199 Rolex Astonishing and Very Rare, Oyster Galaxy, Perpetual Automatic Wristwatch in Steel, With Honeycomb Dial and Star-Shaped Indexes, Reference 6098

Estimate: € 50.000 –⁠ 100.000

Highly desirable among collectors, the reference 6098 represents the largest Bubbleback with no complications ever produced by the firm. Clearly designed as a robust sports’ watch meant to withstand even the most difficult conditions, a group of around 30 watches of this reference was used to several Everest expeditions and specifically for this reason it is also known as the pre-Explorer. Considering its sportiness, it was predominantly available with standard dials layout, with applied dagger/Arabic indexes. In very scarce cases, some specimens were equipped with a highly appealing honeycomb dial, furthermore, highlighted with the sought after star-shaped numerals, more commonly associated with the celebrated reference 6062. We are honored to be able to offer one of these incredibly rare specimen: fitted with a round automatic movement, the two-body steel case is genuinely nice, still maintaining the original proportion. The untouched conditions of the “Stelline” style dial featuring an ivory white honeycomb finishing with star-shaped hour markers and dagger numerals at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock is amazing from the very first glance. Coming from a private Rolex collection, this watch has been jealously preserved in a safe box for many years and that is shown by the stain of the unmoved hands on the dial. This lot can possibly be one of the most sought-after time-only references ever produced by Rolex.