Rolex "Red" Submariner

The first Rolex Submariner was launched in 1954 and has been in continuous production ever since, making it one of the longest running models of any timepiece made. Ever. Of course, today, Rolex Submariners are significantly more… bling. With white gold surrounds and glossy black dials, the Submariner of today has become a status symbol and a piece of jewelry. But from it’s origin, the Rolex Submariner was a stripped down tool watch, designed with one mission in mind. The clean, matte black dial and symmetrical hour plots was the hallmark of sub-aquatic, form-meets-function design. For decades, the Submariner was not a collectible Rolex; it was seen as a hardy watch chosen by those who needed something that could take a beating. And it did. In 1966, Rolex adapted its Submariner design to include a date functions, dubbing their new creation as the Submariner “Oyster Perpetual Date” and giving it a new reference – Ref. 1680 – making it the first dive watch from the revered manufacture to have a date function. The inclusion of a date function was an invitation to Rolex buyers to wear their watches longer and in a variety of environments. Effectively, the date function turned a simple dive watch into a timepiece capable of everyday wear on and off the water. For the first few production years of the 1680, the word Submariner was printed in red, a feature that makes them all the more sought after today. In 1974, Rolex began phasing out the red printing, a process that was done gradually from market to market. This particular example has a 3.8 million serial, putting production somewhere at the tail end of 1973 or very early 1974. The inclusion of the Reference 93150 solid-link bracelet with flip lock clasp makes this excellent execution an infinitely wearable, not to mention collectible, vintage Submariner.