with the last three digits of the serial and the date code IV.67, confirming its place among the very first Sea-Dwellers.
For years the helium-escape-valve story was told almost exclusively through COMEX. Recent scholarship has revealed a parallel programme: around 1971, Rolex’s Singapore authorised dealer loaned early Sea-Dwellers to professional divers at Divcon-Oceaneering for real-world testing with the understanding that dive reports would be returned to Geneva. One of such documented example (serial 2’117’464) was sold at Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: FIVE. Fresh to the market, the present watch serial 2’117’396 is another of these loan pieces. It was issued in early 1970 to Noel William Mitchell, a professional oil-field diver who had trained with Divecon in 1968. After corresponding with Rolex Geneva and presenting himself at the Singapore boutique, Mitchell received the watch as a test piece. It accompanied him through saturation and bounce dives off Sabah, Brazil, the North Sea, Brunei and New Zealand.
The Mark 1 dial has developed charming buttery hue luminous plots that vintage watch lovers adore. Through decades of real diving work and daily wear, the exterior case-back engraving including the original “Patent Pending” wording has been naturally worn smooth, a direct and honest testament to its working life rather than any later alteration.
Rolex
Swiss | 1905Founded in 1905 England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, it soon became known as the Rolex Watch Company in 1915, moving its headquarters to Geneva in 1919. Like no other company, the success of the wristwatch can be attributed to many of Rolex's innovations that made them one of the most respected and well-known of all luxury brands. These innovations include their famous "Oyster" case — the world's first water resistant and dustproof watch case, invented in 1926 — and their "Perpetual" — the first reliable self-winding movement for wristwatches launched in 1933. They would form the foundation for Rolex's Datejust and Day-Date, respectively introduced in 1945 and 1956, but also importantly for their sports watches, such as the Explorer, Submariner and GMT-Master launched in the mid-1950s.
One of its most famous models is the Cosmograph Daytona. Launched in 1963, these chronographs are without any doubt amongst the most iconic and coveted of all collectible wristwatches. Other key collectible models include their most complicated vintage watches, including references 8171 and 6062 with triple calendar and moon phase, "Jean Claude Killy" triple date chronograph models and the Submariner, including early "big-crown" models and military-issued variants.