Rolex Submariner is one of the world’s finest and most sought-after diver watches. In production for over 65 years, the Submariner now has a special place in the hearts of watch collectors and enthusiasts alike. Even with dozens of revisions taking place, the watch has stayed close to its original and timeless design.
Submariner
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Rolex Submariner has been in production for more than 65 years. The Swiss watch manufacturer had already proved itself with the Oyster case patented back in 1926. Rolex Oyster watches could somewhat resist water damage. But, Hans Wilsdorf wanted to dive deeper into waterproofing mechanical watches.
The Submariner launched as three different variants in 1954. The first three references, 6200, 6204 and 6205, were rated to either 100 meters or 200 meters of water resistance. The design of these three watches laid the groundwork for all the upcoming Rolex divers watches. While the watches appeared at the Baselworld show in 1954, there was a series of laboratory tests a year prior.
In September 1953, a specially designed Rolex dive watch was attached to the outside of a bathyscaphe, which dived to a depth of 3131.8 meters. The timepiece returned from the test in perfect running condition, and there was no sign of water ingress.
Over the course of the next five months, there were over 132 tests that took place, ranging from 12 to 60 meters in depth. Many of those dives were even taken with the crown pulled out to the time-setting position, and there were still no signs of water ingress. Notably, most of the watches submitted by other brands for testing all ended up failing the test.
The Submariner made many headlines with its achievements in terms of water resistance. In 1962, Ian Fleming’s first Bond film, Dr. No, was released featuring Sean Connery sporting a Submariner 6538. This brought the timepiece back into the limelight. It is speculated that it was his personal Submariner that he wore to the movie sets.
Interestingly, Submariner 6538 appeared in further installments of the Bond franchise. After its appearance in Dr. No, The watch was seen in the movies “From Russia with love,” “Goldfinger,” and “Thunderball.”
In 1959, Rolex released the reference 5512, followed by the launch of the 5513 in 1962. These watches were not much different from each other. But they brought significant changes over their predecessors. The two references got a larger case size of 40mm, and they also got crown guards.
Rolex released the Submariner reference 1680 in the year 1966. It is noteworthy as it was the first Submariner to feature a date complication along with the magnifying Cyclops on the crystal. From this point on, there were only minor tweaks to the Submariner’s design.
In 1979, Rolex introduced significant changes to the Submariner with the release of the reference 16800. The timepiece finally brought a durable sapphire crystal instead of the acrylic one of the past. The watch’s water resistance was also increased to 300 meters from the previous 200 meters.
In 1981, reference 16800 received another significant improvement, including a unidirectional rotating bezel. With this generation, the Swiss watch manufacturer even released the first two-tone Submariner with the reference 16803, released in 1984.
Since the launch of the reference 1680, Rolex has offered many variations for the Rolex Submariner Date. As for the No-Date models, they have pretty much remained exclusively stainless steel timepieces with a black dial and a black bezel.
On the other hand, Rolex Submariner Date has received variations with other metals and different colorways for the bezel and the dial. One of the most popular Submariner Date models has to be the LV references. In 2003, the company released the ref. 16610LV, where ‘LV’ stands for Lunette Verte, which means “green bezel” in French.
While there was a time Submariners were rather easy to get, but now to get one you need to go through a waitlist at your nearest Rolex AD. Instead, you can get your today buy shopping at WatchMaestro. We offer all the Rolex watches from a simple Datejust to Submariner and even a Daytona. Yes, some of these watches do come at a premium over their retail price but it is worth every penny since you do not have to spend millions creating a good profile or wait for years to get a watch that you have always wanted to own.
While the waiting period depends on the exact model you are looking for, it can be anywhere from 1 to 3 years.
You can buy a Rolex Submariner in Dubai from WatchMaestro. We have a lot of luxury watches available in our collection. If the exact Submariner reference you are looking for is not available in our catalog, we can still source it for you.
Yes, you can sell your Rolex Submariner for a great price at WatchMaestro.
Absolutely. If you are looking to get your Submariner watch serviced, you can bring the watch to WatchMaestro and we will service it. From repair to customization, we offer all kinds of services for high-end premium watches.
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