Bought more than 30 years ago by a German collector, far ahead of the trend of collecting stainless steel diving watches that were considered inexpensive and dial variations were unheard of, as no collectors were paying attention to those details. For instance back in 1992, examples of 6538 Submariners were trading around CHF 2’000.

Despite having been relumed at some point in its life, upon careful examination, one realises that this is not a regular 2 or 4 lines 6538.
The dial is an exceptionally rare and early version featuring only the depth without feet or meter indication (200/660) which probably would have been red before fading with time and further features the faded words officially certified chronometer (OCC) rather than the the more common superlative chronometer officially certified (SCOC). While there are many known variations on the 6538 dials due to changes in regulations or time, it is one of the rarest examples known featuring the depth rating above the word Submariner and the OCC writing below. The serial number places its production date around 1959 which explains the adding of the OCC which only started around 1958 on the big crowns.