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The auction is now in the books!
The December 9th Winter 2023 Diving Into History auction was a great success with multiple records set on the sale of antique diving helmets!
Nation's Attic Winter 2023 Diving Into History auction featured over 240 pieces of vintage and antique diving history. The stars of the event were the nearly forty diving helmets. The biggest and a Nation's Attic record setting sale price for a diving helmet belonged to a mid-19th century possibly made by either John Date, Siebe Gorman. This unaltered helmet sold for $54,000 after buyer's premium.
A favorite among collectors worldwide is the United States Navy Mark V diving helmet. This model was well represented in the auction, with examples from 1916, 1917, 1942, 1944 and more. The top selling Mark V helmet was one made by Miller Dunn, selling for $18,000.
Other diving helmet highlights from the auctions were examples made by Joe Savoie, AJ Morse & Son, Miller Dunn, Advanced Diving, Miller, Yokohama, KIM, Comex, Siebe Gorman, DESCO, Snead, General Aquadyne, Kirby Morgan, TOA, and Morse Diving Equipment.
Among the records set for diving helmets was a very nice KIM 3 light 12 bolt model. This South Korean made helmet sold for $6,600, eclipsing its estimate sales range of $1250 to $2500. A late addition to the auction was a diving helmet made by Nippon Sensui in Japan. This new-old-stock example was made in 1944 and likely in the Japanese Imperial Navy inventory and never used. This WWII relic sold for $6,300, surpassing its pre-sale estimate of $1500 to $2000. In addition to diving helmets, a restored 1970s AquaDive chronometer dive watch sold for $6,000.
Many other diving treasures such as diving knives, air pumps, communication boxes, underwater lights, helmet parts and accessories, diving history books, underwater cameras, dive dresses, belts, boots, ephemera, and other historical diving memorabilia sold.
If you have an individual item or an entire collection of vintage & antique diving equipment, contact Nation's Attic today. We are largest dealer and auctioneer of diving helmets and related items in the world!
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