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Lot Essay
The Submariner Comex model, ref. 5513 and 5514, was specially developed by Rolex for Compagnie Maritime d'Expertise or COMEX, a professional diving operation for the oil industry. The gas escape valve was designed to release excessive helium pressure from the case during the diver's decompression periods.
Ref. 5514 is amongst the rarest of all Submariner models, according to literature less than 200 examples were made and sold exclusively to COMEX. It was never available to the public.
The COMEX model ref. 5514 differs from the regular Submariner by a variety of features, such as
- the helium escape valve on the right side of the case
- the case number repeated inside the case back, a characteristic reserved to COMEX and military watches
Furthermore, the present watch has an extremely uncommon particularity: a small raised pin to the winder to increase grip when using the watch with gloves.
The model is illustrated in Rolex Submariner by Guido Mondani - Lele Ravagnani, pp. 158-161.
Ref. 5514 is amongst the rarest of all Submariner models, according to literature less than 200 examples were made and sold exclusively to COMEX. It was never available to the public.
The COMEX model ref. 5514 differs from the regular Submariner by a variety of features, such as
- the helium escape valve on the right side of the case
- the case number repeated inside the case back, a characteristic reserved to COMEX and military watches
Furthermore, the present watch has an extremely uncommon particularity: a small raised pin to the winder to increase grip when using the watch with gloves.
The model is illustrated in Rolex Submariner by Guido Mondani - Lele Ravagnani, pp. 158-161.