Rolex - The Geneva Watch Auction: XVI Geneva Saturday, November 5, 2022 | Phillips

Create your first list.

Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.

  • Manufacturer: Rolex
    Year: 2003
    Reference No: 16610LV
    Case No: Y990232
    Model Name: Submariner "Flat Four Kermit"
    Material: Stainless steel
    Calibre: Automatic, cal. 3135, 31 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Stainless steel Rolex Oyster bracelet stamped “93250”, max length 200mm
    Clasp/Buckle: Stainless steel Rolex Oyster deployant clasp stamped “AD4”
    Dimensions: 40mm Diameter
    Signed: Case, dial, movement and bracelet signed
    Accessories: Accompanied by Rolex guarantee stamped Artland Watch Co., LTD Hong Kong dated 11 October 2003, numbered hang tag, wallet, fitted presentation box and outer packaging.

  • Catalogue Essay

    To celebrate the Submariner’s 50th anniversary in 2003, Rolex for the first time released a new Submariner model with a bold and charismatic green bezel, which became instantly popular among collectors worldwide. While the reference is discontinued today, it still enjoys enormous popularity among collectors' circles.

    Preserved in astounding condition, the watch spent very little time on the wrist, but its most notable feature is the "flat four" bezel, which can only be found on earliest generation reference 16610LVs and is recognised by the top of the number “40” on the bezel which is markedly wider (“flatter”) than later iterations. Due to its rarity, this variant is particularly popular among collectors today.

    The present example is preserved in exceptional condition and still retains its original factory sticker, numbered hang tag, guarantee stating the watch was sold at Artland Watch in Hong Kong, presentation box and outer packaging.

  • Artist Biography

    Rolex

    Swiss • 1905

    Founded 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.

    View More Works

118

Ref. 16610LV
A highly rare and attractive stainless steel wristwatch with "flat four" bezel, caseback sticker, presentation box and outer packaging

2003
40mm Diameter
Case, dial, movement and bracelet signed

Estimate
CHF15,000 - 30,000 
€15,400-30,900
$15,000-30,000

Sold for CHF32,760

Contact Specialist

Alexandre Ghotbi
Head of Watches, Continental Europe and the Middle East
+41 22 317 81 81
AGhotbi@phillips.com
 

Tiffany To
Head of Sale, Geneva
+41 22 317 96 63
TiffanyTo@phillips.com

The Geneva Watch Auction: XVI

Geneva Auction 5 - 6 November 2022