Shopping Time: 5 Ultra-Rare Swiss Replica Rolex COMEX Dive Watches You Can Actually Buy

We are always scouring the web for the most amazing replica Rolex watches UK currently available, and each Friday Shopping Time shares five standout timepieces with you.

We’ve brought you interesting, even decadent dive watches from Rolex in the past, but this is a genre in which a singular focus often rewards collectors. This brings us to the ultra-narrow niche of Rolex COMEX divers, which we’ve only once before touched on.

Rolex has a reputation for building tools that hold up in a professional environment. A big part of that reputation comes from partnerships that define their past. We’re talking about the submersible Treiste and its modern counterpart, the Deepsea Challenger; the Navy’s SEALAB missions; and of course, COMEX. Rolex developed dive China fake Rolex watches for each of these outfits, gaining knowledge at every step, and laying the foundations for the modern Submariner, Sea-Dweller, and Deepsea references produced today. But only one of these relationships has resulted in watches you can actually buy (without too much trouble) today, and those are watches developed for Compagnie Maritime d’Expertise or “COMEX”, a renowned French diving company.

Today, we’re bringing you a selection of Rolex dive watches built for COMEX divers spanning the duration of this fruitful relationship. Rolex began working with COMEX heading into 1970, as the partners were hitting their stride with a full collection of dive watch references, which were, at the time, the Submariner (ref. 5513, 5512, and 1680) and the Sea-Dweller (ref. 1665). These were the publicly available references, at least. The first 1:1 clone Rolex watches built to COMEX spec was a reference 5513, a no-date Submariner fitted with an HEV, or Helium Escape Valve. The HEV is a handy feature for commercial divers spending prolonged periods in helium rich environments (for everyone else, even regular divers, it’s decidedly less useful).

Heading into the ‘80s, the 1:1 quality replica Rolex Submariner watches went through a transitional period that saw features like sapphire crystals and white gold hour marker surrounds, among other things. References gained a digit (or several) and by the late ‘80s a new generation of Rolex tool Rolex was set for the coming decade and beyond. Rolex would go on to develop nine COMEX variations within their Submariner and Sea-Dweller collections at this time (sometimes called “the five-digit era”), which would include modified commercial references, even transitional references like the 16800 and 168000, as well as unique references such as the 5514.

Rolex would continue to make COMEX watches until 1997, and none of them were ever offered for sale commercially. Estimates place the total number produced around 3,000, a relatively poultry sum spread over the 27 year period. While rare, these best copy Rolex watches do pop up in the open market from time to time, generally boasting a notable provenance at that, as you might imagine. The casebacks are each marked with a unique issue number and COMEX markings, and collectors should be able to tie these numbers to the advertised provenance.

COMEX divers are particularly sought after not only for their rarity but for the role they would play in establishing the modern lore of Rolex dive watches. These cheap Rolex fake watches are the last remnants of issued tool watches from Rolex, and they carry a premium over standard references as a result. But if you’re a fan of history, and the history of dive watches in particular, it’s tough to find a more interesting story than that of Rolex and COMEX.

Here are five Rolex COMEX divers you can buy right now.

Rolex Submariner COMEX ref. 5514 | Price on Request

This is an exceptional example of one of the rarest COMEX divers to be produced, the fabled Submariner reference 5514, based on the commercially available 5513 (which is engraved on the inner caseback). This reference features a modified case that has been fitted with a helium release valve. The depth rating remains at 200 m, which may not sound terribly impressive compared to many of the perfect replica Rolex watches available today, but it’s more than enough to cover almost every diving scenario, even at this level of work being done.

This watch comes to us from Corrado Mattarelli, and features a beautifully preserved case and dial. The watch dates to 1977, and while it does not come with box and papers, it does have the engraved caseback verifying its provenance as a COMEX diver. The 5514 reference received dials both with the COMEX logo and without, and this watch falls into the latter category. This best selling super clone Rolex watches represents a sweet spot for vintage COMEX Rolex watches.