Khanjar and Qaboos Rolexes: Are They the Blood Diamonds of the Vintage Watch Industry? (Updated with new information) – Reprise

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The reality was that Britain had effectively run Oman as a colony since the decline of Portuguese and then Ottoman influence in the 1870s, and had kept the Indian-educated Sultan Taimur in power since 1932 by financing 50 percent of the company’s command over a modest budget and continued to do so until the 1970s when oil revenues began to pour in.

Oman (1996 CIA map courtesy of Wikipedia)

Strategic value of Oman

Located on the Indian Ocean at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, Oman was of interest to Britain only as a strategic outpost on the way to India, from where it could control shipping coming from the Gulf and later the Suez Canal and thus the living conditions of the population in This “protectorate” was of little importance to Whitehall.

In 1970, Oman’s child mortality rate was 75 percent, and trachoma, venereal diseases and malnutrition were widespread. There were only three schools, the literacy rate was five percent, and there were only ten kilometers of paved roads. Given that its army officers and “political agents” occupied all but one of the senior military and administrative posts in Muscat and Oman, this was an appalling situation for which Britain was almost entirely responsible.

More importantly, the war in Dhofar was not only supported by the British: British soldiers and “contract officers” (mercenaries) actually did much of the fighting, using “scorched earth” techniques similar to those used in Vietnam, and Burning and destroying villages suspected of harboring rebel sympathies is part of a “hearts and minds” strategy.

One official is quoted as saying: “We burned rebel villages and shot their goats and cows.” . All the enemy bodies we recovered were placed in the Salalah Souk as a salutary lesson to all would-be freedom fighters.”

British scientist and writer Fred Halliday managed to visit the Dhofar region during the fighting in 1972 and reported it in his book Arabia without Sultans: “The greatest difficulty caused by the new counter-revolutionary strategy was the suffering inflicted on the population.” Everyone met had lost animals in the recent fighting, and many had lost members of their families. . . The economic blockade had led to severe malnutrition, particularly in the east and center, as a result of the shutdown of imports from the coast and the systematic SOAF burning of grain at harvest time… such developments only reinforced the people’s hatred of the British and the Sultan . . ..

Britain’s responsibility

In summary, while Sultan Qaboos’ deposition of his despotic father was described in press and media reports and articles as an honorable undertaking that deserved the full moral, logistical and military support of Britain, the overall picture was always that was only necessary because Britain had kept Taimur in power for so long.

And the only reason it was finally motivated to do something about it was because Taimur was increasingly becoming an obstacle to the extraction of Oman’s oil reserves – by PDO, a consortium eventually formed by Shell, a Dutch-British company. was dominated. The subsequent Dhofar uprising and its suppression was a war like any other war, with atrocities on both sides.

However, Britain’s continued control over the country made it possible to completely block press access to the war zone, thereby controlling information that only became public much later.

Last bastion of slavery

Accordingly Guardian Journalist Ian Cobain, until 1970 “Oman was the last country on earth where slavery remained legal. The Sultan owned around 500 slaves. An estimated 150 of them were women he entertained in his palace in Salalah; Some of his male slaves are said to have been physically deformed by the cruelties they suffered.”

The fact that the new Sultan continued to order Rolex watches and other timepieces through Asprey in London rather than directly from the manufacturer only confirms the influence that Britain continued to exert over the country.

Where are watch collectors and their coveted Omani Rolex models?

These watches are generally presented by Rolex dealers and enthusiasts as romantic souvenirs of a bygone era and awarded by the progressive Sultan of one of the more liberal Arab countries to unsung military heroes for acts of courage.

According to Halliday in the same book, the official British line, expressed in a Defense White Paper in 1970 (at a time when Defense Secretary Ian Gilmour was very reluctant to reveal information about the conflict), was: “The Sultan of Muscat is armed forces, whose officers are mostly British, continue to be involved in operations against the Dhofar rebels in the rugged hill country north of Salalah. The Sultan awarded gallantry awards to some British officers for their conduct in these operations.”

Presumably some of these awards were watches made to order by Rolex through Asprey in London and featuring the Omani Khanjar dial. Some of these clocks may in fact represent a recognition of the bravery of British soldiers (and to a significant extent mercenaries) in battle, which was not recognized by the British government for many years due to its reluctance to be visible as decoration to military personnel supposedly present in a purely “advisory” function.

As a former resident of Oman in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I am the first to recognize that my family’s safety during this period was ensured by the presence of the British military both in the Muscat region and in Natih and Fahud in the interior where the oil platforms were.

However, these clocks also represent a less attractive aspect of the country’s history: namely, Britain’s shared responsibility for the complete failure of the country’s economic and social development from the 19th century to the 1970s and the resulting suffering of the indigenous population’s lack of education and healthcare , poor nutrition and military conflicts.

Sometimes desirable artifacts are tied to inconvenient or even unpleasant cultural and historical truths. A summary review of the various watch trading websites shows that a beautiful red “Qaboos” Submariner with patinated hands and hour markers is currently available, but “Price upon request” – a popular euphemism for “If you have to ask, you can” “I I can’t afford it.”

Maybe one day I’ll have the chance to purchase one, but if I do, the red signature will always remind me of the little girl in the ragged red dress.

Quick facts about the Rolex Sea-Dweller Reference 1665 Red Khanjar/Qaboos
Case: 40 x 17.7 mm, stainless steel with helium escape valve
Dial: Omani Khanjar or Qaboos signature in bright red instead of “double red” lines, tritium-filled hands and markers
Movement: automatic Rolex caliber 1570, 26 jewels, officially certified COSC chronometers
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds; Date
Years of manufacture: early 1970s

*This article was first published on December 5, 2019 at Khanjar and Qaboos. Rolexes: Are They the Blood Diamonds of the Vintage Watch Industry?

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