A Rolex COMEX Sea-Dweller reference 16600 issued to pioneering French commercial diver Muriel Sivazlian will be offered at auction by Artcurial during its Monaco sale on July 6-8 with an estimate of €80,000 to €120,000. While COMEX Sea-Dwellers already command some of the highest prices among vintage divers, collectors often place an additional premium on examples with well-documented first-owner histories. Sivazlian's watch, engraved with the COMEX number 3497, remains in “well-preserved overall condition with minimal signs of wear,” Artcurial says. The watch retains its original caseback sticker.
Born in Marseille, Sivazlian restored her first sailboat at age 18 before becoming the first woman in France to qualify as a scaphandrière or commercial diver. Her career began after meeting COMEX founder Henri-Germain Delauze in 1976. Told that the company employed no women underwater, she offered to work aboard its oceanographic vessels instead, receiving her first assignment two weeks later. She later trained as a submersible pilot and participated in numerous expeditions, including the 1996 Titanic mission with filmmaker James Cameron, which helped produce footage for the film while contributing to the scientific documentation of the wreck.
Rolex supplied specially adapted diving watches to COMEX divers beginning in the 1970s, with each watch engraved to its assigned diver. Earlier this year, Artcurial sold another COMEX Rolex, issued to a former company secretary, for €160,000 despite lacking the underwater career associated with professional divers. Although Sea-Dweller models today are generally less sought after than comparable Submariners, Sivazlian's COMEX watch is likely to exceed its estimate, another sign that the market for exceptional vintage Rolex watches is largely detached from the new and pre-owned market.