A rare 1963 Rolex Submariner 5513 diver’s wristwatch, whose owner had military history, was hammered for £40,000 (around $50,000) at an English auction house last week after appearing on Antiques tour on the BBC.
The seller’s father, Simon FL Barnett, bought the watch for £70 (about £1,200 today, or $1,500) in Singapore while deployed as an aircraft handler and ship’s diver aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Victoriousand wore it during his years as a search and rescue diver with the Royal Navy, according to auction house TW Gaze in Norfolk, England. The watch sold at the upper end of its £30,000-£45,000 estimate.
His son, Pete Barnett, told the BBC that his father used the watch during his naval career for timand his dives. “He needed to know how long he had been underwater and that was the only way he could do that,” he said.
The Submariner, introduced in 1953 and the first watch to be water resistant to 100 meters, is generally regarded as one of the most important sports watches of all time. It had a 60-minute rotating bezel to help divers track their time underwater and was fitted with luminous material for readability at darker depths. Passionate about diving (and a member of the board of directors of Rolex), René-Paul Jeanneret conceived the idea for the model.
Barnett has participated in many spectacular rescue and recovery missions. While serving aboard the HMS Hermes over the Mediterranean Sea in 1967, Barnett assisted in recovery missions after two fatal plane crashes. On one occasion he nearly drowned and had to be pulled from the water, covered in fuel, after trying to free a trapped helicopter pilot, but was soon back on duty.
Back of the watch. Courtesy of TW Gaze.
Barnett’s actions earned him a Commander-in-Chief Commendation. After his stint in the Royal Navy, he served in the Metropolitan Police until his retirement and wore the same watch for the rest of his life. On the back are engraved his name and that of his wife, Dawn.
Although the strap on Barnett’s example was replaced circa 1980, Barnett has kept the original and the watch comes with its original green leather box and paperwork. It has only been serviced twice and has never been polished.
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