Live Auction 1417Rare Watches Including Nautilus 40 Part II
Rolex. A rare and unusual stainless steel automatic wristwatch with sweep centre seconds and bracelet, supplied to the Fisheries Research Division of New Zealand
Lot 292

Rolex. A rare and unusual stainless steel automatic wristwatch with sweep centre seconds and bracelet, supplied to the Fisheries Research Division of New Zealand

Signed Rolex, ref. 5513, Oyster Perpetual, 600ft=200m, Submariner, case no. 3’231’259, FDR 9, circa 1971

Closed14 November 2016

Price Realised

CHF 10,000

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Rolex. A rare and unusual stainless steel automatic wristwatch with sweep centre seconds and bracelet, supplied to the Fisheries Research Division of New Zealand
Signed Rolex, ref. 5513, Oyster Perpetual, 600ft=200m, Submariner, case no. 3’231’259, FDR 9, circa 1971
MOVEMENT: automatic, cal. 1520, 26 jewels
DIAL: black matte, luminous dot, baton and dagger numerals, luminous hands, luminous sweep centre seconds
CASE: stainless steel, black revolving bezel calibrated for 60 units, screw back marked FDR 9, screw down crown, 39.5 mm. wide
BRACELET/CLASP: Stainless steel Rolex Oyster bracelet, stamped 9315 and 280 to the endlinks, deployant clasp stamped 1.66, overall length approx. 180 mm.
SIGNED: case, dial and movement

Specialist note

The present watch is believed to be from a small series of Rolex Submariner watches ordered in the early 1970s by the New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The watches were supplied to the Fisheries Research Division or FDR and given to their scientific research divers. The initial group of these divers was trained by the Royal New Zealand Navy, the only government approved diving course at the time. Today, the FDR has their own scientific diving program. The case backs of the watches were engraved FDR and issue number – the present example is no. 9 of this batch.

For the article Rolex Submariner For The Fisheries Research Division of New Zealand: Who Knew? see Hodinkee, https://hodinkee.squarespace.com/blog/2010/3/31/rolex-submariner-for-the-fisheries-research-division-of-new.html