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Lot Essay
The present watch stands out by its original overall condition, the attractive slightly ivory-coloured tone of the luminous material to numerals and hands, the still well-defined fluting to the lugs and last but not least the contemporary Rolex Oyster bracelet reference 93150, the correct version for reference 5514.
Reference 5514 is among the rarest of all Submariner models, an exceedingly small series made and sold exclusively to COMEX. The model was never available to the public and differs from the regular Submariner by a variety of features, most notably the helium escape valve on the right side of the case and the serial number repeated inside the case back, a characteristic reserved for COMEX and military watches.
For further examples of Rolex COMEX references 5513 and 5514 see 100 Years of Rolex, 1908-2008 by Franca and Guido Mondani, p. 131. and Rolex Submariner Story by Franca & Guido Mondani and Lele Ravagnani, p. 69.
Reference 5514 is among the rarest of all Submariner models, an exceedingly small series made and sold exclusively to COMEX. The model was never available to the public and differs from the regular Submariner by a variety of features, most notably the helium escape valve on the right side of the case and the serial number repeated inside the case back, a characteristic reserved for COMEX and military watches.
For further examples of Rolex COMEX references 5513 and 5514 see 100 Years of Rolex, 1908-2008 by Franca and Guido Mondani, p. 131. and Rolex Submariner Story by Franca & Guido Mondani and Lele Ravagnani, p. 69.