The Ref. 5514 was a COMEX-specific watch, which was never available to the general public, only delivered to the COMEX. The COMEX, short for Compagnie Maritime d’Expertise, was created in 1962 by Henri Germain Delauze. Under the chairmanship of Andre Heiniger, president of Rolex in the 1970's, the manufacture collaborated with the COMEX to produce diver's watches improved with an helium escape valve. This partnership lasted until 2004. Produced from 1974 to 1977 the reference 5514 is considered by scholars and collectors as one of the rarest and most sought after diver wristwatch. The 5514 was also the largest production run model issued to COMEX with approximately a total of 750 pieces bearing case numbers between 3.80 - 5.22M.

Due to the extreme conditions in which the COMEX divers operated, every six months the watches were sent back to Rolex for an overhaul. These watches were not just meticulously overhauled but in many cases upgraded each time the watch went back to Rolex. It has been reported by former COMEX divers that some of the earlier Ref. 5514 watches did not have the COMEX logo on the dial and that when these watches were sent to Rolex for service, the dials were replaced by Rolex, on request, with the later gloss tritium or luminova dials, some bearing the COMEX logo making these versions even rarer.

The present example dates back to 1974 and is therefore one of the first ever produced.