Navy diver's rare Rolex sold at auction for £155,000

It is estimated than only between 120 and 180 of the watches still exist

A rare 1970s Rolex watch which had been sitting in its owner's drawer for more than 25 years has sold for £155,000 at auction.

The government-issued Rolex 5513/5517 Military Submariner dive watch had an estimated value of £80,000 to £120,000.

Starting at a £60,000 bid, the watch sold over its expected price in about two minutes at the Bonhams auction.

The anonymous owner, from Perthshire, took the rare item to Crieff-based antique dealer Nick Brewster.

He previously described the item as "one of the rarest and one of the most collectable watches today".

Known as a MilSub, the watch was issued to a former Royal Navy diver in the 1970s by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and was bought from him by the second owner in the early 1980s.

It became his dive watch until the bezel fell off in 1996 and it was stored in a chest of drawers.

Mr Brewster said the last original MilSub sold at Bonhams made £180,000 in February.

It is thought only 1,200 of the watches were issued between 1971 and 1979 as standard equipment by the MoD, mainly for use by Navy submariners, their leading divers and mine-clearance personnel.

It is estimated only 120 to 180 still exist.