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)
Shortly after acquiring these watches, we
were fortunate to discover another original owner example of the Rolex ref. 1665
‘PATENT PENDING Sea-Dweller’, but this time from 2128 batch and again not delivered to Comex.
The following Rolex ref. 1665 ‘PATENT
PENDING Sea-Dweller’ was issued by Rolex for testing purposes to the delightful
Chuck E Gross whilst serving in the US Navy in the late 1960s.
Chuck very
kindly provided to us along with his watch & documented provenance, his US
Navy discharge papers, military diving patches, diving pins and a copy of an
article for Research magazine in which he featured.
We will leave it to Chuck to describe in
his own words
‘In 1967 I joined the US Navy Experimental
Diving Unit in Washington DC evaluating Saturation Diving Techniques. During
this period I was presented with my Rolex Sea-Dweller for Operational &
Comfort Testing in exchange for written reports on its performance during
saturation dives to 600 & 750 ft, and wet testing using a research chamber
to 1000FSW. I was awarded the watch on completion.
During my career I undertook the following
dives accompanied by my Rolex Sea-Dweller
· 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)
Chuck E Gross (pictured) wearing his Rolex
1665 Patent Pending Sea-Dweller for an article in Research magazine
Chuck E Gross in Action
Associated patches & pins
And finally the Watch
Rolex Sea-Dweller ref. 1665 ‘Double Pink’
‘Patent Pending’ Serial 2,128,xxx
© 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.
