Dimensions: 38 mm x 12 mm x 42 mm
I bought this watch from my watchmaker, who bought it from the original owner. The military serial number on the case back is from the Royal Navy and signifies where the owner signed on: it was either Portsmouth or Plymouth, which was confirmed by the MOD when I called them. (They do not normally do that, but the person I was speaking with was archiving casualty reports from 1962 at the time and confirmed the military service number was correct for the time period.)
As with my father’s watch, which he wore in the Scots Guards, all personal items worn on duty, such as watches, had the owner’s service number engraved on them. This is the nicest Rolex Submariner “non-crown guards” watch and is in amazing condition. It has a gloss gilt original untouched dial with an exclamation mark at six p.m with “SWISS” marked below the six p.m marker.
There is minor blemish at five p.m, but apart from that a very nice specimen. The hands have been replaced during a service, as originals would be gilt like the dial; the bezel was possibly replaced, as originals are chromed brass. The watch serial is partially worn by the bracelet (76xxxx), but it is known to Rolex Bexley, and the case number is correct for the year, as is the movement serial number, interior, stamp, rotor, “26 Rubies” on the movement, and the 1530 movement has a “butterfly rotor.” The watch was on a ’68 signed Riveted Expanding bracelet with eighty marked end pieces. Rolex collecting is very specific, and the box is the original coffin shape that came with the watch from my watchmaker.
