Rolex Space-Dweller Emerges for Sale as Moon Race Intensifies

The Space-Dweller is fundamentally just a modified Rolex Explorer ref. 1016 watch.

The first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, John Glenn, discovered his name connected to a Rolex attempt to test the Japanese market for a watch that explored new frontiers in 1963 while he was in Japan on NASA business.

In the 1960s, when Omega's Speedmaster had become the official watch of the US space program, the watch is believed to have been a part of a larger attempt by Rolex to get involved in the space race.

The last Space-Dweller to be auctioned off was last year, when it went for $190,500 at a Phillips New York sale.

And now here is another example that can be purchased for £125,000 ($158,000) right now at Diamond Watches London, a secondary market trader situated in the UK.

The black 3-6-9 dial, flat bezel, luminous hour markers, and Mercedes hands of the Explorer reference 1016, according to DWL founder Danny Shahid, are all features of this watch.

"The script for Space-Dweller reveals its identity as one of the most sought-after models that the Genevan giant ever produced," Mr. Shahid maintains.