Rolex 6150 Explorer MOD Burford Dial - project build.
The Rolex 6150 Explorer
In the years leading up to the Second World War, a Royal Navy diver looked remarkably similar to one from the Victorian era: clad in a brass helmet, lead-soled boots, and a heavy suit made from layers of waterproofed canvas and vulcanised rubber, breathing through a long tube connected to a compressor aboard the support vessel. The war, however, brought about the birth of the modern “frogman”, divers equipped with latex suits and self-contained oxygen supplies. Employed for both reconnaissance and offensive missions, these specialists quickly became recognised as an essential element of any modern naval force. The early frogmen’s watch of choice: the Rolex 6150 Explorer.
For these teams to operate effectively, synchronisation was vital. Each diver required a dependable timepiece to coordinate their actions underwater and on land. Yet, at the dawn of the 1950s, no watch existed that could truly meet the demands of military diving. That changed in 1950 when Rolex introduced the reference 6150 Explorer. The Admiralty swiftly acquired approximately 300 examples and issued them to mine-clearance divers, engraving the case backs with “CD” — denoting “Clearance Diver.”
This model remains a little-documented chapter in Rolex’s history, often overshadowed by the assumption that the Submariner reference 6538 was the first British military dive watch. The 6150s were issued in two batches toward the end of 1953, and their case backs bear Rolex factory markings ending in “.53.” Powered by the classic A296 “bubbleback” movement, the watches were not chronometer rated — the chronometer-certified variant, reference 6350, was never issued to the Royal Navy.
When Rolex unveiled the Submariner, the Royal Navy immediately recognised the advantages of its rotating timing bezel and ordered the 6538 as a successor to the 6150 Explorer. The older models, however, were retained in service and reassigned for use by dive supervisors, responsible for overseeing the divers’ activities. Consequently, many 6150s remained in operation well into the early 1960s, when awareness of the health hazards posed by radium-based luminous paint began to surface.
During servicing at the Royal Observatory in Herstmonceux, the dials were carefully stripped of their radium lume under running water to prevent radioactive dust from escaping into the air. The dial plates were then sent to Watch Dial (Burford) Ltd. in the Cotswolds, where they were refinished in matte black and reprinted with white numerals and indices containing tritium — a safer, less radioactive compound.
Of the roughly 300 Admiralty-issued 6150s, some were inevitably lost in service, and others likely “disappeared” in less official circumstances. As a result, surviving examples are extremely rare today, each representing a tangible relic of Royal Navy diving history.
After doing some research on the model I found a few examples of what I wanted mine to resemble in appearance.
Other than the refinished dial , there are a few other notable details of this watch that makes it unique. The thicker flatter bezel and bubbled case back. simliar to the model 6350 where these details were a continuation of the case design for this new product line in the early 50s.
So it was to my surprise to find that Raffles now offers such a rare and elusive dial option for their explorer line.
Naturally I had to have one and add it to my collection of Vintage Explorers . I built mine as follows.
Specs of my build.
- raffles acylic 1016 case set
- rounded over the edges on the crystal to give it more of a dome appearance and signs of wear
- modified stock bezel in shape and appearance.
- drill lug holes in mid case
- shaping , softening and aging
- Bubbled case back
- Eta 2824 movement
- Raffles 6150 MOD dial
- weathering paints to age the dial surface and the lume lots.
- aged the lume on hands to match the dial
The results.:
I paired it with a 18mm nato. I felt it fits the proportions better
My only criticism of the dial is that the print is too crisp. its an immediate tell , Probably the first time a rep dial was printed better than the original
gen example:
Overall I am pleased on how quick and easy that came together.
I am not completely settled on the bezel. I plan on revisiting it at another time.
I also plan on adding a brevet + crown on my next athaya order to add to this build.
I do plan on sanding the caseback a bit more and adding the hand engraved details on the case back as per MOD spec for the clearance diver
IF you made it this far, Thanks for your interest. As always questions and comments welcome.
369Maifa
