The Rolex 1665 Omani Sea-Dwellers with either RED Khanjar or Qaboos dial script, were commissioned by Sultan Qaboos bin Sa’id via ASPREY of London in the early 1970s and presented to the British Military SAS troops who had served in Oman during the Dhofar rebellion between 1970-1976.
Many of the watches that have surfaced, like the one above, are found with a deep patina, due to the humidity in the Middle East being absorbed by the heavy tritium markers.
The configuration of the watches that have surfaced to date is as follows: -
• The Double Red lines, Depth rating and SCOC found on the standard 1665s of the period are absent and in its place the Omani Khanjar or Qaboos signature in bright red script.
• The tritium application on the 5 minute markers is very heavily applied.
• The serial numbers all begin 3,56x,xxx and are engraved between the lugs at 06:00 and inside the inner case back.
• The outer case back has the expected straight ‘Rolex’ style engravings of the period, but also carries the ASPREY engravings in the lower centre.
