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22 April 2017

Clémence, Lara, Émeraude and Rolex with logos

Clémence Cahu is interested in vintage Rolex watches in limited series and bearing a company or an army logo. Here are the six models she selected presented by Lara Giliberto and Émeraude Nicolas.

These six Rolex logo watches are sold by the vintage Rolex specialist, Gérard Vautrin at Olivine Prestige in Paris’s 17th arrondissement.

 

ROLEX Submariner Date 16610 for COMEX with Big Logo, 2004

In 1969, Rolex became the official supplier of Comex, the Compagnie Maritime d’Expertises specializing in underwater engineering. To differentiate its Submariner and Sea-Dweller watches worn by divers, Rolex put the company’s black logo on the white dial. A first! Until 2008, the date of the last series, Rolex had produced between 2,200 and 2,400 of these watches. Each diver had a watch that Comex or Rolex would either give or let go at a special price for use on special missions like its Hydra program, which was for the deepest dive time in the world. Today, each watch appearing on the market causes a sensation…

 

ROLEX GMT MASTER 1675/3 for UAE Air Force, 1970

This military watch of which only 80 were produced is decorated with an eagle, the emblem of the Army of the United Arab Emirates. The sultan ordered them to give his army’s special forces SAS unit in recognition of their protection during an attempted coup whilst his country was still a British protectorate. Other governments have ordered Rolexs including Panama, among the 150 Submariner watches produced for the inauguration of the Panama Canal, the No. 1 of the series found its way into the hands of Jimmy Carter and the No. 2 went to the country’s president.

 

ROLEX Submariner Date 16610 for G.S.P.R (Security Group of the Presidency of the French Republic), 2007

This commemorative watch celebrates the elite unit that protected the President of the French Republic before its dissolution by Nicolas Sarkozy. Similar to those worn by the SAS in the 1970s, only 30 were produced. The logo on the dial is reproduced on the back of the watch, along with its serial number and the dates of the creation and disappearance of the group. Today, the Rolex GSPR is the only French military Rolex.

 

ROLEX Air-King for Winn Dixie, 1990 and ROLEX Air-King for Petroleum, 1979

It is said that this US supermarket chain based in Florida decided to give this model as an incentive to reduce the excessive number of accidents caused by its drivers. It is not known precisely how many were produced. Rolex has collaborated with many other American companies like Petroleum and Coca-Cola, however there is no evidence today that it worked with Walt Disney. All the watches that exist featuring Donald or Mickey are either genuine models that have been customized or fakes.

 

ROLEX Air-King for Domino’s Pizza, 2006

On this Rolex, the logo is no longer on the dial but riveted on the Oyster bracelet and engraved on the back of the case. Depending on position, level of involvement in a project or of responsibility, the Domino’s Pizza employees would receive a Rolex Air-King in steel or gold. These are the last watches Rolex agreed to customize.

 


Credits:

Photograph: Lara Giliberto
Stylist: Clémence Cahu
Art direction: Émeraude Nicolas
Model: Lera S @ Metropolitan Paris
Make-up: Aya Murai
Hair: Josefine Gligic
Photo assistant: Margaux Jouanneau


 

Discover the other photo series realized by Clémence Cahu and Émeraude Nicolas, with Iris Velghe:

 

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