1680 comex

[Straphanger]

i have a 1680 from march 1978 complete set paper work signed by Jean Pierre Mary ,punched state 119 as country code , that was given by Delauze to a diver from COMEX working on a rig in the Brent oil field .
Diver had just been issued an HEV 1665 and sold it to his friend who was a technician for a subcontractor that was maintaining the scaphandrier équipement
I bought this watch from that tech guy in France directly and in person ,who had the watch since April 1978.
This gentleman was definitely on those rigs showed me pictures etc.
This watch was never serviced by Rolex SAV it had one service in Marseille at the local Rolex AD in 2010 and given their record they only did a movement service and changing gaskets and unfortunately did a light polishing .
This watch does not have a COMEX back or a COMEX dial.
I had confirmation from another diver who had done his training with the diver to which this watch was attributed that indeed a few of them had received some 1680 without a COMEX dial or back.
Has anyone else heard of a 1680 COMEX without marking?
Thanks.
And happy holidays to the Rolex forum members
Thierry

[brandrea]

Would love to see some pictures please

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by brandrea

Would love to see some pictures please

Me too!!


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[77T]

2 out of 3 ain't bad as the song goes...

But 1 out of 3 ain't good in watches...

Having the paper alone would lead me to think it was run through the company but without the bespoke Rolex COMEX manufacture.

For example...

Papers



Front



Back



So 1 out of 3 means provenance is sketchy.
If it was an actual COMEX order then I'd expect all 3 to be there. And if my "2 out of 3" played out, I'd accept the lack of papers since a diver in those days might have sold his watch without his name on a paper.

Somehow having the dial and caseback replaced doesn't make sense. So I agree with the story that some 1680's were handed out by the company if no COMEX branded ones were at hand.

This may be one of those cases. But it isn't a COMEX to a collector who wants a COMEX.


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[Lol-x]

Cool story.

I guess its possible that on a service Rolex may have just changed the dial and caseback with non-comex service parts. These were tool watches and were subjected to harsh punishment.

[Straphanger]

Trying to post pictures but don’t know how to downsize them ?

[Straphanger]

Here are some of the pictures sorry quality is poor

[Straphanger]

Papers

[Dan S]

That insert doesn't look original to me, so the story may have additional chapters. Sometimes people forget.

[Straphanger]

The provenance is not really in doubt , it was in the technician hands almost immediately after Bettini got it.
Real question is what may have happened at service as suggested, even so Pellergrin said they did not do a dial swap!
Now that i see the intense pumpkin dial on your pictures ,mine is more egg shell colour albeit it must be a later model being 5,3 million.
I live in Switzerland so i will go to Rolex SA and try and find out more about this particular watch…
It is fun to be able to get the history behind the watch rather than getting some random one from a grey dealer …

[swish77]

Originally Posted by Straphanger

i have a 1680 from march 1978 complete set paper work signed by Jean Pierre Mary ,punched state 119 as country code , that was given by Delauze to a diver from COMEX working on a rig in the Brent oil field .
Diver had just been issued an HEV 1665 and sold it to his friend who was a technician for a subcontractor that was maintaining the scaphandrier équipement
I bought this watch from that tech guy in France directly and in person ,who had the watch since April 1978.
This gentleman was definitely on those rigs showed me pictures etc.
This watch was never serviced by Rolex SAV it had one service in Marseille at the local Rolex AD in 2010 and given their record they only did a movement service and changing gaskets and unfortunately did a light polishing .
This watch does not have a COMEX back or a COMEX dial.
I had confirmation from another diver who had done his training with the diver to which this watch was attributed that indeed a few of them had received some 1680 without a COMEX dial or back.
Has anyone else heard of a 1680 COMEX without marking?
Thanks.
And happy holidays to the Rolex forum members
Thierry

Never heard of a non-Comex Comex. It’s a cool story and no reason to doubt it. But from a collector’s standpoint, that’s a regular 1680, albeit a nice one. The Rolex guarantee paper with the handwritten reference to Comex isn’t proof, since that could have been added later. Regardless, the visible Comex branding, along with the provenance, is what takes these special watches into the stratosphere value-wise.

Is there any other paperwork that shows a connection to Comex? There’s often a letter from Comex about the distribution of specific watches with serial numbers noted.

[swaini3]

Nice. A similar thread here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/vint...633159#p633159

[swish77]

Originally Posted by swaini3

Nice. A similar thread here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/vint...633159#p633159

The handwriting on the guarantee paper does look the same as the OP’s Rolex paper, for what it’s worth.

[Straphanger]

Originally Posted by swish77

Never heard of a non-Comex Comex. It’s a cool story and no reason to doubt it. But from a collector’s standpoint, that’s a regular 1680, albeit a nice one. The Rolex guarantee paper with the handwritten reference to Comex isn’t proof, since that could have been added later. Regardless, the visible Comex branding, along with the provenance, is what takes these special watches into the stratosphere value-wise.

Is there any other paperwork that shows a connection to Comex? There’s often a letter from Comex about the distribution of specific watches with serial numbers noted.

You are right for me it is a regular 1680 with possibly a more interesting background , I will go to Rolex SA in Geneva next year and see if they have any records of this watch .

[Straphanger]

Editor of the web site of the anciens from COMEX Michel Plutarque confirmed in an email that he knew Jean Bettini from their training at the CETRAVIM in 1976 which was the training center for scaphandrier and that Jean Bettini started working for COMEX in march 1977 and was working on the SANDOKAN in 1978.

[swaini3]

Originally Posted by swish77

The handwriting on the guarantee paper does look the same as the OP’s Rolex paper, for what it’s worth.

Correct and other genuine Comex watches / paperwork.

[Xeramic]

Mike Wood just added valuable information in the aforementioned VRF thread:

"Comex did supply "civilian model" Rolex Sub-Date 1680's, and these can come as a full-set watch, with the Rolex guarantee papers filled and signed Comex SA.

These watches never started life with Comex-logo dials, and the case backs were not engraved with the Comex signature or a Comex issue number.

I have such a watch, which I bought from a Comex diver. The watch was presented to him as a "thank you" gift for a risky (and possibly illegal) dive he completed to repair a damaged oil pipeline. He wore the watch as his professional diving watch, despite having a Comex 1665 and a DRSD he'd owned since he started his diving career.

MW"

Greetings,
Xeramic

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by Xeramic

Mike Wood just added valuable information in the aforementioned VRF thread:

"Comex did supply "civilian model" Rolex Sub-Date 1680's, and these can come as a full-set watch, with the Rolex guarantee papers filled and signed Comex SA.

These watches never started life with Comex-logo dials, and the case backs were not engraved with the Comex signature or a Comex issue number.

I have such a watch, which I bought from a Comex diver. The watch was presented to him as a "thank you" gift for a risky (and possibly illegal) dive he completed to repair a damaged oil pipeline. He wore the watch as his professional diving watch, despite having a Comex 1665 and a DRSD he'd owned since he started his diving career.

MW"

Greetings,
Xeramic

Very cool!! Thanks for adding that!!


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[Limitless Minutes]

Nice

[928ktgold]

What model is the green Rolex box? I’m piecing together my set

[Haywood_Milton]

It's slightly tangential, but a batch of 1665 Double Red Sea-Dwellers immediately preceded your watch, going by case numbers. The DRSD batch covers at least 52867xx - 52870xx.

Insta : haywood_milton_rolex

[Mike Wood]

Sorry, have just caught up with this thread.

My "civilian" Rolex Sub-Date 1680 was presented to a Comex diver working in the North Sea oilfields for Comex Houlder in Aberdeen in 1977. The watch came from Comex S.A. in Marseilles with punched paper guarantee certificate (the Comex diver's name is on the paper). The watch has no Comex markings.



Some images of the watch in use at Comex:



The watch was supplied "full-set", but the original booklets and hang tag got sold along with the diver's Comex 1665 many years ago. The anchor, chronometer seal, and trip lock tag were in the box, and the caseback sticker got stuck to the guarantee after he peeled it off the watch!



What this picture doesn't quite show is a Comex diver's civilian 5513 (without HEV) in a saturation diving environment: the pressure has pushed the plexi-glass in, leaving a small "well" in the crystal, which the diver put a droplet of water into. The water bubble sits in the dip in the glass! Part of the reason why we now have gas escape valves fitted to our diving watches!



MW

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by Mike Wood

Sorry, have just caught up with this thread.

My "civilian" Rolex Sub-Date 1680 was presented to a Comex diver working in the North Sea oilfields for Comex Houlder in Aberdeen in 1977. The watch came from Comex S.A. in Marseilles with punched paper guarantee certificate (the Comex diver's name is on the paper). The watch has no Comex markings.



Some images of the watch in use at Comex:



The watch was supplied "full-set", but the original booklets and hang tag got sold along with the diver's Comex 1665 many years ago. The anchor, chronometer seal, and trip lock tag were in the box, and the caseback sticker got stuck to the guarantee after he peeled it off the watch!



What this picture doesn't quite show is a Comex diver's civilian 5513 (without HEV) in a saturation diving environment: the pressure has pushed the plexi-glass in, leaving a small "well" in the crystal, which the diver put a droplet of water into. The water bubble sits in the dip in the glass! Part of the reason why we now have gas escape valves fitted to our diving watches!



MW

Man that’s a hell of a lot of very interesting provenance and an awesome piece!! Thanks for sharing Mike!!


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