Icons: The Rolex Military Submariner

In the 1970s, Rolex provided a specially designed watch to the British Ministry of Defence for issue to the Royal Navy's clearance divers. The watch, now affectionately referred to as the Milsub, was a modified Rolex Submariner designed to meet the MOD purchasing specification and to improve on the current Omega 300. There is no watch more iconic than the Milsub.

In order to Meet the MODs exacting standards, Rolex made the following modifications to the Submariner:

> Over sized gladiator sword hands for increased luminous visibility
> Full 60 minute marked bezel for addition countdown time
> Fixed case bars for extra durability
> Dial marked with a 'circle T' to denote the tritium used in the dial construction
> Engravings to denote the piece as property of the Crown
> Engravings to denote the unique stores numbers of the piece

Originally, only around 1000 or so Milsubs were supplied and only a fraction of these are still in existence. The watches were originally worn by Royal Navy clearance divers and members of the British SBS (Special Boat Service) so they saw a hard life. Due to disposal by the MOD, servicing, modification and loss-in-service there is an even smaller number that remain in original specification. Due to their rarity, at auction these watches can command an asking price of over £100,000.

The Milsub had four designations throughout its life. Each with its own distinguishing features:

> The 5513 milsub was delivered with either sword hands or mercedes hands from new
> The 5513 milsub came with either full 60 minute bezel insert or 15 min bezel insert from new.
> The 5517 milsub was delivered only with sword hands and full 60 minute bezel
> The 5513/5517 was double stamped with both designations and is the rarest of the four.

The Milsubs that are left in the world now number less than 120, all in varying states of patina. Some lay at the bottom of the ocean and some will stay buried in the mud of the Congo. These tool watches were used hard by hard men and as such stand testament to the history of the Royal Navy and its clearance divers. Examples do turn up from time to time but finding a genuine one is nearly impossible - the market is flooded with franken pieces and faux vintage fakes so if you're in the market to drop £100k on a watch, you should naturally do your homework.

Photographs © Respective Owners