A rare Rolex bought for £69 in 1966 sold for just under £100,000 yesterday (May 23) at an auction in Corsham.

The Rolex Submariner 5513 with a rare Explorer 3-6-9 dial, bought from a jewellery shop in Doncaster, was sold for £99,200 including buyers premium at Gardiner Houlgate auctioneers. It was bought by a buyer from the UK, who fought off stiff competition on the phone from America and Hong Kong.

The watch was just one of over 500 lots sold yesterday including a large number of rare and vintage Rolexes, many of which went for well above estimated value.

Commenting on the rare Rolex Submariner, which it had been hoped would fetch over £100,000, auctioneer David Hare said: “On the day, so much depends on the condition of the watch. In this case, there had been some deterioration on the dial, which does impact on how much top international collectors are willing to spend. The same watch in slightly better condition would certainly break through the £100,000 barrier.

“It’s been a very good day with lots of interest from all round the world, including the US and many parts of Asia. I’m very pleased for our vendors.

“Right now, the market for vintage Rolexes from the 1960s up to the early 1980s is very buoyant, particularly since the impact of Brexit has increased their values. Taken as a whole, the Rolexes we’ve sold today have gone for more than we’d expected. Some sold for 2–3 times what we’d forecast, which is exceptional."