DALLAS, TX.- For many, any mention of the turn of the millennium brings to mind the anxious predictions of computer errors related to the formatting and storage of calendar data for dates that somehow was supposed to (but didn’t) turn people’s lives inside-out and upside down.

Viewed through a geopolitical lens, however, the date meant the United States no longer controlled the Panama Canal, having turned over the strategic man-made channel connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Central American nation it bisected.

An exceedingly rare Rolex Submariner leads a group of four beautiful watches celebrating the return of the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama that will be available in Heritage’s Watches & Fine Timepieces Signature® Auction June 3. All four of the commemorative Panama Canal watches in this auction came from their original owner, a former pilot of a tugboat that pulled large vessels through the Canal.

When the Canal was turned over to Panama December 31, 1999, Rolex issued commemorative watches, including the Rolex, Rare Stainless Steel Submariner, Ref. 16610 “Panama Canal” No. 4/75 Circa 1999, From the Original Owner that will be available in this auction.

The Submariner in this auction is one of about 150 in the celebratory commission by Rolex — 75, including the offered example, were made from stainless steel. The others were stainless steel and gold.

“The first two examples were presented to the presidents in each country: U.S. president Bill Clinton and Panamian president Mireya Moscoso,” says Jim Wolf, Director of Watches & Fune Timepieces at Heritage Auctions. “After the presidents, the watches were given to people of exceptional significance in the history of the Panama Canal. Within the minute population of just 75, the offered example bears the serial number 4, meaning it was the second given out after those that went to Clinton and Moscoso.

“To have these four exceptional watches together in this auction is incredibly exciting, and represents a chance to own any of four politically and historically important timepieces from an event that really changed international commerce.”

From the same original owner comes one of just 30 examples of a Rolex, Exceedingly Rare 18k Yellow Gold Yacht-Master II, Ref. 116688 Made to Commemorate Centennial Anniversary of the Panama Canal that is headed to the auction block for the first time. This keepsake also represents an important milestone in the history of the Canal: it was made in 2014, marking the centennial anniversary of the 1914 opening of the waterway.

The other two commemorative watches in the auction are an Omega, Rare Stainless Steel Seamaster Planet Ocean “Panama Canal” Circa 2010s and an Omega, “Panama Canal Pilotage” Limited Edition No. 009/150 Co-Axial Chronometer.

A standout from among the 24 Patek Philippe watches in the auction is a Superb Stainless Steel Ref. 3417 “Amagnetic” Circa 1962. The 3417 was one of just two Patek Philippe references produced before the launch of the Nautilus, and the company’s first anti-magnetic watch. Anti-magnetic watches were developed in the 1950s for CERN scientists; the movement in the Patek Philippe anti-magnetic watches is shielded from magnetism with a soft-iron inner case. This example features a silver dial with elongated baton hour markers and silver baton hands, and is housed in a 35 mm stainless steel case.

Other top Patek Philippe selections include, but are not limited to:

A rare Important “Haute Horlogerie” Lady’s 18k Yellow Gold Ref. 4373/4J-SCI Circa 1981 that comes sealed with its certificate of origin and correspondence between the original owner and the brand regarding a service estimate, as well as the corresponding invoice. It absolutely dazzles, thanks to a pave diamond dial and Dauphine hands in a 30mm 18K yellow gold case. This rare and uncommon reference 4373 is extremely well preserved, having never left its factory service sleeve from 2005.

A Superb Ref. 5960P, Brand New Single Sealed, Circa 2014 Full Set that is presented as brand new and includes all of its original accessories. It boasts a silver dial with triple aperture to show the day, date and month, with applied hour indices and luminous hands, in a 40mm platinum case.

The auction features an exceptional array or vintage Rolexes, including:

• An extremely rare Rolex, Very Rare Ref. 6205 Small Crown “Submariner,” Stainless Steel, Circa 1954 features a black dial with luminous hour markers, gilt minute track and script, luminous gilt skeleton hands and gilt lollipop tip seconds hand, all encased in a 37 mm stainless steel three-body case with a screw-down caseback and a rotating time-elapse bezel, No. 21448.

• A Rolex, “Double Red” Sea-Dweller Submariner, Stainless Steel, Ref 1665, circa 1977 that is being consigned by the original owner. It features a matte black dial with luminous indexes, date aperture at three and luminous skeleton hands, all in a 40 mm stainless steel case, the back of which is signed, “Rolex Oyster, Rolex Patent, Gas Escape Valve.”

• A Rolex, Stainless Steel Explorer II Retailed by Tiffany & Co. Circa 1979 that features a black dial with luminous indices and “Tiffany & Co.” script with luminous white hands and an orange GMT hand, all housed in a 40mm stainless steel case.

• A Heading to the auction market for the first time is a Rolex, Rare 14k Yellow Gold Cosmograph, Ref. 6265 “Sigma Dial” Circa 1978, Associated Gold Bracelet, With Box, Original 14k U.S.A. Band(For Repair) and Stamped Warranty that was consigned by the family of the original purchaser, who retained many of its original accessories, including the original presentation box. It features a black “Sigma” dial, triple sub-registers indicating subsidiary seconds as well as elapsed minutes and hours, and applied hour markers, luminous plots and luminous baton hands, and it comes with the original Rolex U.S.A. 14K yellow gold Jubilee bracelet.

One of the most visually dramatic lots in the auction is a Czapek & Cie, Important And Rare Gold And Enamel Quarter-Repeating Pocket Watch For Prince Alexey Fyodorovich Orlov, No. 6586, circa 1860 that surely was made by special order. Its rarity and importance are evident in the magnificent enameled House of Orlov coat-of-arms and the overlay high relief enameled monogram, possibly for Alexey Fyodorovich Orlov, the former Russian diplomat and son of Count Fyodor Grigoryevich Orlov.