Looooool

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/rolex-submariner-6538-christies-new-york-most-expensive-ever

 

So..? What's your take? What do you know about this watch that we don't?

 

What happened to the bezel and bracelet? Should be stored away somewhere

 

This falls into the I don’t get it territory. I get a gilt explorer dial in a sub case is an oddity... did Rolex authenticate that this was a variation they made or was it a watchmaker swap at some point with what they had on hand?
Can I pop the bezel off my GMT, throw a DJ dial on it and sell say my mechanic owned it for 35 years and sell it auction for $100k?

I am really not getting the market...but I guess it doesn’t matter considering it don’t swim in that end of the pool

 

Rolex never confirmed anything related to vintage I guess, look at the bluberries insert debate

 

Bezel and strap aside, has a similar watch sold recently or ever (explorer dial in sub case)? Or is this a questionable combo?

 

You would hope that the bidders (at this price) did their homework, as you can’t trust the auction houses to vet anything.

This was over a year ago, so will probably be at auction again soon.

 

I don’t see the problem here. Who wouldn’t want to have a watch with the “wrong” dial, no bezel and no bracelet?

 

I think the commentary after the article say it all.

 

@watchknut will have one in a week or two so we can just wait for thread #6 or 7

 

Explorer dialed subs are an uncommon but well known early variation, which are extremely valuable . And keep in mind that the case size of the Sub and the case size of the Explorers are different so no, they did not just pop a dial I from an Explorer into a Sub case.

 

To be honest, when one of the rarest watch on earth surfaces, in this case, a 6538 with explorer dial, you have to expect nuttiness. Regardless of condition. Some might even call thenm POS...now, if there's a correct bezel and bracelet lying around, does that make it a correctly restored watch? Aren't rare automobiles restored in this manner? Then the price might be justified.

Imagine a similar condition CK 2915-1 popping up with no bezel or bracelet, one would figure, given its rarity, that some collector would be willing to pay an inordinate amount of cash for it. So? POS?

 

This is what I wanted to know- that it is a known rare variation : then craziness aside I get it... not that I would ever be playing in that league, but for something only a handful of know examples exist- then sure.... still insane.

 

Thanks for that. You’d think the dink would have done a better job in their bloviating about this sale.

 

Agreed, it kind of read like Joe the housepainter had a Rolex Franken that his kids sold at auction for a rediculous fortune....but we all know that dinky hasn’t won any Pulitzer’s for their crack investigative reporting or fact checking.

 

And to backtrack to the original intent by @BlackTulip - even if I had $1m burning a hole in my pocket- this watch is still a haggard POS.

 

For Rolex Sub fetishists, this is pretty much the ultimate...

Story
Gilt
Explorer Dial
Meters First
no unit markings
Red
attractive dial and hand lume
Big Crown
case is honest
Its recognizable as a sub as opposed to 2nd place at $668k which was an odd blue dial with confirmed factory "thunderbird" bezel.
2nd example like this seen of 10 known of this sub variant of a sub variant.

And most importantly there was 2 people in the room (on the phone) that wanted it.

My notes though... the 6200 sorry 6538 with explorer dial and says submariner is very very odd, the rolex logo looks a tad fishy...

Then again these are an early sub branch that died out very quickly and I have never delved into them at all, but most references do not list this as an acceptable dial variant.

OK so while doing research, the wonky crown logo is explained here... pretty good read and supports the dial as original.

http://rolexpassionreport.com/26422/the-1-million-rolex-big-crown-ref-6538-submariner/

 

This then begs my next question- perhaps for another thread- would anyone actually wear a 7 figure watch on the regular, out in the world? I know many member here, including myself, have no reservations about wearing a mid 5 figure watch (I bought my GMt when it was $2k, and wore the shit out of it for 18 years, why would that change now?), but when it hits that dollar amount- will an insurer even insure it if they know the owner intends to wear it to work or the grocery or whatever?

 

A league of their own.
People spend money on a banana ducted taped to a wall.

 

I’d use it to dive with my formaldehyde shark