You’ve seemingly seen one. Perhaps even worn one. Perhaps admired one on the wrist of somebody who calls his boat a “tender” and makes use of “summer season” as a verb.
Earlier than it turned the uniform of actual property builders and hedge fund whisperers, the Submariner was simply an excellent thought with excellent timing. Rolex launched it in 1953, proper when leisure diving was turning into a factor individuals did on function, for enjoyable. Jacques Cousteau had written The Silent World, scuba was out of the blue accessible, and watches that didn’t flood had been helpful. The Submariner wasn’t the primary dive watch, but it surely was the primary to make being waterproof look refined.
A 1953 Reference 6204 Submariner being auctioned at Sotheby’s
Then James Bond wore one. Sean Connery, in a dinner jacket, flipping up the cuff to disclose a no-crown-guard Submariner on a too small nylon strap in 1964’s Goldfinger, did extra for Rolex than any advert marketing campaign might.
That affiliation caught. Even now, when most divers put on computer systems, and most Submariners by no means get moist, the watch carries a sort of licensed hazard, like somebody who’s well mannered however was excellent at bar fights.
Collectors obsess over particulars the remainder of us would wish a loupe and a minor in typography to note: serif versus non-serif fonts, lug widths, bracelet codes, crown guards, no crown guards.
These items sign period, rarity, and whether or not somebody paid 5 figures for one thing that after value lower than stereo. However the Submariner’s attraction is that this: it really works as properly at 300 meters because it does below a French cuff. It’s not flashy, except you realize what you’re taking a look at. Which, frankly, is the entire level.