With enough patience, a brand new Rolex can be secured at retail. Buying a pre-owned or vintage Rolex is even simpler, and our raison d’être here at Analog:Shift.
However, not just anyone can purchase a Rolex quite like this one.
Rolex and the British military have a longstanding relationship dating back nearly a century. In recent decades, the Crown has provided UK special forces and select squadrons limited runs of engraved sports watches for purchase by former and serving commandos, pilots, and other personnel. These timepieces aren’t made available to the public…unless one is resold by a former service member.
Such is the case with this particular Rolex, a GMT-Master II Reference 116710LN “Sea King.” Produced in a short run of just 123 examples, this extremely rare variant of a fairly common sports watch honors the Sea King helicopter, which saw service with the M.O.D. from 1969 through 2018. Used by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, the helo had several roles, perhaps most famous of which was its SAR (search and rescue) capacity.
This particular piece, shares all of the same cues and features as any other Reference 116710LN: with its bidirectional rotating 24-hour bezel with a black ceramic insert, a glossy black dial with applied luminous indices and a matching handset with a green 24hr hand, and stainless steel Oyster bracelet with a signed fliplock clasp with Rolex's fantastic Easylink system.
It's when you flip the watch over where one is greeted with a beautiful, deep engraving of a Sea King helicopter, plus the words “Fear God and Honor the King, Sea King Since 1969, #105/123.” A special order dating to circa 2013, it’s accompanied by its factory goodies, and would have originally been sold to a serving or retired serviceman whose time in the military was associated with the Sea King helicopter.
Unique military watches such as this are extremely rare these days — all the more so ones from the likes of Rolex. If these timepieces pique your interest, we advise you to snag one while you can.
Especially this one!
