An Introduction

The history of the Rolex Stainless Steel Submariner 1950- to the present day is submerged in total confusion and disagreement yet is colorful, exciting, and addictive especially the early years. A message from Rolex Geneva in "Keeping in time with Oceanography" states and I quote "The History of Rolex is intimately tied to Mans conquest of the Ocean."

Early 1950 Rolex Deep Sea Special

In the early 1950's Rene P Jeanneret, a director at RWC and an amateur enthusiast in the diving world, was a major force in encouraging Rolex to manufacture a "sports" watch with a diving theme yet also be an elegant dress watch.

On 30th September 1953, Rolex, never one to miss a marketing opportunity, created major worldwide interest when a specially manufactured Rolex Submariner accompanied Professor Auguste Piccard and his son, Jacques on their new bathyscaphe to a world record depth of 10335ft below the ocean surface.

The innovative technology needed to produce this special watch were then applied to the Submariner models.

The rotating bezel enabled divers to keep accurate track of his time elasped underwater. Also the same year a full length underwater film "Le monde du silence" by Dumas and Cousteau feature the Rolex Submariner. These were masterstrokes for the Rolex publicity machine.

The history of the Rolex Stainless Steel Submariner 1950- to the present day is submerged in total confusion and disagreement yet is colorful, exciting, and addictive especially the early years. A message from Rolex Geneva in "Keeping in time with Oceanography" states and I quote "The History of Rolex is intimately tied to Mans conquest of the Ocean."

No one is quite sure which exact model was the first to be released for general sale or why there were different dial designs for a particular model.

For example sometimes the depth ratings had feet followed by meters, then meters followed by feet, some models had 369 explorer type dials, there were gloss dials with gilt or silver print, matt dials with white print, outer minute tracks, and of course red print on the first date submariners.

The early years was especially remarkable because there were many different models in such a short period of time when compared to the later years.

I believe the reason for this is that the Rolex Watch Company (RWC) was experimenting with the submariner and that goes a long way to explain all the above.

The History may be split into three distinct eras :-

The Experimental years 1950-1960. Model ref 6200, 6204, 6205, 6536, 6536/1, 6538, 6538/6, 5508, 5510.

The Formative years 1960-1980. Model ref 5512, 5513, 1680 red, 1680 white.

The Stable years 1980-to present day. Model re16800, 168000, 16610, 14060, 14060M.

Comex Submariners :-

(1) 1970-1973 Early Submariners Ref:-5513 with valve.

(2) 1972-1978 Submariners Unique Comex Ref:- 5514 with valve.

(3) 1978-1979 Submariner Ref:- 1680, no valve.

(4) 1982-1986 Submariner Sapphire Ref:-1680 no valve with matt or gloss dial.

(5) 1988-1989 Submariner Sapphire Ref:-16800 no valve gloss dial.

(6) 1988-1989 Submariners Ref: 168000 no valve with gloss dial.

(7) 1986-1997 Submariners Ref:-16610 no valve.

Military Submariners :-

Model references A/6538, 5510, 5513, 5513/5517, 5517.

The Rolex Submariner at the Basel Spring Fair 1954

The general consensus seems to be that Rolex introduced the Submariner 6204 to the world at the 1954 Basel Spring Fair and therefore this must have been the first Submariner produced by Rolex. The Rolex Research and Development department must have been processing these watches many years before official introduction, and the Rolex Submariner appears in the underwater documentary "Le monde du silence" in 1953. Thus IMHO the first Submariner to be produced by RWC was the Model 6200. The younger reference number adds substance to the logic.

The Rolex Submariner, introduced in the early 50’s, laid down the tracks upon whcih most of their competitors would follow. From the rotating bezel, (used to gauge air-time when submersed), to the flip lock clasp and extension link (to wear outside a wetsuit with the minimum of fuss) - all Rolex innovations.

Rolex invented the business model for future generations. He who is first to the market place with a new product, wins. It is unimportant at that stage if the product has design faults or it does not live up to the guarantees made because these could be dealt with the introduction of a new and improved product. Remember Microsoft and Windows.