This week on Great ‘Grams we get up close and personal with the number of the beast, a custom Eastern Arabic dial from an independent watchmaker, and a very rare Rolex thought to be sold by a retailer off the coast of Miami. The Bahamas-based retailer in question is John Bull, established in 1929 and a current-day Authorised Dealer of Rolex, who once sold some rather unusual sports watches. There is little information out there on these watches, but it seems that John Bull would modify the cases of a handful of Rolex watches with a bark finish and engrave the caseback with the name of the boutique and sometimes an edition number. While it seems unbelievable that a retailer would be allowed to modify a Rolex prior to sale, a comparison could be drawn to some early examples of Rolex watches that featured both the Rolex and Tiffany & Co. signatures, which were sold by the New York retailer and had the Tiffany & Co. stamp applied at the boutique. Examples of John Bull Rolex sports watches that have come up for auction include Daytonas, Submariners, and GMT-Masters, but in small numbers as a result of their rarity. It’s a…
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