The untouchable myth

Watch & Bullion

15 November 2015 | < 1

All over the world there are extraordinary tales that once upon a time were believed to be true but with the passing of time have been relegated to the realms of myths and legends.

The name Rolex is attached to stories of flea market finds and record breaking auctions. It is all about having what others can’t and connecting with our predatory past whilst on the hunt for the perfect catch.

Today, we present one of the most desired models and a possible Holy Grail contender for the seasoned deep-pocketed Vintage Rolex aficionado.

It is none other than the illusive Rolex Single-Red Sea-Dweller, so scarce it has all the ingredients to satisfy the wet dreams of any hardcore vintage Rolex collector.

Only six are known to exist and to add further turmoil to its status they do not even share the same specifications.

The last one that came up for auction was back in 2012 at Antiquorum and fetched CHF 490,900.

Made in very small quantities in the late 60s it was not sold to the public and given to some early diving pioneers to test.

This is a very rare dial and only a small test batch was done before regular production was started, followed shortly by the commercial Double-Red letter editions.

At the time many of these dials were also replaced by regular dials once returned to Rolex for service, like was the case of many MOD and military versions.

Hindsight is a beautiful thing indeed, who would have told those divers that their original dials were going to cost the fortune they command today.