BREAKING: Rolex Deep Sea Special To Be Auctioned By Phillips Auctions in November

First the first time, the Rolex Deep Sea Special will be available to the public via Phillips Auction House in November. A notoriously ellusive model, the Rolex Deep Sea Special has been a grail of many Rolex collectors, but has never been publicly available for personal ownership.

The watch was first produced in the 1960’s for the Bathyscaphe Trieste and Rolexes involvement with the Dive Category. A record breaking dive was made by Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh in which they piloted the Trieste Bathyscape on a 35,000+ foot expedition to advocate for the preservations of our oceans.

Strapped to the hull during the “Challenger Deep” (the deepest point discovered on earth) dive was the Rolex Deep Sea Special. A watch that has been submitted to the depths of the ocean at 7,300 meters before it made the decent on the Trieste. This wasn’t the first dive the watch made it on, as it was also strapped for a number of dives before this, at lesser depths. Either way, the watch has more than proven itself a formidible tool.

The most notable feature of the Deep Sea Special is it’s massively pronounced crystal designed to withstand immense pressure - in fact, Rolex claims it can withstand ONE TON per square centimeter.

When we talk about “Purpose Driven” watches, none-so-more come to mind than the Deep Sea Special. And now, for the first time, one will be available for purchase to the public. The watch itself was only made in a limited run of 35 pieces over the course of roughly 5 years - and if you’ll notice, the number on the back of the case is “35”. That makes this watch the last Deep Sea Special produced by Rolex. Other examples can be found in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and the Beyer Museum.

Overall this is an exciting time. We saw the auction of Paul Newmans Rolex Daytona a couple of years ago reach record numbers for an auction. While conservative estimates have this watch fetching $1.2m-1.5m, I imagine it’ll fetch far higher than that. I wouldn’t be surprised if it doubles that estimate. For a watch that Rolex themselves have reserved for “only the most distinguished science, technology and watch museums, along with the most trusted, longstanding retailers and high profile partners and executives who contributed to the development of the model”, we’re excited to see the future of the Deep Sea Special in the hands of a consumer.