A few fun stories about the Rolex Submariner

To celebrate our Event this week focussing on the Rolex Submariner, we thought we would highlight a few of the remarkable uses of this famous watch. Its position in the watch world is almost unmatched, as a timepiece that can serve as a tough dive watch under the most extreme conditions, and as a status symbol for the so-called “Desk-Diver” who will never go near the ocean. The fact that so many have been produced means that it is one of the most widely collected watches. Here are some Submariner stories that highlight the wide range of uses it’s been put to in the 70 years since its introduction.

How did James Bond come to be wearing a Rolex Submariner?

James Bond was first played by British Actor Sean Connery, and while it is mentioned in the book Casino Royale that Bond wears a Rolex, and it is known that the author and creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming, owned an Oyster Perpetual, Bond wears a Submariner in the 1962 film Dr. No. It’s a Reference 6538 and it’s worn for the first three films.

Legend has it that the film’s producer, Cubby Broccoli, was unable to rent a Rolex for Bond to wear in the first film, Dr No, so he took his personal watch off his wrist and gave it to Sean Connery. The connection with James Bond and the scarcity of this watch have turned this model into a grail for many watch collectors. We’ve written more widely about the watches of James Bond here.

Submariners were one of only two watches good enough for The Royal Navy Clearance Operators

In the late 1950s, The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom put out a request for submissions for watches to equip it’s top dive teams, who are specialists in underwater bomb clearance missions and other salvage operations. Only two watches qualified; the Rolex Submariner and the Omega Seamaster Professional 300.

The Royal Navy went on to order and issue approximately 1300 watches, making good examples of these the most valuable of all vintage Submariners. Their active use meant that they were repaired and serviced often, and when people left the Navy they were often advised to replace the Navy-specific parts such as the dial, hands and caseback to make them more valuable. Since the modern collector values original condition and authentic parts above all else, this was awful advice!

These are the specifications of a Military Submariner, or “MilSub” for short:

• Stainless steel case, with water resistance of 200 metres. Black dial with circle T added to signify Tritium as the source of luminous. Screw down crown. Earlier models had a diamond-shaped hour hand, with later models having the more easily recognised (to Rolex owners, at least) Mercedes hour hand. The steel case had fixed bars to lessen the danger of losing the watch through spring bar failure.
• Case-back engraved with the Royal Navy stores numbers 0552/923-7697, broad-arrow below (signifying government property), and then below that an issue number and issue year. Eg 175/70, signifying watch number 175 of 1970.
• The above modifications were made to the civilian 5513 before the watches left the Rolex factory.

The Solid Gold Submariner is a Real Dive Watch

Rolex launched the solid gold Submariner in 1969, supposedly in response to demand from the clients of Authorised Dealers in the Mediterranean. This watch solidified Rolex’s reputation as a status symbol, as making a tool watch that can perform even the deepest dives functional and out of Solid Gold is quite a ridiculous thing to do, but it has been popular ever since its launch.

One experience diver used his for over 40 years, including on some world record-breaking dives over 100m deep. The best story from Bret Gilliam is this close encounter with a Great White Shark, courtesy of a wonderful article on Hodinkee of the man’s career:

• Recounting the experience, Gilliam tells me that while his eyes were trained on the viewfinder of his camera, a massive Great White “suddenly turned and bit the cage right next to me, and then went into a bit of a rage and started thrashing around trying to get at me. I pulled my camera back and dropped back into the cage, but not before the shark violently impacted the cage again and my left arm was knocked sharply into the bars, causing a chip in the Rolex’s bezel.”
• From: Hodinkee.

The same article contains this extraordinary story from famous Scuba Diving Pioneer Dick Anderson, who somehow persuaded Rolex to make him a gold watch using his own gold…

Conclusion

These are just three of the areas where the Submariner has proven an extraordinary partner to interesting people doing amazing things. There are many stories out there, especially from divers who relied on their Submariners through the most dangerous escapades. You can find them linked from personal websites such as this from Diving Watch and the confusing but massive source of stories that is Jake’s Rolex Magazine. We hope you’ve enjoyed learning more about the Submariner, and if you’d like more like this join one of our online events, our next is on the Rolex Daytona and can be found on our Watch Events page.