Rolex COMEX Sea-Dweller ref. 16600 ser. N Full Set

Rolex Sea Dweller  Comex ref. 16600 ser. N Full Set
Serial Numbers  N4459**,1992

Case:
in steel in very good condition
Serial and ref. numbers are perfect between the lugs

Dial:
original Rolex Comex dial
Big Logo
in perfect condition

Caseback :
original Rolex Comex caseback
engraved outside with COMEX number 3254
straight lettering
engraved inside with reference and serial numbers
in very good condition

Bracelet:
original Rolex Oyster ref. 93160A
clasp PJ9
in very good condition

Accessori:
Full Set (Rolex box with sticker 16600, Rolex punched papers , booklets, calendar, tags, anchor, Comex tables, Comex gadgets).

Price upon Request

A watch for real connoisseurs.
But what is COMEX?
Compagnie Maritime d’Expertises “COMEX” was founded in Marseille in 1961 by an engineer, born in the south of France in 1929 named Henri Germain Delauze.
In the 1950′s he met right here Commander Cousteau with whom he established a partnership to work in submarine excavations.
Delauze and COMEX took on an incredible industrial and human challenge: the conquest of the deep.
In the 1970s, after the “oil crisis,” thousands of offshore platforms sprang up around the world, and COMEX was almost the only one able to repair and work on them.
COMEX had a research and development center, a simulation center, 2,000 employees (800 divers) around the world, and an incredible selection of boats, barges, and bathyscaphe.

We come to the relationship with the world of the watch.
The 1960s was a time of exploration and achievement for mankind.
Space exploration and the future were a real obsession of the time, further fueled by event movies such as “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Planet of the Apes” both released in 1968.
Although this euphoria peaked with the moon landing in 1969, the obsession with conquering the unknown remained. For watch brands ,the strong collective interest in exploration represented a new opportunity to take their products to a whole new level and above all, it represented an opportunity to make their watches iconic by riding the wave of the events of those times.

Rolex and Omega had already pitted themselves against each other to establish themselves as brands in the conquest of space, now the new competition much closer to Earth was about to begin: the race to the ocean depths.
Both Rolex and Omega were eager to prove their ability to jump on board the new trend that was deep-sea diving.
Saturation diving was both dangerous and exciting, as the U.S. Navy demonstrated in the 1960s with the development of experimental underwater habitats such as SEALAB I, II, and III, built to test the limits of the human race.
The goal of saturation diving was to learn more about the human limits of physiological and psychological exertion, pushing deep-sea diving into a new era.

The perfect watch.

For Rolex and Omega, involved in the corporate rivalry, there was tremendous value in being chosen by COMEX, as they fought for the opportunity to sell the world’s best dive watch.
Omega was the first to present a Super Diver. After unknowingly conquering space with its “Moon watch,” Omega set its eyes closer to home, forging an exclusive partnership with COMEX from 1968 to 1971.
Omega worked closely with Comex testing prototypes and developing new watches. Most famously, the Omega Seamaster 600 Ploprof.
COMEX’s contribution produced a watch that put utility, functionality and robustness first.

Omega had high hopes for this partnership and planned to market its success with a COMEX-approved press release entitled “Inner Space.” A perfect complement to their previous “Outer Space” advertising credentials. Had Omega achieved the same success with COMEX, its competitors would have been debunked, particularly Rolex, which at that time had focused on working with the U.S. Navy in developing its dive watches.
Eventually Omega’s relationship with COMEX foundered, and not long afterward Omega marketed the first Ploprof in 1971.
COMEX itself increased in popularity, pushed further into the limelight, and achieved success after success.

Before the partnership with COMEX, Rolex had a very different approach to testing its products. It loaned its watches to divers in exchange for feature test reports.
So, as the story goes, in 1971 Rolex’s then CEO Andre Heiniger contacted COMEX founder Henri-Germain Delauze with a rather simple and indecent proposal.
Rolex would supply ALL COMEX divers with special Rolex Submariner and Sea-Dweller watches free of charge (and not just for missions), and in return COMEX would have to provide detailed performance analysis reports. In this way COMEX would have watches available as needed.

To say that the Sea Dweller was made for Comex is not accurate. Actually, the Sea-Dweller was made for SEALAB divers, in fact ref. 1665 was created before Rolex’s collaboration with COMEX in 1971. In the same year the Rolex Sea-Dweller 1665 was put into the catalog, after 5 years of prototyping.
Rolex or Omega?
As for the best instrument, it can be said that both Brands have done their job. However, the Helium Valve technology developed by Rolex during this process was more successful in the decades to come due in part to better portability, a strategy later imitated by Omega.
Omega won the space battle, but Rolex won the war at sea.
Rolex continued its official collaboration with Comex until 1997, concluded with the Rolex Sea-Dweller ref. 16600 and Submariner ref. 16610.

So, for the 16600 we have 3 lots, with approximately:
100 pieces on serial N with big logo dial, CX-Rolex ‘straight’ engraving on case back, and allocation number 32XX
100 pieces on serial T / U, big logo dial, CX-Rolex ’rounded’ engraving on case back, and assignment number 33XX
Last lot, serial F (comprising less than 20 pieces in all, including a majority of 16610) big logo dial, CX-Rolex ’rounded’ engraving on case back, and assignment number 34xx (all of these watches were never assigned for diving missions ).

During the partnership, Rolex was involved in several highly publicized world records, highlighting how comfortable the Sea-Dweller was in the deepest depths of the ocean.
For Rolex, functionality and water resistance are the driving factors behind the brand’s innovation to this day.
Regardless of the brand, a COMEX watch is rare, special, and highly sought after. And it is understandable, as these were not watches sold in stores and just like military watches, they were entrusted with a very specific purpose.