Rolex

In the spirit of trailer posts.....we have had the 3 patent Pendings  and also the Comex 666. Nicolas has trailed the 6200. Now for another teaser trailer....a watch with stunning history that will be reviewed over the coming weeks....4 known to exist...3 of which fall within a serial number range of just 10....so issued at the same time by special order of the Sultan of Oman....

I was very happy to see this one in the flesh, as it seems to be a real " sea snake "...

But this is not the one which most impressed me.

Here three photos of the beast:







I somewhat much prefer the " Red " Oman, or even more the 1665 DRSD MK II...

I can't wait to read your informations on the lack of luminous material on the dots, and on the story behind this Watch!

Best,

Nicolas

all Oman 1665 " gold swords " don't have the tritium on the indexes .

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Perhaps it was just forgotten in the batch. Perhaps it was ordered specifically to have no lume because it was to be given to soldiers who may not appreciate having a watch which highlights them at night! 

This message has been edited by Baron on 2013-09-18 02:47:58

We know that most of the Red ones(both Kanjar & Qaboos) have been given to solders both SAS as well as to the Omani local regiment in 1973. The gold Kanjar 1665 have a much higher serial number 5 mil s/n if I am correct and are from years later than the Red ones. The Red ones are all within a serial range of 100 and are special order for the sultan. I m curious how big the batch of the gold ones is.

dont think I will ever sell it. The color is amazing.

.....three of them are within a range of just 10....so under 10 issued. One of them is out there all on its own at a very different serial number.

With the red ones I have a letter from Geneve in which they confirm the watch was issued in 73. They did not expose the number that was made or why they were given out. Just that it was a private order. With other owners we build a list of reds that are out there (both Qaboos & Kanjar)

The soldiers and officers that were given these watches have been in a heroic battle (supposedly the battle of Mirbat). I m not sure why they issued two dials. My logic thinking says that foreigners received the one with the kanjar and arabic soldiers received the one with the Qaboos dial. This is just my simple thinking.

Here is more information about the Dhofar rebellion: en.wikipedia.org n

I have seen 3 and the only one with tritium had indexes  100 % re-lumed ( it was in the property of an italian collector in the early 90s ) and not certainly with an outstanding quality ( to say the least .... )

......the four owners know who each other is.... and 3 have never been lumed and one was lumed from an original no-lume. The question is, Marcello, why do yiu think they came with no lime? Because soldiers prefer NOT to be seen at night? A mistake? Because the Sultan wanted to differentiate them? Or because the guy who did the lume just wasn't available

in my opinion these watches have not been given to " combat " soldiers ( like red swords for SAS ) but probably to some dignitaries or Sultan's friends .
to be honest with you I have never gone  so deep with the lacking tritium question .
about the idea of camouflage .. well I have seen " live " the " desert Sub " ( case/back and strap teflon coated ) in september 2000 and the watch had very small indexes ( roughly 40 % smaller than a standard 5513 ) with tritium faded to dark brown due to the African sun ... altough made for SAF special forces it had tritium indexes indeed ..
this is by the way the only watch I will ever regret ....

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You have opened my eyes for these raildials, my friend!

But that is not the most impressive with this watch...

The Oman is stunning piece!

 

Best

Blomman

Keep em' coming! Cheers,

.....i wished I could!!

Hi Joe, here's one that came from a batch of 5 that, the recipient of the watch, for whatever reason, requested a plain dial.

beloved friend : happy to meet you here !!
regards from my family and of course from Gigi too !

my very best to you and your lovely wife my friend, and of course, not forgetting Gigi.

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.....yes, I think that is a very good theory. However, I am not at all convinced of the current thinking about where these watches were originally founded...ie 1972 Battle of Mirbat. I am not convinced of that account of the history. Why? Because I spoke with one of the SAS soldiers involved in that battle.  I think that history is not complete....my review will go into that! But SAS soldier link seems very likely courtesy of the description given to Rolex for the special order of the watch.