ROLEX | Sea Dweller Double Red
Ref. 1665 | 2nd series
Chocolate Dial
1970s
For your collection of incredibly significant Rolex vintage diver's watches, there is this reference 1665 | Rolex 2nd series Double Red Sea Dweller full collector's set in exquisite condition inclusive its 100% original preserved chocolate-colored MK III tropical dial.
The entire Rolex DRSD collector's set consists of the original box and green-stripe outer box, punched and stamped papers inclusive reference sticker in original document holder, original booklets, hang tags, and more.. - even the payment receipt is still available. Furthermore, the Rolex service history is documented in detail to this rare legend of a Rolex divers watch.
This Rolex DRSD is 100% authentic – and, in its present condition & in this full collector's set, it is almost impossible to find. It was manufactured in year 1975 and sold in 1976 by the official and legendary Rolex dealer “A. Fischer & Co.,” jewelers and watchmakers since 1862, official Rolex retailer in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
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With Comex as its partner at the time, Rolex began marketing the Sea-Dweller as the ultimate diving watch. Memories of the early partnership between Omega and Comex faded, and for some reason, many assumed that Rolex had developed the Sea-Dweller exclusively for Comex.
COMEX or Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises is a French company specializing in deep diving, founded in November 1961 by Henri-Germain Delauze (picture No. 5). The Sea Dweller presented here was indeed developed by Rolex in close collaboration with COMEX. The company is known worldwide for its technology in the field of underwater research at extreme depths. COMEX pioneered the field of saturation diving at very great depths. The company experimented with the use of hydrogen in the breathing gas of divers.
Good to know, Rolex & Comex this was not always the case.. The prototypes of these Sea Dwellers from MK0 to MK2, for example, were developed in cooperation with projects of the US Navy (SEALAB) or, to name another, the joint project of the US Navy, the US Department of the Interior, NASA and General Electric (Tektite). Comex was still working with Omega at the time. As with the astronauts to the moon, this time it was a race of aquanauts into the depths of the sea. And this time, Rolex won the challenge over Omega - thanks to its successful collaboration with COMEX. And this partnership came about because the Rolex director at the time, André Heiniger, offered Comex founder Henri Delauze 100 co-branded DRSD free of charge at the launch of the collaboration.
Then, on 24th of May 1972, COMEX set a new world record in a helium-oxygen environment with the “Physalie 6” project. Comex divers Robert Gauret and Patrice Chemin dived with their Double Red Sea-Dwellers down to 2000 feet/610m, the maximum depth guaranteed for the Sea-Dwellers. The two divers were compressed to an incredible 610 meters in seven days and three hours during this diving project. Physalie 6 required almost ten days (233 hours) of decompression to return to normal surface pressure. The experiment took place from May 16 to June 2, 1972 and was subsequently featured by Rolex in one of the earliest Rolex Sea-Dweller advertisements..
>> You can see this famous advertisement in the picture No. 6 (not included, only for presentation purposes).
The watch Rolex shows in this advertisement is the first Double Red Sea Dweller to go into series production with a Mk2 dial - it’s the predecessor of the MK III version presented here (2nd series). The story begins with the MK2 dials in 1971 with the start of the collaboration between Rolex and Comex in December of that year (..and it goes up to MK7). The first Rolex DRSDs were then handed over in the year 1972 to Comex.
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Port Elizabeth of Yore: Fischer’s Jewellers
This Rolex DRSD was manufactured in year 1975 and sold in 1976 by the official and legendary Rolex dealer “A. Fischer & Co.,” jewelers and watchmakers since 1862, official Rolex retailer in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Fischer's Jewellers not only embodies the essence of Port Elizabeth but was also the first choice for jewelry for many of its citizens, especially earlier generations. The building is also one of the remaining Art Nouveau buildings.
State of watchmaking technology in the 1850s | The British had largely dominated the art of watchmaking in the 17th and 18th centuries, but they stuck to a production system that focused on high-quality products for the elite. On this basis, each watch was made individually. Although the British Watch Company attempted to modernize watchmaking in 1843 by using mass production techniques and the use of duplicating tools and machines, this system only caught on in the United States. Aaron Lufkin Dennison opened a factory in Massachusetts in 1851 that used interchangeable parts and, in 1861, ran a successful company registered as the Waltham Watch Company. This signaled the end of the handmade watch industry and led jewelers to focus on selling watches rather than manufacturing them.
Founding of the original company | Edward Preiss, a skilled watchmaker and jeweler with many years of experience in London, Paris, and Switzerland, arrived from London in 1859. Preiss opened a shop immediately after his arrival and advertised in the Eastern Province Herald in September that he was occupying premises next to the newspaper offices on Main Street, where he was working as a watchmaker and jeweler. In October of the following year, he announced that he had hired “an experienced jeweler” as his assistant. In October 1861, he leased a new shop “six doors up, where a clock hangs above the window.” It was a large clock that protruded at a right angle from the wall, and from then on, the building was easy to recognize. Fischer's Jewellers is still located here today.
Alwin Fischer takes over | In March 1865, Preiss announced to the public that he was retiring and leaving the colony. His former employee, Alwin Fischer, took over the management of the business. Preiss stated that Fischer had “a comprehensive understanding of the trade, which he had acquired through many years of practical experience in some of London's leading companies.” Fischer was born on May 22, 1835, in Hirschfield near Zwickau in Saxony and proved to be a good businessman. In 1885, when the South Africa Exhibition was held in the new Feather Market Hall and market buildings, he won a silver medal for metal engravings and a special gold medal for the best jewelry collection in the colony of South African gold and diamonds. The company was highly recommended for a clock that had to be wound once a year. The case was made by Jakob Kohler. After his retirement in December 1891, he returned to Hirschfield, where he donated a clock for the church tower to the town, and then settled in London. He remained a bachelor all his life, but married in 1908, just nine months before his death on January 9, 1909, at the age of 74.
A new era begins | After Fischer's departure, A. Schuster took over the business under the same name. Nothing is known about Schuster except that he came from Bavaria and left Port Elizabeth in 1893. In 1892, Karl Louis Emil Lippstreu joined Fischer's business. He had also worked in England before his arrival and lived in Graaf-Reinet and Somerset East before moving to Port Elizabeth. In 1894, Fischer's new owner modernized the business by installing two large glass windows, and in 1895, a veranda was built over the sidewalk. The building and land belonged to a man named Jan Bardien, a Malay whose real name was Jabaar u Din. After his death in July 1905, Lippstreu, who had been paying £500 a month in rent, was able to purchase the building and land for £10,000 when it was sold as part of the estate administration. As the owner of the store, Lippstreu was able to build a beautiful new store, and in 1910, the old one was demolished. An advertisement offered a 25% “construction discount” on watches.
A. Fischer & Co. building features | The building was designed by Orlando Middleton with all the trappings of Art Nouveau. In January 1911, the new building was completed by Fischer & Co. on Main Street. The elevator is the oldest still in operation, alongside the one in the King Edward Hotel. Recently, the ground floor facade of the store has been altered, but the wood-paneled interior has remained the same. Today, this building is one of the few remaining Art Nouveau buildings in Port Elizabeth.
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Rolex Double Red Sea Dweller MK III is an early variant of the DRSD that is very similar to the MK II version. The difference between the two variants is mainly based on the alignment of the letters on the dial and the open crown guard on the case. The red print on this variant is directly on the dial, the “6” is still open, and some dials of this version have turned brown over time, giving the dial an individual characteristic and are highly-sought after..
This DRSD's original chocolate-colored dial is matte black and has a marvelous warm brown tone when sunlight comes into the dial - see especially picture No. 3 and compare the black color of the bezel with the color of the dial, and you can get an idea of the chocolate brown over the matte black of this DRSD dream. In addition, the luminous material is very well preserved and has a warm cream tone on the 100% original dial and hands.
Our certified master watchmakers completely overhauled this masterpiece in year 2025 - the timemachine comes with superior technical performance values to you and will be delivered with the two bracelets pictured:
1. Rolex Folded Oyster Bracelet | including diving extension
2. Rolex Solid Oyster Bracelet | including diving extension
This watch is fully protected by our 1-year guarantee for you.
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Rolex Double Red Sea Dweller Full Set.
A collector's dream of a legend.
Automatic movement
Diameter 40 mm without crown
Technical indications | Keeping time +2 sec/day
Serviced 2025
* Illustrations and/or sales advertisements for curation are not part of the sale, but serve for illustrative purposes, unless otherwise stated in the description.
Differential taxation according to § 25a UStG. No taxes included. | Differenzbesteuerung nach § 25a UStG. Kunstgegenstände und Sammlungsstücke, Sonderregelung.
