The Royalty of military or government issued Rolex watches, Jed and Mike invited me to attend my first ‘issued’ meeting in London. In fact this was my first GTG full stop.
It was quite an experience.
Besides not owning one single military issued watch (although my 6350 Explorer might have been owned by a US air force pilot – still having that fact checked) – I was probably the man in attendance with the least amount of knowledge in that area. It was a great learning experience as a result.
It was a fantastic day not only for the vast military or government issued watches on display, but also because of the collectors present who were happy to share their watches, knowledge and passion. Watch collectors are a peculiar bunch I have to admit (I include myself here)- but one thing which they display, perhaps even more so than car collectors – is incredible passion!
It was simply awesome. Even at dinner the watches came out from all imaginable places.
Enough talk – let me share some moments with pictures.
Before I entered the room where the watch collectors were gathered – I encountered Marilyn and had to take a picture.
We are on the top floor of the Gherkin and there was a nice art collection hanging on the walls. Looking melancholy like always. The photograph itself was blurry (it is not my camera).
Lets get to the heart of the matter. This meeting was mainly about Rolex. Here a couple of Comex. As if they were not rare.
My favourite was this COMEX divers helmet that a French collector brought along. The helmet alone weighed 14kg and the divers had to be helped out of the water due to the weight of their equipment.
Lets continue with the second most seen watch at the gathering (perhaps it was even the most seen).
What else but the Milsub 5513/17. There were at least 20-30 milsubs present. From 5513 to 5517 to the double reference 5513/17. Presumably mostly issued by the British government.
All had correct full graduated bezel, sword hands and the special dial ‘T’. I didn’t check the engravings for the case backs but I strongly presume that each and every one of them was correct.
Another wrist-shot of the 5513/17 milsub. This watch is definitely growing on me.
There was also a few Sea-dwellers present besides the COMEX. This one with rare Khanjar on the dial owned by a Dutch collector. Notice the view. Yes we were clearly very high up (top floor of the Gherkin).
The next watch was perhaps not an issued watch per se but a superb 4 L Submariner 5512 with pointed crown guards.
Owned by a NY collector.
We continue with perhaps my favourite. A stunning and superb Breguet Type XX from the 1950s owned by an American collector living in London.
This beautiful Speedmaster also caught my eye. I wonder if it was military issued?
Another nice non- Rolex watch I encountered at the gathering was a beautiful Patek Nautilus first series with Khanjar dial. Clean, elegant and rare.
Lets continue with Khanjar. A rare Audemars ‘A series’ with Diamond dial and Khanjar from Oman. It was after all an issued meeting and these watches were issued by the Omani government.
Both the Audemars and Patek are dream pieces. If I had to choose it would be very tough. I think the Audemar was just slightly more special.
We move on to this wonderful Rolex Explorer, presumably 6610. It had a nice glossy dial.
As you would expect with any Rolex gathering there were also some PN around, like this 6241.
Big crowns were also there. The big daddy of them all (at least in civilian terms) the 6200. This one owned by a classic car collector based in London.
Lets end with another rare big crown but one issued by the military – the British Department of Defense (MOD), A6538.
Thank you Jed and Mike for organizing this superb Event and Paul for hosting us at dinner. It was a great learning experience and extremely well organised.
I also want to thank all collectors in attendance. I entered the Saturday morning knowing two people. I left having met and spoken to almost everyone. Thank you for the very warm reception.
For those interested what appeared during the dinner – see a few examples below. We start with a wonderful Patek 1518 – my personal favourite perpetual calendar chronograph watch from Patek. This is a second series with short signature and a normal tachymeter (non miles based).
This example had a very strong case and clean dial. I found the example very nice.
The next watch was a new learning experience in all things Explorer based. I knew a double swiss Daytona existed. Also GMT Master 1675 (for more see this post). Also a 5513 double swiss exists – Phillips is auctioning one off in May this year.
What I did not know is that double swiss also exists with Explorer watches. Look at this early explorer here. Notice the 6 o’clock writing. It says swiss made and then below again swiss. I count that as double Swiss on the dial – even though it is not double swiss only. Yes – you learn more at collector type events like these than just reading books.
My last shot is of a personal watch I was able to pick up recently and was enjoying in my hotel room at the Dorchester. It is an 6062 with Pyramid indexes and wonderful two – tone dial.
