Auctions Bonhams' London Fine Watches Auction Promises A Very Varied Collection Of Vintage & Modern

Photos courtesy of Georgia Griffiths

An impressive catalogue of watches will cross the block at Bonhams London this Thursday, and no matter your tastes, there’s something for everyone. Bonhams’ highlight lot is undoubtedly the Patek Philippe ref. 7000J, a simply gorgeous time-only minute repeater. Vintage collectors will also be getting hot under the collar for a bevy of unique vintage Rolex dive watches with great stories, some military-issued rarities, some shaped Cartier and an F.P Journe that’s sure to get paddles waving.

A Rolex Submariner issued by COMEX already lives in rarified air, but a COMEX Sub (let alone two) that comes from the original owner is essentially unrepeatable. These two Rolex dive watches are being consigned by Christopher Jeffers, a hyperbaric welder who worked around the world on technical undersea projects from 1975, right through the peak of the golden age of diving. Upon joining the French undersea services firm Compaģnie Maritime d’Expertises (COMEX) in 1980, Jeffers was given a choice for his signing bonus: Renault or Rolex? Naturally, he picked the watch - a Submariner ref. 5514 with a COMEX-signed dial.

Its stablemate joined just a year later when Christopher was given the chance to buy a similarly COMEX-signed Sea-Dweller ref. 1665 for the princely sum of 1,400 French francs. I’ll save you from whipping out the inflation calculator: he paid A$988, adjusted for inflation. He alternated between the two Rolexes throughout his career, working on offshore pipelines and oil rigs, including the recovery operations of the Piper Alpha rig disaster. Christopher traversed the world’s oceans collecting incredible stories and experiences with the two Rolexes on his wrist, deciding the time is now right to sell them to support his family’s futures.

I don’t need to tell you that collectors go crazy for COMEX Subs, but an original owner, fresh-to-market COMEX with a story like this will be like catnip to the collecting cogniscenti. Christopher’s first Rolex, the Submariner ref. 5514, is a curious reference that was developed especially for COMEX and never made publicly available. It’s essentially the prototype of the Sea-Dweller, a Submariner with a helium-escape valve on the side made with saturation divers in mind.

About 100-150 ref. 5514s are believed to have been made, so to find an original example that's retained its COMEX dial is a dream. It feels very special in the hand with nice creamy lume beneath a crystal with a few battle scars from its time in the depths.

Christopher’s second COMEX, the Sea-Dweller ref. 1665, is being auctioned by Bonhams, still sized with extra Oyster links to fit over a wetsuit. This first Sea-Dweller reference was initially made just for COMEX, with a run of 300 COMEX-dialled 1665s made. This example is one of the last, number 296.

To sweeten the pot for collectors and to keep the history together, the two watches are each offered with a suite of accompaniments (you can see the breakdown between the lots in the auction listings). This includes the regular Rolex accessories like hang tags, guarantee papers and a spare bracelet (one for each lot), but also a collection of diving history, including Christopher’s original dive log books, an emergency respiratory kit, newspaper clippings, brochures, a COMEX dive bag, and even an illustrated COMEX safety manual called North Sea Alert!

Christopher has stated that he “hopes they pass to someone who appreciates them as much as I have and who understands the legacy these early Rolex Professional models represent in the history of diving watches.” We’ll find out as they cross the block, but expect both to eclipse their estimates.

Lot 46 | Rolex Sea-Dweller ref. 1665 'COMEX' | Auction estimate: £30,000 - £40,000

Lot 47 | Rolex Submariner ref. 5514 'COMEX' | Auction Estimate: £60,000 - £80,000

Jumping straight out of one Rolex rabbit hole and straight down another, Lot 48 is a Rolex Milsub ref. 5513 that bears all the hallmarks of a Military Submariner... Bar one. It has sword hands, fixed spring bars, a Tritium T dial, a broad-arrow signed caseback with military engravings and a hacking movement, but its fully-graduated bezel with minute markers all the way around has been swapped out for a standard 15-minute bezel at some stage.

Sometimes you just can’t have it all, and replacement bezels were understandably swapped onto Milsubs in period quite frequently, given how hard a life they lived being worn on the job by the UK Special Forces. Bezels and inserts were often lost or damaged and replaced with a standard one. Bezel aside, we are still talking about a gorgeous Milsub with a great dial and handset showing some nice patina, so expect a lot of interest.

Lot 48 | Rolex Submariner ref. 5513 'Milsub' | Auction Estimate: £50,000 - £70,000

It’s commonly touted that if you want to collect a full set of Dirty Dozen watches, you should start with the Grana, and you’ll have done most of the heavy lifting. Of the twelve brands contracted by the British Ministry of Defence during WWII to produce WWWs (Waterproof Wrist Watches) to identical specs, including Omega and JLC, Grana made by far the fewest, so it's often the sole watch missing in a near-complete Dirty Dozen collection.

This one’s a strong example too, with good condition caseback markings and a great condition dial - radium plots intact and that all-important big fat broad-arrow below the signature. I wonder if it will be bought to complete a Dirty Dozen collection, or to begin one?

Lot 53 | Grana WWW ‘Dirty Dozen’ | Auction Estimate: £10,000 - £15,000

On the other end of the WWII-era MILSPEC watches spectrum to the Grana is this Breguet Type 20 flyback chronograph at Bonhams. It’s especially worth noting that this is an early ‘Type 20’ and not a later ‘Type XX’ - that means it's an early one issued by the French Ministry of Defence, not the latter, which was sold to the public.

Type 20s are so different to what we think of when we think of haute horology Breguet, but that’s what makes them so dynamic. This example has a nice condition case and dial - sized at 38mm, they are excellent on the wrist.

Lot 54 | Breguet Type 20 | Auction Estimate: £10,000 - £15,000

Whilst strictly not military-issued, I’ve got to throw in just one more. To many vintage Rolex collectors, an Omani Kanjar-signed dial is a crowning jewel, but this is even more incredible: it’s a Rolex Submariner issued to the Omani Police force. We’re talking rare, rare, rare.

The Sultan of Oman commissioned a pretty wide range of Rolexes during the 70s and 80s, their calling card being the Omani Kanjar logo on the dial. Usually given as gifts from the royal family, this isn’t your run-of-the-mill Omani Sub, because its Kanjar symbol is a little different. It’s gained a wreath around it, script below and a crown above, denoting the Omani Police force.

Only a handful of Omani Police Rolexes have ever surfaced, and most are GMTs, making this Submariner ref. 16800 one of the rarest Omani Rolexes out there. This transitional Submariner reference is where we first saw the diver being modernised with a uni-directional ratcheting bezel and sapphire crystal, but this one is notably an early 16800 with a matte dial, before later examples gained white-gold surrounds to the lume plots. Condition is ace on this one with a strong case and gorgeous creamy lume, with the bezel’s pearl getting a little more of a tan than the dial.

Lot 56 | Rolex Submariner ref. 16800 ‘Royal Oman Police’ | Auction Estimate: £80,000 - £120,000

We’ve dug pretty deep into hardcore tool watches, so let’s change gear and talk Cartier. The auction has quite a few special pieces, including a London Square watch (one of only two known), but what caught everyone’s eye at the preview when I went in person was a set of his and hers Cartier Bamboo Coussins: both in yellow gold, both dating to 1974 and both from the same consignor who purchased the pair in 2001. I can only imagine the stories shared in their quarter of a century together. 

Following hot on the heels of the Crash and Pebble, two of the most popular vintage Cartier shapes right now, the Bamboos have been on a monumental run in a few short years as interest in the unique design grows. The two watches are sized at 26mm and 19mm diameters respectively, and I found the smaller Bamboo to be the perfect scale and proportion for the Bamboo shape. I hope these two separate lots are bought by the same buyer, and these Bamboos live on together.

Lot 35 | Cartier Bamboo Coussin large | Auction Estimate: £60,000 - £80,000

Lot 36 | Cartier Bamboo Coussin mid-size | Auction Estimate: £30,000 - £50,000

What happens when you uncrash a Cartier Crash? You get the Baignoire Allongée. This Cartier case shape is what apocryphally arrived at Cartier London after being mangled in an accident, inspiring the Crash case. This Baignoire Allongée is a 1991 limited edition made as part of the CPCP collection, where Cartier revived their most famous designs with incredible movement and case finishing. Cartier made just 400 examples of the Allongée in the early 90s, and they don’t hit the market too frequently, given how well they wear - once collectors get their hands on one, they’re often reluctant to let it go.

Lot 34 | Cartier Baignoire Allongée | Auction Estimate: £30,000 - £50,000

This auction features three different Day-Dates that cover a good swathe of the models' different styles. First up, the archetypal Day-Date that immediately comes to mind when you think of the icon, a 1965 ref. 1803. 36mm, President bracelet, champagne dial and no diamonds, it's totally classic, yet this particular example is even more special as it is rose gold. Taking it even further, this watch presents nearly unworn with a simply perfect case, dial and unscratched centre-links, its original caseback sticker (with a little wear to it) and the very rare, very mid-century Day-Date box.

If that’s not enough for you, it also has its guarantee and chronometer certificate. The first links at both the top and bottom of the case have suffered from a bit of gold tarnishing, though this is relatively common on this reference. It’s a time capsule of a Day-Date, with Bonhams London telling me the consignor bought it and simply put it away with a bunch of other Rolexes and never wore it. That untouched condition definitely shines through.

Lot 3 | Rolex Day-Date 'President' ref. 1803 | Auction Estimate: £8,000 -  £12,000

The next Day-Date is what happens when an 1803 lets its hair down a little - enter the Stella dial. After decades of disrespect, Stella dials are finally getting their flowers, and this bright red dial (I guess you’d call it coral red) absolutely pops against the yellow gold case. The pigment that was used to make these dials is incredibly vivid in person, and it's lacquered in a way that the text appears to float above the dial.

I’ve got a soft spot for the Stella dials and love the contrast they create paired with the regular Day-Date case, and as more and more collectors come to the party on outlandish case and dial designs, I think we can expect to see Stella dials reach new heights of popularity soon.

Lot 4 | Rolex Day-Date ref. 1803 red Stella dial | Auction Estimate: £30,000 -  £50,000

This last Day-Date is entirely off the beaten path - a yellow gold sapphire-set Day-Date Oysterquartz. We’ve seen more acceptance for Oysterquartz in recent years as quartz loses some of its stigma, but the release of the Rolex Land-Dweller with a case inspired by the OQ has really shone a light on quartz Rolexes like never before.

Gemset Oysterquartz are exceedingly rare, usually produced in just a handful of examples before Rolex moved to a different style, and this example is no exception. It features applied square sapphire hour markers and a ring of square sapphires on the bezel, linked up with an integrated President bracelet. It appears to have lived a bit of a hard life and has taken a knock to the bezel at 6 o’clock. The clasp’s coronet and bracelet have either seen a lot of wrist-time that has softened the gold, or it’s seen a polish. Regardless, with a gemset Oysterquartz being so rare, it will be interesting to watch how the battle of condition vs rarity plays out when it goes under the hammer.

Lot 45 | Rolex Day-Date Oysterquartz ref. 19158/19018 | Auction Estimate: £60,000 -  £80,000

Stepping up a notch in watchmaking prowess, the watch taking the auction's top lot estimate is a Patek Philippe ref. 7000R, the brand's first modern mid-sized minute repeater with a 33mm case. It wears gorgeously with a beautiful white dial, Breguet numerals and thin lugs, plus the minute repeater slide demurely integrated on the case side. Yellow gold cases give a lovely tone for Patek’s minute repeaters, and this smaller case size is sure to get collectors who are looking for a subtler high-complication Patek excited.

Lot 29 | Patek Philippe ref. 7000R Minute Repeater | Auction Estimate: £150,000 -  £250,000

A reference retired just over a decade ago, this platinum Octa Calendrier really is emblematic of what makes F.P Journe so incredibly good. With timekeeping on the right-hand side of the dial so you can check it whilst it peeks out of a shirt cuff, this calibre keeps the annual calendar display to the left side, with a retrograde date that spans around the majority of the dial. The platinum case and silver dial have such a great under-the-radar feel, and with Journe’s ever-accelerating popularity, expect this one to get lots of attention.

Lot 39 | F.P. Journe Octa Calendrier in platinum | Auction Estimate: £100,000 -  £150,000

The Bonhams London Fine Watches Auction kicks off at 2pm BST / 11PM AEST on Thursday June 11th - you can learn more here.