Rolex Fairplay Cup Helsinki 1965 award watch

Description

ROLEX FAIRPLAY CUP HELSINKI 1965

Rolex Fairplay Cup prize watch, awarded to Aarne Honkavaara, ice hockey player and coach, at the 1965 Ice Hockey World Championships. Full-set, includes all original accessories and documents. Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date Certified Chronometer ref.1500. 

Rolex cal. 1560 automatic chronometer movement. Rolex ”riveted” ref. 7205–57 metal bracelet (2/65). Fully serviced by Lindroos in 2016, after which the watch has only been kept in storage. Movement was now inspected, partially serviced and tested.

The watch comes with a very rare original Rolex Fairplay Cup box (inner and outer), original Tyer Rubber Company, Art Ross Hockey League Puck, a wooden miniature hockey stick, a green Rolex Swimpruf  tag and a red Rolex chronometer tag. Also comes with the original chronometer certificate and warranty certificate.

Case diameter: 34 mm. The watch also comes with the book Dynamo – rakkaudesta jääkiekkoon – Aarne Honkavaaran tarina.

The watch came originally with a silver-colored dial that was later replaced with a matte black tritium dial. The original dial comes with the watch, and it can be switched back if requested.

The movement has a 12-month service warranty.

It is very rare that we can offer a Rolex sports prize watch with a history that is fully known to us. Aarne ”Dynamo” Honkavaara’s career as a player and a coach had a significant impact on the historical success of Finnish ice hockey, both at the national and international levels. This watch and all its accessories would be fit for a museum, but the watch is also perfectly suitable for everyday use.

 

Aarne Honkavaara (1924–2016)

Aarne Honkavaara was a hockey player and coach, the “Grand Old Man” of Finnish ice hockey. Honkavaara played as an attacker in the Finnish men’s national ice hockey team in 1946–1953. He represented the ice hockey teams Ilves and Kisa-Veikot, both from Tampere.

At the height of his career, Aarne Honkavaara was the leading player, best scorer and captain in both SM-liiga (Finnish Elite League) and the Finnish men’s national ice hockey team (Leijonat). Honkavaara also served as the coach for both Ilves and Leijonat. He was the first to start compiling statistics on Finnish ice hockey. Honkavaara also edited and published “Jääkiekkokirja” (“The Hockey Book”) starting from 1960.

Honkavaara was one of the pioneers of Finnish ice hockey. His statistics in the Finnish Elite League are unsurpassed: 62 games, 143 goals, 61 assists. In the Finnish national team, Honkavaara made an amazing 46 goals in 47 matches. His playing career ended in a national match in Poland in 1953 when an opposing player fell on him, badly breaking his tibia.

After his glorious playing career, Honkavaara continued as a top-level coach in Finland. He coached Ilves to three Finnish Championships. Honkavaara acted as the head coach of the Finnish men’s national ice hockey team in four Ice Hockey World Championships and as an assistant coach in three World Championships and at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.

1965 Ice Hockey World Championships in Tampere

At the IIHF meeting held in 1963, Finland was granted the right to host the 1965 Ice Hockey World Championships. Aarne Honkavaara was the assistant coach for the Finnish men’s national ice hockey team for the Championships. The Championships were meant to be held in the new ice arena under construction in Helsinki, but a year before the Championships, Helsinki announced that the arena would not be completed in time.  Harry Lindblad, President of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, traveled to Tampere to discuss with Mayor Erkki Lindfors. Lindfors said right away that Tampere could build the arena and the Championships could be held there. The new arena was opened just one month before the start of the Championships. The Championships were held in Tampere, and Finland placed seventh. Finland was chosen as the Fair Play team of 1965.