Single-Owner 5512 Rolex Submariner Explorer Dial Sells for $250,000 USD

Gardiner Houlgate has just auctioned off a very rare Rolex Submariner for a staggering $250,000 USD. The special Submariner was purchased by a coal miner from Nottinghamshire England 56 years ago, and possess the rare 3-6-9 explorer dial.

The watch was purchased by the single owner for his 40th birthday for £70 GBP ($90 USD) and was passed on to his daughter and son-in-law after his death in 1995. What makes this watch extra special — on top of its full Watches of Switzerland paperwork and original accouterments — is that the sale also included a number of photographs of the original owner wearing his cherished 5512 Sub.

 

The owner was from London where he was chosen during World War II as a Bevin Boy to increase the rate of coal production, and this timepiece was a gift to himself for the past years of hard work in the British coal mines. What an amazing story for an amazing watch. 

- L. Yeung

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