Rolex Sea-Dweller 4000 'SD4K'

The Sea-Dweller is the stuff of legend — the ultimate expression of Rolex’s ambitions to create the world’s best dive watch — and proof that Rolex is King of the Seas. This journey began with the Submariner in 1953, but exploded in trajectory in 1967 with the launch of the first Sea-Dweller. The addition of the helium escape valve (HEV) and successively better technology has resulted in watches capable of withstanding thousands of meters of depth. A big brother to the iconic Submariner, the Sea-Dweller is, thicker, meaner, and deeper in every way. It was also the first model to feature a Helium Escape Valve fitted to a commercially-available Rolex. Sea-Dwellers did however, retain one shared dimension as the Submariner for decades: its diameter. These days, the current-generation Sea-Dweller Reference 126600 comes in at a noticeably larger 43mm in diameter, further distancing it from the current Submariner (41mm in diameter). What we have here, a Reference 116600, was the last Sea-Dweller to feature the same 40mm diameter as the Submariner that was sold along side it, as well as a flat sapphire crystal. Additionally, it features a stainless steel Oyster case with a helium escape valve, a signed screw-down crown, a matte black dial with applied luminous indices and a matching handset, a unidirectional rotating timing bezel with a black ceramic insert, and a robust solid steel Oyster bracelet with both Rolex's fantastic Glidelock adjustment system, as well as a folding (and removable) dive extension. Released in 2014 and only produced for about two years, the 'SD4K' as its become known to enthusiasts — with its fully-graduated black ceramic bezel, classic case proportions, and matte black dial, has become a modern classic... And while we aren't ones to hyperbolize the significance of contemporary wristwatches, we have a pretty strong feeling that this model will be the one to own in the coming years...