Commando watch is sold for £165,000 in a bidding battle
A RARE Rolex watch once issued to a Special Forces commando has sold at auction for £165,000.
About 1,200 Rolex Military Submariner (MilSub) timepieces were made for the Ministry of Defence to give to members of the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service.
The 5517 Milsub became standard issue after its introduction in 1954 – and was the favoured watch of 007 in the James Bond films.
It has a 39mm face and a grey nylon Nato-style strap with a stainless steel pin buckle.
Never put on public sale, it is thought that only 200 of them survived military service.The stainless steel watch that has now sold was produced by the Swiss watchmakers in 1978.
Crucially, it is still in its original condition, unlike other examples which were modified “civilian” timepiece.
An anonymous collector put it up for sale with Fellows Auctioneers of Birmingham. Experts gave it a presale to
amore estimate of £70,000, but interest in the item took off and it sold for £140,000 (£165,200 including fees).
Managing director Stephen Whittaker said: “This watch is incredibly rare and we had a feeling it would be sought-after, but for it to break our house record is a huge delight.”
Laura Bishop, watch manager at Fellows, added: “This model was only made available to the UK Special Forces Special Boat Service and Special Air Service personnel.
“The scarcity of the watch is unsurprising given the hostile environments in which they would have been worn.
“The atmosphere was electric in the room with three telephone bidders battling against people in the room and online.”