The recent Geneva Auctions included the following Lot (315) from Christies


The watch attracted much interest and was finally acquired by Vintage-DB for 81k CHF, 30k above the original estimate, not particularly surprising if you consider the Lot Notes advised that "In depth research results in the discovery that this reference 3700/1 is the only known example of a stainless steel Nautilus model made to the special order for the Royal Household of the Sultanate of Oman." This statement is actually not quite correct, as we were aware of another other example, although this made the lot more interesting.

We previously presented via the Vintage-DB Blog, information on the special order vintage Rolex watches issued by Sultan Qaboos Bin Sa'id to the British Military (Rolex ref. 1665 Oman Khanjar & Qaboos Sea-Dwellers) in the 1970s, of particular interest in this instance are the Rolex Red 'Oman Khanjar & Qaboos Sea-Dwellers which are found in a consecutive numbered batch of 80-90 watches. This is unusual as most serials are issued in a random order & not assigned to a specific model,  indicating a dedicated special order to Qaboos.

We can now be quite sure that not only did Qaboos commission a special order Patek Philippe Nautilus 3700/1 with Oman Khanjar dial, but as with the Red 'Oman Khanjar & Qaboos' Sea-Dwellers, the discovery of a 2nd Patek Philippe 3700/1 with Oman Khanjar dial (pictured below) indicates that the watch sold by Christies forms part of what is also a small consecutive serial batch of the iconic Genta designed Patek Philippe Nautilus 3700/1. Incredibly the 2 watches that have surfaced have consecutive serial numbers 536.200 and 536.201 (536.201 is the Christies watch), movement numbers are just 1 digit apart 1.304.952 and 1.304.954 and the Patek Philippe Archive Extracts advises that both watches were sold  on 31st July 1978.

PATEK PHILIPPE - NAUTILUS - 3700/1 - OMAN KHANJAR - Serial. 536.200 - Movement 1.304.952

PATEK PHILIPPE - NAUTILUS - 3700/1 - OMAN KHANJAR - Serial. 536.200 - Movement 1.304.952

PATEK PHILIPPE - NAUTILUS - 3700/1 - OMAN KHANJAR - Serial. 536.201 - Movement 1.304.954

PATEK PHILIPPE - NAUTILUS - 3700/1 - OMAN KHANJAR - Serial. 536.201 - Movement 1.304.954

PATEK PHILIPPE - NAUTILUS - 3700/1 - OMAN KHANJAR - Serial. 536.200 & 536.201

Do you have an original vintage Rolex, Patek Philippe, Omega or Blancpain watch you are looking to sell, value or just share your story? Please contact Daniel Bourn via sales@vintage-db.com or tel. +44 7977 469 568.

© Copyright  Daniel Bourn www.vintage-db.com

© Copyright  Daniel Bourn www.vintage-db.com

Do you have an original vintage Rolex, Patek Philippe, Omega or Blancpain watch you are looking to sell, value or just share your story? Please contact Daniel Bourn via sales@vintage-db.com or tel. +44 7977 469 568.

I love the feeling of driving a vintage car, but rarely do all of the required elements....time, perfect weather, a working car....come together on enough occasions to make ownership a practicality....but this week i was nearly very tempted to try my hand again....on eBay unsold at 104,000 USD was this fantastic original 1958 Aston Martin DB 2/4 Mk III.

Restoration is  always time consuming and rarely do you recover your investment, but with this car it could have been fun just to leave and drive it as is for a few years before passing it on to someone else to complete the restoration.

Vintage Aston Martin DB2/4 MKIII

Ok. Maybe i might have changed the carpets .-)

Do you have an original vintage Rolex, Patek Philippe, Omega or Blancpain watch you are looking to sell, value or just share your story? Please contact Daniel Bourn via sales@vintage-db.com or tel. +44 7977 469 568.

© Copyright  Daniel Bourn www.vintage-db.com

In December 2011, we presented via the Vintage-DB Rolex Blog, a pair of Rolex 1665 Double Red PATENT PENDING Sea-Dwellers with consecutive serials, which were originally delivered to 2 divers for testing purposes while they were working for dive exploration companies other Comex in the late 1960s.
· 1968 - Westinghouse Oceanic Division, Saturation Dive 600ft

· 1969 - Duke University / US Navy, Saturation Dive 1000ft

· 1970 - Vietnam, US Naval Forces

· 1971-73 – Harbor Clearance Unit-One, Hawaii

· 1973 - Aegir Habitat, Saturation Dive

· 1974 - US Naval Deep Sea Diving School Instructor, Washington DC

· 1975 - US Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda

· 1977 - US Navy Retired

· 1977 - Launched ‘State of the Arts Hyperbaric’

· 2001 - Retired’

US Navy discharge papers (honorable)

Press day tomorrow for Basel 2012 & the annual pre exhibition speculation on the new Rolex models can be put aside for another year. Given the rather insipid designs which we have encountered over the last few years, lets not expect too much, although is the teaser on the official website a possible glimpse of the long awaited Rolex Sky-Dweller ? Given that they first registered the Sky-Dweller name in 1996, surely they had had enough time to develop the concept by now ?. The wait is almost over....Stay Tuned