Rolex “Full-Set 1665 Double Red” Sea-Dweller

Description

Up for grabs is an incredible Rolex “Double Red” Seadweller, circa 1977, at the very end of production of the Double Reds.  This example has a “Mark IV” (MK4) dial. These watches were designed for diving under extreme depths, and were thus fitted with a helium escape valve on the left-hand side of the case, which was used to release pressure as it built up under water.  This particular example comes complete as a full-set, with original Rolex box (with “1665” sticker on the side”), “punched” Warranty Certificate (showing original date of sale in 1979), booklets/brochures, anchor, and other accessories as pictured.

This example is in excellent vintage condition.  The case does not show any obvious signs of polishing, with sharp and original beveled edges.  The dial is perfect, with no wear, marks, scratches, etc.  The original tritium lume is still present on both hands and dial, aged to a golden yellow.  The original “fat font” insert remains in great condition, with no wear.

This watch comes fitted on a Rolex Swiss 93150 flip-lock bracelet, with 585 endlinks, and has 11 full links with no stretch. Please note: as this example is towards the very end of run for Double Reds, the caseback is a “circular” Rolex caseback, which is correct for 5.1-5.2m serial end-of-productions DRSDs; however, this caseback does not have the serial number engraved on the inside, which we believe is due to the fact that it was one of the last models produced before the transition to the “white” Sea-Dweller dial (which did not have casebacks engraved), and likely thus a transitional caseback (although it is possible it was replaced at some point, no signs point to that being the case).