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Lot Essay
Provenance:
Christie’s Hong Kong, 2 December 2009, lot 2675
An Important Private Collection
A Rolex watch like no other, the extraordinary ‘Deep Sea Special’ has an almost mythical status as a watch that is both immediately recognisable to any Rolex enthusiast, yet remains aloof. There is no doubt that to own a Deep Sea Special is an ultimate ambition for the world’s most dedicated collectors.
Most of the publicly known Deep Sea Specials are held in museum and private collections. Only 5 are known to be in private hands today, including the present spectacular specimen, No. 31, that we are honoured and delighted to offer here as a highlight of this auction.
The history of the Deep Sea Special is intrinsically connected to the history of Rolex and of incalculable importance in the development of the Rolex sports wristwatch as we know it today. The experimental ‘Prototype’ Deep Sea watches that were used as working instruments in those truly groundbreaking deep ocean explorations of the 1950s are among the most significant of all Rolex timepieces. The early 1950s was a period of great technological advances that allowed explorers and scientists to venture to more extreme and uncharted areas of the globe than ever before. Rolex was wisely often at the very forefront of such adventures, the company benefitting enormously from the attendant publicity resulting from a Rolex watch performing well under the most extreme conditions.
The Deep Sea Special can be divided into two distinct categories; the ‘prototype’ watches, of which 7 or possibly 8 pieces were made between 1953 and 1960 specifically for use in extreme deep ocean dives. The second category, of which the present watch is one of only three examples in private hands, were made from around 1960 for exhibition, publicity promotion and display purposes. These watches feature a special engraved dedication on the case back “ROLEX, 35789 FEET, 23.1.60, 10908 METERS” to commemorate the then record-breaking dive in the craft ‘Trieste’ of Lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard to Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in the world’s oceans, to a depth of 10,908 metres on 23rd January 1960.
Below is a list of the known Deep Sea Specials of both categories:
The Prototype Deep Sea Special Watches
N° 1 – made for testing purposes in 1953 and understood to be the watch fixed to the ‘Trieste’ during September and October 1953 – sold Christie’s Geneva, 8 November 2021, lot 33
N° 2 – made for testing purposes in 1953 – whereabouts unknown
N° 3 – fixed to the ‘Trieste’ during the world-record dive to 3150 meters in the Marianas Trench in 1960 – Given by Rolex to the Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C.
N° 4 – whereabouts unknown
N° 5 – sold Christie’s London, 21 June 2000, lot 760 – private collection
N° 6 – whereabouts unknown
N° 7 – whereabouts unknown
The Commemorative Deep Sea Special Watches
No. 01 - Musée International d'horlogerie, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
No. 03 - Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany
No. 09 - The Musée du Léman, Nyon, Switzerland
No. 22 - Rolex Geneva Switzerland, toured in the United States with Lt. Don Walsh
No. 30 - Swiss Museum of Transport, Lucerne Switzerland
No. 31 – THE PRESENT WATCH
No. 35 – formerly in the Wuppertaler Uhren Museum, sold Phillips, 5-7 November 2021, lot 248
No. 36 - Beyer Clock & Watch Museum, Zürich, Switzerland
No. 47 - Rolex Geneva Switzerland, toured in Singapore
The Purpose of the Deep Sea Special
The first Deep Sea Specials made a direct contribution to the development and success of the Rolex Submariner model which officially debuted at Baselworld in 1954. Of course the Submariner was being developed at exactly the same time as the Deep Sea Special was being tested and this was the whole point of the Deep Sea Special. The success of the DSS during its epic voyages with Professor Piccard on the ‘Trieste’ and the huge attendant publicity, ensured that Rolex customers knew very well that the same standards of workmanship that had created a watch that had survived the most extreme pressures on earth were replicated in the Submariner. More publicity followed in 1960 when Deep Sea Special N° 3 survived a world-record dive on the outside of the ‘Trieste’ down to a depth of over 2 miles.
For its most epic dive, the Trieste was crewed by US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and the Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard. It eventually reached a maximum depth of 10,908 metres (35,787 feet) on the 23rd of January 1960 – as commemorated on the back of the present watch. First, they dived off Capri to a depth of 1,080 metres, then on September 30, 1953, the Trieste reached 3,150 metres. Three years later, in October 1953, while diving to the south of Ponza Island, they achieved a depth of 3,700 metres. However, it was in 1960 that Piccard and Walsh made a further two deep dives, one to 7,300 meters, followed by what was to be a record-breaking dive to Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in the world’s oceans, to a depth of 10,908 metres.
The Rolex Company had a significant role in the development of the waterproof wristwatch: indeed the name Rolex ‘Oyster’, often mentioned in advertising, showed that the company gave major importance to the water resistance of its watches. In the early 1950s, Rolex were in the final stages of developing a diving wristwatch. But how to demonstrate its waterproofness? First of all by running submerged watches. While descending into the sea, the watch is subjected to a pressure which becomes quickly significant; the pressure of a 10 m water column is equal to 1 atm, roughly 1 kg / cm2. The watch (Deep Sea Special N° 3) attached to the bathyscaphe was subjected to a pressure of 1150 atm in the Mariana Trench. This test was therefore very strict, perhaps “unnecessarily strict” because no human being could withstand such pressure. However, since the seal was created with the means used in the current manufacture of Rolex watches, the diving test was a confirmation of their effectiveness. By taking advantage of the bathyscaphe dives, the promoter of the waterproof watch wanted to confirm his faith in the tools of closure for waterproof watch cases, at the same time hoping to achieve an exceptional exploit. This gesture was for the glory of the Rolex factory but also it had scientific importance in demonstrating the possibility of sealing a watch that could withstand the severest of conditions.
Christie’s Hong Kong, 2 December 2009, lot 2675
An Important Private Collection
A Rolex watch like no other, the extraordinary ‘Deep Sea Special’ has an almost mythical status as a watch that is both immediately recognisable to any Rolex enthusiast, yet remains aloof. There is no doubt that to own a Deep Sea Special is an ultimate ambition for the world’s most dedicated collectors.
Most of the publicly known Deep Sea Specials are held in museum and private collections. Only 5 are known to be in private hands today, including the present spectacular specimen, No. 31, that we are honoured and delighted to offer here as a highlight of this auction.
The history of the Deep Sea Special is intrinsically connected to the history of Rolex and of incalculable importance in the development of the Rolex sports wristwatch as we know it today. The experimental ‘Prototype’ Deep Sea watches that were used as working instruments in those truly groundbreaking deep ocean explorations of the 1950s are among the most significant of all Rolex timepieces. The early 1950s was a period of great technological advances that allowed explorers and scientists to venture to more extreme and uncharted areas of the globe than ever before. Rolex was wisely often at the very forefront of such adventures, the company benefitting enormously from the attendant publicity resulting from a Rolex watch performing well under the most extreme conditions.
The Deep Sea Special can be divided into two distinct categories; the ‘prototype’ watches, of which 7 or possibly 8 pieces were made between 1953 and 1960 specifically for use in extreme deep ocean dives. The second category, of which the present watch is one of only three examples in private hands, were made from around 1960 for exhibition, publicity promotion and display purposes. These watches feature a special engraved dedication on the case back “ROLEX, 35789 FEET, 23.1.60, 10908 METERS” to commemorate the then record-breaking dive in the craft ‘Trieste’ of Lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard to Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in the world’s oceans, to a depth of 10,908 metres on 23rd January 1960.
Below is a list of the known Deep Sea Specials of both categories:
The Prototype Deep Sea Special Watches
N° 1 – made for testing purposes in 1953 and understood to be the watch fixed to the ‘Trieste’ during September and October 1953 – sold Christie’s Geneva, 8 November 2021, lot 33
N° 2 – made for testing purposes in 1953 – whereabouts unknown
N° 3 – fixed to the ‘Trieste’ during the world-record dive to 3150 meters in the Marianas Trench in 1960 – Given by Rolex to the Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C.
N° 4 – whereabouts unknown
N° 5 – sold Christie’s London, 21 June 2000, lot 760 – private collection
N° 6 – whereabouts unknown
N° 7 – whereabouts unknown
The Commemorative Deep Sea Special Watches
No. 01 - Musée International d'horlogerie, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
No. 03 - Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany
No. 09 - The Musée du Léman, Nyon, Switzerland
No. 22 - Rolex Geneva Switzerland, toured in the United States with Lt. Don Walsh
No. 30 - Swiss Museum of Transport, Lucerne Switzerland
No. 31 – THE PRESENT WATCH
No. 35 – formerly in the Wuppertaler Uhren Museum, sold Phillips, 5-7 November 2021, lot 248
No. 36 - Beyer Clock & Watch Museum, Zürich, Switzerland
No. 47 - Rolex Geneva Switzerland, toured in Singapore
The Purpose of the Deep Sea Special
The first Deep Sea Specials made a direct contribution to the development and success of the Rolex Submariner model which officially debuted at Baselworld in 1954. Of course the Submariner was being developed at exactly the same time as the Deep Sea Special was being tested and this was the whole point of the Deep Sea Special. The success of the DSS during its epic voyages with Professor Piccard on the ‘Trieste’ and the huge attendant publicity, ensured that Rolex customers knew very well that the same standards of workmanship that had created a watch that had survived the most extreme pressures on earth were replicated in the Submariner. More publicity followed in 1960 when Deep Sea Special N° 3 survived a world-record dive on the outside of the ‘Trieste’ down to a depth of over 2 miles.
For its most epic dive, the Trieste was crewed by US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and the Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard. It eventually reached a maximum depth of 10,908 metres (35,787 feet) on the 23rd of January 1960 – as commemorated on the back of the present watch. First, they dived off Capri to a depth of 1,080 metres, then on September 30, 1953, the Trieste reached 3,150 metres. Three years later, in October 1953, while diving to the south of Ponza Island, they achieved a depth of 3,700 metres. However, it was in 1960 that Piccard and Walsh made a further two deep dives, one to 7,300 meters, followed by what was to be a record-breaking dive to Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in the world’s oceans, to a depth of 10,908 metres.
The Rolex Company had a significant role in the development of the waterproof wristwatch: indeed the name Rolex ‘Oyster’, often mentioned in advertising, showed that the company gave major importance to the water resistance of its watches. In the early 1950s, Rolex were in the final stages of developing a diving wristwatch. But how to demonstrate its waterproofness? First of all by running submerged watches. While descending into the sea, the watch is subjected to a pressure which becomes quickly significant; the pressure of a 10 m water column is equal to 1 atm, roughly 1 kg / cm2. The watch (Deep Sea Special N° 3) attached to the bathyscaphe was subjected to a pressure of 1150 atm in the Mariana Trench. This test was therefore very strict, perhaps “unnecessarily strict” because no human being could withstand such pressure. However, since the seal was created with the means used in the current manufacture of Rolex watches, the diving test was a confirmation of their effectiveness. By taking advantage of the bathyscaphe dives, the promoter of the waterproof watch wanted to confirm his faith in the tools of closure for waterproof watch cases, at the same time hoping to achieve an exceptional exploit. This gesture was for the glory of the Rolex factory but also it had scientific importance in demonstrating the possibility of sealing a watch that could withstand the severest of conditions.