The 1960s and 1970s were a period of diving innovation, with the move to saturation diving to meet the demands of the oil industry in places like the North Sea. British divers often led the way and a generation of them trained in the Royal Navy, qualified as members of the legendary Clearance Divers and then moved on to work for the specialist diving company Comex. While they would often be issued with a watch to use during service, some preferred to buy their own. This rare “Double Red” Sea-Dweller model 1665 was one such watch, bought by a former RN Clearance Diver while later diving commercially. The lives of these modest men were remarkable and we owe much to them and their many lost colleagues. It is always a privilege to meet such divers, to hear or read their stories and perhaps buy their trusty old watch from them!

Price:

Watch Enquiry

Name

Phone

Your Question / Message
Please note :
- We do not sell over the internet or by mail order.
- We cannot transfer items between shops at customer request.
- We cannot send more photographs of any item.
- We do not discount.
- Click here to read our privacy notice.
- You can pay for an item over 12 weeks - Our FAQ explains.

Related Items

  • Stock number:

    • Rolex collectors across the world are aware that Miltons have purchased and handled an extraordinary number of military issue Rolex Submariners, out of the original, mere 1,000 or so which were supplied to Royal Navy Clearance Divers, helicopter pilots and others in the 1970s. These watches are now so valuable that some will try to make a plain, civilian Submariner look like one of the genuine “mil subs.” Small details can be very hard to fake, though. This photograph shows the case-back of a genuine mil sub with its NATO coding and a conspicuous rippling effect in the metal. The rippling has been caused by decades of the nylon webbing strap rubbing slightly across the case-back, perhaps helped by the constant presence of salts and sand in its typical environment. It is galling now to think that so many of these issued, historical watches were sold off by the MOD over twenty years ago for as little as £50 each, whereupon dealers often butchered them to make them more like the normal, civilian Submariners.

    NOT for sale
    £0
    Stock number:

  • Stock number:

    • This well-used Submariner 5513 from the 1960s is especially nice for retaining its original gilt-text dial, rather than having one of the later white-text versions. Note the depth rating, presented in metres before feet on the early examples like this. The 5513 was launched in 1962 and remained in production with little change for 30 years. Roger Moore would wear one in his first outing as 007 in “Live and Let Die,” but for real-life professionals including the UK’s pioneering Royal Navy Clearance Divers the watch would prove a genuine, reliable workhorse.

    NOT for sale
    £0
    Stock number: