Rolex Submariner 16800 Matte COMEX 1982

ROLEX Submariner 16800 COMEX, Matte dial, Box
Serial: 72xxxxx, COMEX NO. 603x
Circa: 1982
Reference No.: 16800

DIAL: Black matte dial with big COMEX logo at 6, beveled date aperture at 3 o’clock, tritium hour markers. Mercedes hour and pencil minutes hand, lollipop seconds.

CASE: 40mm, stainless steel with black 60 min rotating bezel and sapphire crystal with loupe for date at 3 o’clock.
COMEX engraved on the caseback with large individual issue number: 6035

MOVEMENT: Caliber 3035, Self-winding mechanical movement with 27 jewels

BRACELET: Rolex stainless steel Oyster fliplock 93150/593 date code VE (1980)

CONDITION REPORT: The dial and hands are mint and flawless surface with all tritium and printing intact and original. The bezel has aged over time to a dark chocolate brown color varying in different shades of light. The case appears to have been professionally refinished and remains thick with bevels still visible. All caseback engravings and markings remain crisp and untouched.

NOTES: The watch comes with its original box

The Rolex Submariner Ref. 16800, delivered to Comex from 1982 to 1989, holds a significant place in horological history, particularly in the realm of professional diving watches. A total of approximately 200 watches were produced for Comex, fitted with the calibre 3035 movement, known for its instantaneous date change mechanism, and came with a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal—a notable advancement over earlier Submariners.

Here’s a breakdown of the deliveries and dial variations:

- First batch (1982, 100 pieces): Featured a matte tritium dial with a large “Comex” logo. These models are often called "transitional" by collectors because they mixed older design elements (like the matt dial) with newer features (such as the sapphire crystal).
- Second batch (100 pieces): All these watches came with gloss tritium dials and the small “Comex” logo, similar to the latter part of the first batch.
Collectors often view the matte big “Comex” logo dials with the large logo as higher quality compared to the gloss tritium dials with the small logo, which were known to deteriorate more easily. Despite this, both variants are extremely rare and highly prized, with their scarcity and historical relevance making them key pieces in any Rolex collection.

COMEX (Compagnie Maritime d'Expertise) was founded in 1961, in Marseille, at a time when industrial deep-sea diving did not yet exist. Very soon, however, Comex promoted new technology and became a pioneer in deep sea diving operations for the offshore oil industry.

The 16800 succeeded the 1680 as the improved generation featuring a scratch-resistant sapphire glass further improving water resistance to 300m (1000ft.) The first series came with a matte dial and subsequently was replaced with a glossy white gold surround applied markers dial in the mid 1980's.