Reference:comex - Revision history

Admin: site-wide: layout classes (core-facts card, breadcrumb, entry-point cards)

2026-09-05T01:22:28Z

site-wide: layout classes (core-facts card, breadcrumb, entry-point cards)

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:22, 5 September 2026
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	}}		}}

	<small>[[Reference:submariner\|Submariner]] -> '''COMEX'''</small>		<small>[[Reference:submariner\|Submariner]] › '''COMEX'''</small>


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	==Core facts==		==Core facts==

	{\| class="wikitable"		{\| class="wikitable rp-facts"
	\|-		\|-
	! detail		! detail

Admin: site-wide: domain move BezelBase → Rolexopedia (rolexopedia.net)

2026-09-05T00:38:43Z

site-wide: domain move BezelBase → Rolexopedia (rolexopedia.net)

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:38, 5 September 2026
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	{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex COMEX}}		{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex COMEX}}
	{{#seo:		{{#seo:
	\|title=Rolex COMEX — Sea-Dweller & Submariner Dive History \| ~~BezelBase~~		\|title=Rolex COMEX — Sea-Dweller & Submariner Dive History \| Rolexopedia
	\|description=The Rolex COMEX program is the institutional Submariner / Sea-Dweller branch supplied to Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises in Marseille between 1971 and 1997. Seven references issued (5513, 5514, 1665, 16660, 16800, 16600, 16610), the dedicated 5514 with helium escape valve, and the program's authentication framework anchored on caseback engravings, dial logos, and COMEX issue numbers.		\|description=The Rolex COMEX program is the institutional Submariner / Sea-Dweller branch supplied to Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises in Marseille between 1971 and 1997. Seven references issued (5513, 5514, 1665, 16660, 16800, 16600, 16610), the dedicated 5514 with helium escape valve, and the program's authentication framework anchored on caseback engravings, dial logos, and COMEX issue numbers.
	\|keywords=Rolex COMEX, COMEX Submariner, COMEX Sea-Dweller, 5514, 1665 COMEX, 16660 COMEX, 16610 COMEX, helium escape valve, Henri Delauze, saturation diving, COMEX 377, COMEX 850, COMEX 878		\|keywords=Rolex COMEX, COMEX Submariner, COMEX Sea-Dweller, 5514, 1665 COMEX, 16660 COMEX, 16610 COMEX, helium escape valve, Henri Delauze, saturation diving, COMEX 377, COMEX 850, COMEX 878

Admin: Structure: remove body heading duplicating {{DISPLAYTITLE:}} (renders as a second page title)

2026-08-09T23:50:03Z

Structure: remove body heading duplicating {{DISPLAYTITLE:}} (renders as a second page title)

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:50, 9 August 2026
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	<small>[[Reference:submariner\|Submariner]] -> '''COMEX'''</small>		<small>[[Reference:submariner\|Submariner]] -> '''COMEX'''</small>

	~~= Rolex COMEX =~~

	The COMEX-issued Rolex is the institutional dive-watch branch that sits adjacent to the retail Submariner and Sea-Dweller, supplied by Rolex to Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises in Marseille between roughly 1971 and 1997 for working saturation divers. It is an issue program rather than a single reference, touching seven Rolex references over a quarter-century, with caseback engravings, dial logos, and serialised diver numbers separating each watch from its retail counterpart. The 5514 was built as a dedicated COMEX product. The 5513, 1665, 16660, 16800, 16600, and 16610 were retail references modified or marked at supply for COMEX issue.		The COMEX-issued Rolex is the institutional dive-watch branch that sits adjacent to the retail Submariner and Sea-Dweller, supplied by Rolex to Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises in Marseille between roughly 1971 and 1997 for working saturation divers. It is an issue program rather than a single reference, touching seven Rolex references over a quarter-century, with caseback engravings, dial logos, and serialised diver numbers separating each watch from its retail counterpart. The 5514 was built as a dedicated COMEX product. The 5513, 1665, 16660, 16800, 16600, and 16610 were retail references modified or marked at supply for COMEX issue.

Admin: Fact: COMEX 377 sold at Phillips New York Watch Auction SIX lot NY080222/153 (2022) for USD 252,000, not Phillips Geneva 2018 for CHF 1,332,500 - per the Phillips lot cited in this page's own Sources and the Reference:5514 page; also COMEX 878 = EUR 91,840 (Antiquorum Monaco 383-172) and COMEX 233 = GBP 25,600 (Bonhams 30667/69)

2026-08-09T22:18:55Z

Fact: COMEX 377 sold at Phillips New York Watch Auction SIX lot NY080222/153 (2022) for USD 252,000, not Phillips Geneva 2018 for CHF 1,332,500 - per the Phillips lot cited in this page's own Sources and the Reference:5514 page; also COMEX 878 = EUR 91,840 (Antiquorum Monaco 383-172) and COMEX 233 = GBP 25,600 (Bonhams 30667/69)

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:18, 9 August 2026
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	! Hammer		! Hammer
	\|-		\|-
	\| Phillips ~~Geneva, "An Evening of Rare Watches"~~		\| Phillips New York Watch Auction SIX
	\| ~~CH-085~~		\| NY080222/153
	\| ~~2018~~		\| 2022
	\| 5514 / 377		\| 5514 / 377
	\| 1975 matte black COMEX-logo, 9315 bracelet, Henry Hudson letter		\| 1975 case 4,089,919, matte black COMEX-logo, 9315 bracelet, Henry Hudson letter
	\| ~~CHF 1,332~~,~~500~~		\| USD 252,000
	\|-		\|-
	\| Phillips Geneva		\| Phillips Geneva
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	\| 2025		\| 2025
	\| 5514 / 878		\| 5514 / 878
	\| 1977 "Big Numbers" wrap-around caseback		\| 1977 case 5,230,258, "Big Numbers" wrap-around caseback
	\| ~~CHF six-figure~~		\| EUR 91,840
	\|-		\|-
	\| Bonhams London		\| Bonhams London
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	\| 5514 / 233		\| 5514 / 233
	\| Colin Beard provenance, c.1971 case + later service		\| Colin Beard provenance, c.1971 case + later service
	\| GBP 50,~~000+~~		\| GBP 25,600
	\|-		\|-
	\| Christie's Geneva, Important Watches		\| Christie's Geneva, Important Watches
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	\|}		\|}

	The ~~CHF 1.33M~~ Phillips ~~2018~~ result on COMEX 377 is the ~~program record at~~ public auction. The 1665 COMEX with double-red dial and matched papers has hammered consistently in the GBP 200,000-plus range across the 2014–2024 period, while the 5514 spread runs from roughly USD 50,000 for service-heavy late-program examples ~~through seven figures~~ for the ~~strongest provenance~~. ARA-engraved 5514 examples, of which 16 were issued to Argentine Navy divers training at the COMEX Marseille facility in 1977, command a separate premium and surface less frequently than standard COMEX 5514 examples.		The USD 252,000 Phillips New York result on COMEX 377 in 2022, against a USD 60,000-120,000 estimate, is the strongest documented public-auction result in the program. The 1665 COMEX with double-red dial and matched papers has hammered consistently in the GBP 200,000-plus range across the 2014–2024 period, while the 5514 spread runs from roughly USD 50,000 for service-heavy late-program examples up to the USD 252,000 paid for the best-documented one. ARA-engraved 5514 examples, of which 16 were issued to Argentine Navy divers training at the COMEX Marseille facility in 1977, command a separate premium and surface less frequently than standard COMEX 5514 examples.

	==Henri Delauze and the program tail==		==Henri Delauze and the program tail==

Admin: Text audit: voice, clarity, source links

2026-08-09T21:36:17Z

Text audit: voice, clarity, source links

Show changes

Admin: Fix: remove fabricated person "Henry Huet" and the invented two-letter taxonomy built around him. "HH" in the forum-thread titles that seeded this = Henry Hudson (Rolex UK Bexley), already named correctly on this page and in the Phillips NY080222/153 lot title. No COMEX official of that name exists.

2026-08-08T17:27:34Z

Fix: remove fabricated person "Henry Huet" and the invented two-letter taxonomy built around him. "HH" in the forum-thread titles that seeded this = Henry Hudson (Rolex UK Bexley), already named correctly on this page and in the Phillips NY080222/153 lot title. No COMEX official of that name exists.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:27, 8 August 2026
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	COMEX issue number plausibility against the known issue bands documented in major-house lot text matters: COMEX 24 carries an autumn 1970 prototype configuration; COMEX 233 carries early-1970s caseback; COMEX 377 sits in the mid-1970s; COMEX 850 and 878 carry the 1977 "Big Numbers" wrap-around. A claimed COMEX 200 with late-program wrap-around engraving is incoherent.		COMEX issue number plausibility against the known issue bands documented in major-house lot text matters: COMEX 24 carries an autumn 1970 prototype configuration; COMEX 233 carries early-1970s caseback; COMEX 377 sits in the mid-1970s; COMEX 850 and 878 carry the 1977 "Big Numbers" wrap-around. A claimed COMEX 200 with late-program wrap-around engraving is incoherent.

	External validators include Henry Hudson letters from Rolex Bexley UK ~~(no longer issued~~, ~~confirms~~ caseback engraving and COMEX issue~~) and Henry Huet (HH) letters from the COMEX organisation itself (Huet was a senior figure in COMEX's diving operations)~~. The two are different documents from different sources and serve different authentication purposes; a Huet letter ties a watch to specific period COMEX service rather than to Rolex caseback authentication. Forgeries of the ~~documents~~ themselves are a separate concern and have surfaced in the market.		External validators include Henry Hudson letters from Rolex Bexley UK, which confirm the caseback engraving and the COMEX issue number. Bexley no longer issues them. Forgeries of the letters themselves are a separate concern and have surfaced in the market.

	Forensic researcher Jose Pereztroika (Perezcope) has published several deep dives on COMEX caseback execution; the published forensic literature on COMEX rests primarily on Mattarelli, Perezcope, and the catalog essays from Phillips and Antiquorum specialists rather than on Rolex factory documentation, which is not publicly available for the program.		Forensic researcher Jose Pereztroika (Perezcope) has published several deep dives on COMEX caseback execution; the published forensic literature on COMEX rests primarily on Mattarelli, Perezcope, and the catalog essays from Phillips and Antiquorum specialists rather than on Rolex factory documentation, which is not publicly available for the program.
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	Henri Germain Delauze founded Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises in Marseille in 1962, building it into the dominant European commercial saturation-diving operator of the offshore-oil boom. COMEX's diving research arm conducted the deep-saturation experiments — Janus, Hydra, Physalie — that pushed working diving depths toward and beyond 500 metres in the 1970s and 1980s. The Rolex supply relationship spanned most of that arc.		Henri Germain Delauze founded Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises in Marseille in 1962, building it into the dominant European commercial saturation-diving operator of the offshore-oil boom. COMEX's diving research arm conducted the deep-saturation experiments — Janus, Hydra, Physalie — that pushed working diving depths toward and beyond 500 metres in the 1970s and 1980s. The Rolex supply relationship spanned most of that arc.

	Delauze died in February 2012. COMEX wound down its commercial diving operations through the 2010s and exited oilfield work; the corporate entity continues today in offshore marine engineering rather than human saturation diving. The Rolex supply program ended in the mid-to-late 1990s, with the 16610 issue closing out the institutional relationship. Surviving program documents — the COMEX service logs, diver assignment records~~, and the Henry Huet letters~~ — sit primarily in private specialist archives rather than in public corporate hands, which is one reason the published forensic literature on COMEX rests so heavily on auction-house catalog work rather than on factory or program records.		Delauze died in February 2012. COMEX wound down its commercial diving operations through the 2010s and exited oilfield work; the corporate entity continues today in offshore marine engineering rather than human saturation diving. The Rolex supply program ended in the mid-to-late 1990s, with the 16610 issue closing out the institutional relationship. Surviving program documents — the COMEX service logs and diver assignment records — sit primarily in private specialist archives rather than in public corporate hands, which is one reason the published forensic literature on COMEX rests so heavily on auction-house catalog work rather than on factory or program records.

Admin: SEO: clickable title + og:image + timestamps

2026-08-04T00:23:46Z

SEO: clickable title + og:image + timestamps

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:23, 4 August 2026
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	{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex COMEX}}		{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex COMEX}}
	{{#seo:		{{#seo:
	\|title=Rolex COMEX — Sea-Dweller & Submariner Dive History \| BezelBase		\|title=Rolex COMEX — Sea-Dweller & Submariner Dive History \| BezelBase
	\|description=The Rolex COMEX program is the institutional Submariner / Sea-Dweller branch supplied to Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises in Marseille between 1971 and 1997. Seven references issued (5513, 5514, 1665, 16660, 16800, 16600, 16610), the dedicated 5514 with helium escape valve, and the program's authentication framework anchored on caseback engravings, dial logos, and COMEX issue numbers.		\|description=The Rolex COMEX program is the institutional Submariner / Sea-Dweller branch supplied to Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises in Marseille between 1971 and 1997. Seven references issued (5513, 5514, 1665, 16660, 16800, 16600, 16610), the dedicated 5514 with helium escape valve, and the program's authentication framework anchored on caseback engravings, dial logos, and COMEX issue numbers.
	\|keywords=Rolex COMEX, COMEX Submariner, COMEX Sea-Dweller, 5514, 1665 COMEX, 16660 COMEX, 16610 COMEX, helium escape valve, Henri Delauze, saturation diving, COMEX 377, COMEX 850, COMEX 878		\|keywords=Rolex COMEX, COMEX Submariner, COMEX Sea-Dweller, 5514, 1665 COMEX, 16660 COMEX, 16610 COMEX, helium escape valve, Henri Delauze, saturation diving, COMEX 377, COMEX 850, COMEX 878
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	\|og_type=article		\|og_type=article
	\|published_time=2026-04-30T03:30:44Z		\|published_time=2026-04-30T03:30:44Z
	\|modified_time=2026-06-~~29T01~~:22:~~34Z~~		\|modified_time=2026-07-18T14:18:56Z
	\|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large		\|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
	}}		}}

Klaudiusz: Internal linking: related references (thematic hub)

2026-07-18T14:18:56Z

Internal linking: related references (thematic hub)

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:18, 18 July 2026
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	Delauze died in February 2012. COMEX wound down its commercial diving operations through the 2010s and exited oilfield work; the corporate entity continues today in offshore marine engineering rather than human saturation diving. The Rolex supply program ended in the mid-to-late 1990s, with the 16610 issue closing out the institutional relationship. Surviving program documents — the COMEX service logs, diver assignment records, and the Henry Huet letters — sit primarily in private specialist archives rather than in public corporate hands, which is one reason the published forensic literature on COMEX rests so heavily on auction-house catalog work rather than on factory or program records.		Delauze died in February 2012. COMEX wound down its commercial diving operations through the 2010s and exited oilfield work; the corporate entity continues today in offshore marine engineering rather than human saturation diving. The Rolex supply program ended in the mid-to-late 1990s, with the 16610 issue closing out the institutional relationship. Surviving program documents — the COMEX service logs, diver assignment records, and the Henry Huet letters — sit primarily in private specialist archives rather than in public corporate hands, which is one reason the published forensic literature on COMEX rests so heavily on auction-house catalog work rather than on factory or program records.


			== Related references ==

			* [[Reference:submariner\|Submariner family index]]
			* [[Reference:sea-dweller\|Sea-Dweller family index]]
			* [[Reference:5514\|Submariner 5514]] — the COMEX-only Submariner reference
			* [[Reference:1665\|Sea-Dweller 1665]] — COMEX-issued Double Red and Great White
			* [[Reference:16660\|Sea-Dweller 16660]] — COMEX-issued Triple Six
			* [[Reference:16600\|Sea-Dweller 16600]] — later COMEX Sea-Dwellers

	== Sources ==		== Sources ==

Admin: SEO: clickable title + og:image + timestamps

2026-06-29T01:23:56Z

SEO: clickable title + og:image + timestamps

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:23, 29 June 2026
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	\|og_type=article		\|og_type=article
	\|published_time=2026-04-30T03:30:44Z		\|published_time=2026-04-30T03:30:44Z
	\|modified_time=2026-06-~~04T04~~:42:~~29Z~~		\|modified_time=2026-06-29T01:22:34Z
	\|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large		\|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
	}}		}}

Admin: SEO: clickable title + og:image + timestamps

2026-06-29T01:22:34Z

SEO: clickable title + og:image + timestamps

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:22, 29 June 2026
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	{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex COMEX}}		{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex COMEX}}
	{{#seo:		{{#seo:
	\|title=Rolex COMEX ~~- Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises Submariner and~~ Sea-Dweller ~~(1971-1997) -~~ BezelBase		\|title=Rolex COMEX — Sea-Dweller & Submariner Dive History \| BezelBase
	\|description=The Rolex COMEX program is the institutional Submariner / Sea-Dweller branch supplied to Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises in Marseille between 1971 and 1997. Seven references issued (5513, 5514, 1665, 16660, 16800, 16600, 16610), the dedicated 5514 with helium escape valve, and the program's authentication framework anchored on caseback engravings, dial logos, and COMEX issue numbers.		\|description=The Rolex COMEX program is the institutional Submariner / Sea-Dweller branch supplied to Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises in Marseille between 1971 and 1997. Seven references issued (5513, 5514, 1665, 16660, 16800, 16600, 16610), the dedicated 5514 with helium escape valve, and the program's authentication framework anchored on caseback engravings, dial logos, and COMEX issue numbers.
	\|keywords=Rolex COMEX, COMEX Submariner, COMEX Sea-Dweller, 5514, 1665 COMEX, 16660 COMEX, 16610 COMEX, helium escape valve, Henri Delauze, saturation diving, COMEX 377, COMEX 850, COMEX 878		\|keywords=Rolex COMEX, COMEX Submariner, COMEX Sea-Dweller, 5514, 1665 COMEX, 16660 COMEX, 16610 COMEX, helium escape valve, Henri Delauze, saturation diving, COMEX 377, COMEX 850, COMEX 878
			\|image=Comex 5514 hero.webp
			\|image_alt=Rolex 5514 COMEX Submariner — Maurice Bessard, COMEX 850
	\|type=Article		\|type=Article
			\|og_type=article
			\|published_time=2026-04-30T03:30:44Z
			\|modified_time=2026-06-04T04:42:29Z
			\|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
	}}		}}