The Sultan Who Paid Soldiers With Rolexes

In October 2025, a single Rolex sold at Sotheby's in Hong Kong for $5.23 million. Only eight of them were ever made. The previous owners include Jay-Z and John Mayer. But the reason the watch exists has nothing to do with celebrity collectors. It has to do with a king, a battle on a hilltop in 1972, and a small group of British soldiers who could not officially be thanked. This is the story of how Sultan Qaboos of Oman turned the most prestigious watch brand on earth into an instrument of quiet diplomacy — and how he paid the soldiers who fought for his country in Rolexes.