Dubai police turn Rolex rescuers to salvage Yacht-Master from ocean floor

Luke Benedictus

A few days ago, Hamid Al Ameri was partying with mates on a yacht in the waters off Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. At some stage, one of the group decided to go for a swim and jumped off the side of the boat. Somehow his watch came off his wrist as he entered the water and it sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Rather ironically given the location of the mishap, the watch in question was a Rolex Yacht-Master.

“When he dove in, the watch’s strap snapped,” Al Ameri told The National. “We tried to search for the watch but it was difficult to find it as it was low visibility in that area. We were sad and desperate to find the expensive watch, but I decided to call Dubai Police for help.”

They must have caught the Dubai Police Maritime Rescue team on a quiet day because, incredibly, just 10 minutes later, a specialist dive team arrived on the scene. These horological heroes promptly swung into action. After combing the ocean floor for 30 minutes, they found the Yacht-Master at a depth of 11.5 metres below the surface.

“They arrived within 10 minutes and the divers found the watch after searching for 30 minutes under the water,” Al Ameri said.

“We were thrilled when the divers came up carrying the watch. My friend was happy to recover his watch after he lost hope of finding it,” he said.

It’s an extraordinary story all round. For starters, Rolex make famously tough watches. You wouldn’t expect one of their bracelets to give way in the water,  unless perhaps the owner had swapped it for an alternative strap.

Equally staggering is the idea of a police force being that responsive to an incident that would hardly be deemed remotely important to someone who wasn’t a hardened watch lover.

Moral of the story: if you’re going to lose a Rolex at a boat party, make a concerted effort to do so in Dubai.