Beginning in the 1970s, the United Arab Emirates and its seven Arab nations commissioned Rolex to make a significant number of watches as gifts to friends, the military, high-ranking officials, foreign dignitaries and diplomats.
Today these timepieces are considered particularly coveted and sought after by collectors around the world. Having one in your collection is an important mark of distinction, but also an investment that has proven to be decidedly rewarding over the years.
The "Desert Eagle," this is the nickname coined for this model by collectors, is an extremely rare custom dial displaying the "Quraysh Hawk," the emblem of the UAE's coat of arms in polychrome enamel. In the center of the Hawk's chest is a red background behind an Arabian sailboat. The Falcon is in an upright position, with its feet resting on top of the signature of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai: in addition to being the absolute ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, he is also the prime minister, and consequently vice-president, of the UAE federation, of which he is also minister of defense. Today The United Arab Emirates consists of seven Arab nations called the Emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Fujaira, Ras al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al Quwain. This federation is represented by a single symbol, the aforementioned Quràysh falcon (the Quràysh are the dominant tribe established in Mecca). It contains a red scroll with the Arabic inscription "al-Imarat al-"Arabiyya al-Muttahida" and is placed in the center of the UAE flag that replaced the former Arab sailboat.
Returning to the watch, Reference 6263 was introduced to the market in 1969. Its special feature was the adoption of Oyster screw-locked waterproof chronograph pushers and a bezel with a black acrylic insert with tachymeter scale printed in white. Note how in the model pictured, in addition to the falcon of the coat of arms at six o'clock there is always printed in slight relief the signature of the department to which it belongs (probably Wazarah Ad Difa'A), written in Arabic characters.
The model pictured dates from the mid-1970s and was part of an order comprising several dozen timepieces. An almost identical model, even in its extraordinary state of preservation, was sold in Phillips' historic "Start-Stop-Reset: 88 Epic Steel Chronograph" auction: it fetched the incredible price of CHF 605,000. This is no accident, as the rarity and attractive appearance of this dial make it one of the most impressive Daytona models of recent years.
