Comex 16800 Rolex Submariner

In retrospect, the 16800 was one of the last great Rolex tool watches; push just a little bit further, and we’re into Hermés-ified luxury territory. The 16800 presided over a flash of production which is a bit of a sweet spot for Rolex heads: sapphire crystal and a tritium dial before white gold surrounds. To those who use their watches, that is catnip. However, of all the 16800s out in the world, just a few can truly be called professional tools by designation. This 16800 was made for Comex and it’s one of them, a perfect storm of Rolex detail. There isn’t a hint of Prada about it, just even beautiful patina.

Many of you will be aware, but Comex Submariners are the tip of the spear. In the early years, Rolex would loan their watches to divers for test, but that wasn’t rigid enough for the Swiss. Rolex formed a long running partnership with Comex (Compagnie Maritime d’Expertises), a commercial diving company who conquered the depths of professional diving. Their employees worked oil platforms, lived on the sea bed, and saturation dived for days on end. In the 70s thousands of off-shore oil platforms were built and Comex was almost the only company who could work to repair or update them, employing 800 professional divers. Rolex decided early on to use this as an R&D opportunity, and created watches to be used by Comex and tested. Interestingly, these watches were all owned by Comex and never commercially for sale. Those that come to market do so from divers who had them as part of their kit, as is the case here. The Comex partnership began with a 5513 featuring an HEV (5514) and ended just after this in ref. 16610. Interestingly, Rolex issued their watches to Sealab divers, known as Aquanauts. So Aquanauts wore Rolex, but that’s just an amusing aside.

For the 16800, there are two types of production. The first is this matte dial with a larger Comex ‘bar’, and a second dial with a gloss dial and white gold surrounds, featuring a smaller Comex signature. Both are highly collected, but his is the more highly collected.

Comex Subs and Sea-Dwellers alike saw a momentous rise in collectability and value over the last decade, rising from 50K CHF to nearly three times that today for the better documented examples. It’s also a market where you should be aware that many examples are bad. You’re talking about a 100K USD premium for a slightly different dial and caseback (no HEV here), which obviously has attracted some malpractice. Know what you’re doing. If you’re willing to do the commensurate research, I do believe Comex Subs have a remarkably import place in history. They didn’t just forge the Submariners we hold dear, but are some of the last the fulfill the initial remit: actually out in the world doing important things, not merely creating waitlists (which is how its bezel got purpley-beautiful).

This example has a beautiful patina on the bezel, red-purple and very light, which is indicative of not being bleached thank god. The dial is lightly aged, with largely just off-white but moving toward cream tritium. The case is refinished, so plan accordingly. It comes from a well-regarded Genevan retailer, full set and the works.