Rolex Passion Meeting 2015

Seven years ago Philipp Stahl and i started to organize the annual Rolex Passion Meeting, the most unique meeting for vintage Rolex collectors in the world.
On invitation only and only room for a group of about 40 people. This meeting is all about trust, friendship, sharing, crazy watches, but most important its all about the people behind the watches.

The London Issued Meeting 2014

I am just back from another great event. The London Issued Rolex / Tudor meeting. And what a blast it was..

HTE meeting Maastricht (daytime)

The HTE event in Maastricht was a blast. For me personally. But also as event itself...

Comex meeting 2010

Again this year there was a special Comex meeting. A GTG of great Comex freaks and friends. Special people with the crazy Comex bugg. Looking for a place to celebrate their passion and talk engravings and provenance all day long.

Not a regulateur, but a dump-valve

On VRF and the bay i have seen this one often seen advertised as a regulateur. But that is a mistake. This is a Comex-Pro dumpvalve. It is used for evacuating to the outside of the hyperbaric chamber the oxygen-rich mixtures breathed during decompression or therapeutic treatment. It's purpose is to prevent oxygen build-up in the atmospehe of the chamber, thus minimizing fire risks.

5513 love...

Just a nice image.... we are so lucky!

Some friends over

Well last week we had a little meeting with some friends. Just a small group of friends who wanted to show each other some of the new additions to their collection. And as always a big party of passion with those guys. And the best in the group.... sharing without any arrogance, envy or focus on value. Just pure passion and great guys. Thanks!

5513 Comex ... killer beauty

A friend bought a beautiful 5513 Comex. I already told about all the special coolness of the 5513 Comex. But today i just want to share the shear beauty of it. What a killer dial. For me... the matte logo Comex dials are among the most beautiful dials ever made!

Comex madness part 3

One of the best pieces i found yet! I sooooo cooooool!
1978 Mickey Comic!

5513 Comex.. for me the best

Well i guess it's no surprise anymore. First of all i am a non-date plexi guy. But even more... with Comex the 5513 with valve is the one to get for me. Much lesser numbers then the 5514. And this one is also a medium numbers... with matte logo dial. As Marcello last told me... about only about 20-30 left in this configuration. And in this condition ?????

Late 1972 delivery. And the only 5513's with valve. Which makes them kind of prototypes for me.

Comex image of the day 01

Just a cooooooool image!

Comex madness ... what's better then 1....

What's better then 1 NOS Comex torch....???? 5!!!! LOOOOL!

Comex madness

Well... i guess i am crazy. But i am ready for summer LOOOOOL!

Every Rolex tells a story ... 5513 Comex

Here is a fantastic watch. Very rare and from a real nice collector and friend of mine.

A 5513 Comex with a story. I guess a whole lot of them. If only they could tell. 

Originally issued in 1972, this watch become the daily partner of a great diver. Who stayed into commercial diving for over 27 years. He worked in all over the North-Sea , but also all over the world. Also at special salvage operations. As at the aftermath of Piper Alpha. Most maybe remember:

Wikepeda > Piper Alpha

But more stories to tell in that watch. Like the salvage of a P3 Orion anti-submarine aircraft, lost off the coast of Oman.

As a lot of salvage operations around the world where done or assisted by Comex divers.

And seems the most famous operation the diver and what participated in is the salvage of the gold bullion of the HMS Edinburgh.

Wikepeda > HMS Edinbourgh

So this watch does not only tell stories... but it is rare also. Also a medium numbers backcase engraving and matte logo dial.

Latest estimates i hear are... that are only about 20-30 left in that configuration. Which makes it far rarer then any Big Numbers 5514. The 5513 Comex with valve is the 'biggest' Comex reference to me. Right in the beginning,.. prototypes. Right in a time when everything was still in development. And divers took tremendous risk to build the industry and society,.. we grew up with.

Big congrats to my friend for this grail watch!

Comex 1665 610 Dial

The Comex 1665 is one of the coolest watches. Well i guess when you have been reading my blog you know how much i love Comex ;-). Here is another great watch. With an 610 dial. Which is official Rolex Comex replacement for the 1665. One of the rarest dial ever made. Also this watch has a very special caseback. Only made in a small batch. A real beauty and rare bird.

Double trouble

Today a friend was over... and it was a nice set-up ;-)

More to follow...

One of the rarest....

Today we do some Omega.... and as my friend seems to say these days... 'Omega is the way forward' LOOL! But really it's a ultra rare watch. One out of about 10 issued. Of which only 4 are known till today. One of them is in the Omega museum... and the rest are in hands of collectors. Like this one. The PloProf Comex. At the end of the 70th 3 Comex divers spend eight days at 250 m during operation Janus. Equipped with those PloProfs. Unfortunately because of it's high price Comex opted for the Rolex watches. Lucky for us ;-)

The watch has a special engraving on the back. And looks ultra cool. Part of Comex history!

Ultracool.....

Well i have the great privilege to be able to play with this one today. A fantastic 1665 Comex, 2nd series.... directly from the original diver. And what a sexy beast it is in front of the camera. Check the dial. See the 2000ft=600m ? Only on Comex my friends. You only see this dial on Comex watches. All the red and white 1665 have 610mtr (except the earliest ones of course). This one has a great case and perfect dial. The engraving is magical. 2nd series means, it's within the 1665 isuue-numbers above 2100. 2000-2100 is first series. And super rare. The 600 dial was only made for Comex. There are also 610 mtr Comex dials, but they where only used in the last batch or as replacement dial for damaged 600 dials later on. A lot of the great missions from Comex history and world rekord dives where archived with those watches. Often only handed over for special deep mission at the beginning. Good to know, that these watches started to see action in the late 70th. When the DRSD was developed long before that. Till then Comex mainly used 5513/5514 watches with valve. So i guess they took no chance for a product which did not proof it's quality for sure.

Here are also some images of divers ...