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rolex submarine watch with black dial and black bezela close up of a watch on a white surface with a white backgroundan image of a close up of a wrist watch on a white backgrounda rolex watch and other items laid out on a table
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168 - ROLEX Sea-Dweller "COMEX 3497" Ref.
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Estimate €80,000 - €120,000
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Description
ROLEX Sea-Dweller "COMEX 3497" Ref. 16600 No. F204225 Circa 2003 Steel diving wristwatch with helium escape valve, supplied to Comex Case: case, unidirectional rotating bezel, helium escape valve, screw-down caseback, signed. Dial: black, luminescent hands and hour markers, central seconds hand, date window, signed Movement: automatic cal. 3135, chronometer-certified, signed Bracelet: Oyster, ref. 93160A Clasp: folding clasp, ref. 93160A/CL1 Diameter: 40 mm Includes: a ‘stamped’ warranty confirming delivery to Comex SA (code 115), presentation box and outer box, a COSC tag, a tag with the watch’s serial number, a Rolex decompression table, a 2004/2005 calendar, a Rolex anchor, a diving extension for the bracelet, a ‘Your Rolex Oyster’ booklet, a Rolex Submariner booklet, a Comex sticker. Muriel Sivazlian’s Comex, the first French female diver and a member of James Cameron’s Titanic expedition Nicknamed ‘4000’ due to its guaranteed water resistance to over 4,000 feet (1,220 metres), the Sea-Dweller ref. 16600 represents the third generation of Sea-Dwellers produced by Rolex. Succeeding the reference 1665 and then the 16660, it remained in the catalogue for over twenty years. The last Sea-Dweller supplied to Comex, it preceded the arrival of the Sea-Dweller Deepsea. At the time of its launch, this watch was regarded as one of the most accomplished professional divers’ watches ever produced by Rolex. Our example, probably delivered around 2004 as evidenced by the accompanying 2004–2005 calendar, is one of the last models to feature perforated lugs. Accompanied by several Comex-branded accessories, this watch boasts a particularly remarkable provenance, having belonged to Muriel Sivazlian, regarded as France’s first female professional diver and submarine pilot. An iconic figure in the Comex adventure, she notably took part in the 1996 Titanic expedition alongside James Cameron during the preparation for the famous film. Born in Marseille, Muriel Sivazlian harboured a desire to become an adventurer from childhood. At just 18 years of age, she bought and restored her first sailing boat. Her meeting with Henri-Germain Delauze in 1976 marked a decisive turning point in her career. When the founder of Comex explained to her that no women were working in the profession at the time, she replied with determination that if her place was not underwater, she might well find it on the water, aboard the company’s oceanographic vessels. Fifteen days later, Delauze offered her a place on the Comex team for her first assignment: to monitor an oceanographic vessel that had been immobilised in Italy for several weeks. Her Comex adventure had begun. At the Marseille-based company, she was subsequently put in charge of maintaining the Remora submersible alongside Yvan Tchernomordik, known as ‘Popof’, an iconic figure at Comex. Together, they took part in numerous offshore missions, trials of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and various audiovisual productions dedicated to deep-sea exploration, notably for the programmes *Ushuaïa* and *Thalassa*. Among the expeditions in which she took part was the Titanic mission, carried out from 3 to 29 August 1996, in collaboration with the director James Cameron and the historians John P. Eaton and Charles A. Haas. As part of the production of the film *Titanic*, Cameron organised several exploration campaigns of the wreck between 1995 and 1996. These missions not only provided spectacular footage for the film but also enriched the scientific literature on the famous ocean liner. During this expedition, Muriel Sivazlian took part, alongside the Comex teams, in operations carried out around the French submersible Nautile, operating at a depth of nearly 3,800 metres. From this extraordinary adventure, she has retained several archives and personal mementoes, including a photograph taken alongside James Cameron and members of the expedition. All of these digital documents will be handed over to the purchaser along with the watch. Muriel Sivazlian’s Comex Sea-Dweller: the first French woman deep-sea diver and a member of James Cameron’s Titanic expedition
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About the sale Collectors’ Watches
Auction location
Auction time 07/06/2026 at 5:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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