The Rolex Explorer is a very famous watch and a key part of the Rolex lineup. It is a watch that's changed little over the last 70 years and remains a simple and popular option for many. The most famous story connected to it is highly controversial. Today's Blog Post will introduce and explore the watch and the controversy.

In the 1940s and 1950s Rolex were busy creating watches that were ever more practical and useful for their customers. Having established a reputation for quality and seen great success with the waterproof Rolex Oyster and Oyster Perpetual in the 1930s, Rolex needed to move on. They introduced the Submariner, a dive watch, and the famous Day-Date calendar watch, but also wanted to update the Oyster Perpetual to be more robust and hard-wearing.


Many watch companies at the time were also focussing on this, including the largest British watchmaker of the time, Smiths. Both Rolex and Smiths sent their watches with mountaineering teams so they could test them in the most extreme environments. They wanted to prove these watches stood up to long days of vigorous activity and huge temperature ranges.
 The British Everest Expedition of 1953 was sponsored by Smiths, so 15 watches were sent along. Rolex gifted 10 pieces to the British members of the Expedition. The stage was set for one of them to be worn to the summit for the first time.

Which watch was first to the Top of Everest?

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first climbers to succeed in summiting Mount Everest on May 29th 1953. However, in 1924 an expedition was run by the British climbers George Mallory, with their final climb starting on June 8th. Sadly, they never returned from the attempt. In 1999 Mallory's body was recovered, including the watch in his pocket. This was a watch in a Borgel case with a Fountainmelon movement and would have been very expensive at that time. Since it is not known if Mallory achieved the summit before he fell to his death, we cannot say for sure that this watch reached the summit.


 So what happened with the Rolex and the Smiths?


 Well, here the story gets interesting. Rolex have always been famous for their marketing and this story is one of the most interesting marketing coups of the 20th century. Rolex's advertising agency, J Walter Thompson paid a reporter from The Times newspaper in London to message them in code announcing the expedition's success. As a result, Rolex ran an advertisement on page 3 of The Times on June 2nd, claiming that their watch was first to the top of the mountain. The news story exclaiming the achievement wasn't even until Page 7 of the Paper.


 Smiths didn't get their advertisement published until three days later on June 5th. Rolex was also clever in two other ways. They hosted a party for the whole Expedition in Bombay as they were travelling back to England. At the party, they gave out more gold Rolexes, and by the time the party arrived back in London Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay and expedition leader Colonel Hunt were all official Rolex ambassadors. Unsurprisingly they did not discuss Smiths watches much from then on.

Was a Rolex the first watch to the top of Everest?

Unfortunately, the answer is probably no. Many Rolex fans have undertaken a detailed photographic study of the pictures from the expedition and they believe that neither Hillary nor Norgay were wearing one when climbing the mountain, not least because Norgay is clearly wearing a steel watch in all the pics, and the Rolex he owned at the time was gold.


The best evidence however comes from the Managing Director of Rolex UK at the time. In September 1953, the Managing Director of Smiths was clearly annoyed at the success Rolex had with their claim to be first and their subsequent marketing of the newly launched Explorer model. He wrote to the leading watch magazine of the day, the monthly magazine of the British Horological Institute (which still exists and you can find them here).


Here is what he said, and I've highlighted the relevant part:

Now this could just be another marketing claim if it Rolex hadn't replied, in the October issue, with this clear admission:

For anyone familiar with the norms of the day, this was a genuine attempt by two leading figures of the industry to set the record straight and avoid being called liars. That is why the Rolex Director wrote in when he didn't have to. If you examine any Rolex ads since that first one, not a single one claims that their watch was on the summit first, they simply state (a lot) that Rolexes are often on Everest, worn by the bravest climbers.


They have never reduced their association with climbers and still sponsor mountaineers as influencers today. They remain proud of the Explorer watch, and it is branded as a tough go-anywhere timepiece.  However, it is fairly clear that it was not the first to the summit.


The Smiths watch was a Smiths Deluxe, or A409 and Hillary gave it to the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers in the City of London. It resides on display in the Science Museum in London.

One of the reasons Rolex is so large and famous today is precisely because they were willing to create interesting marketing stunts over the course of the 20th century. Their continued efforts to associate themselves with adventure, feats of bravery, and interesting people have maintained a level of quality associated with their watches. Rolex customers associate the brand with success and its stories like this that made it this way. Fortunately for their customers, they make great watches.

Rolex launched the watch formally known as the Explorer in Summer 1953. The first reference number was the 6350, which remained very simple and added the no famous 3, 6 and 9 indices on the dial to make it easy to read. They also made the black dial option standard for the same reasons. 

In 1956 the 6610 was introduced with the Mercedes style hands and again the bold numbers in luminous paint. The introduction of the 1016 in 1963 was another upgrade and was important as it stayed in production for over 25 years, making it possible the single-longest Rolex reference in production. In 1989 it was replaced by the 14270, which shows the indices and numbers lined in white gold. It is still pretty much the same today.

This model has not changed much and has been on sale for nearly 70 years. This shows the incredible staying power of Rolex. They make watches people want, improve them consistently, and deliver reliable designs. Coupled with the interesting marketing tactics and strong brand image, it keeps the company and their watches at the top of the industry today.

We at The Watch Collectors' Club want to help everyone explore the world of watches. We want to bring you the interesting stories that are behind the watches we see on the market, and we want to help you share your watch stories. Our regular meetups are the perfect place to come and learn more about watches like the Explorer and tell us which watches you like and would love to know more about. At our next one, we will be exploring and comparing the brands  Tudor and Breitling and it's taking place on April 12th in Central London. You can find all the details here.


 If you know of anyone who might like this story, please forward it on and let them know where to find us. We are on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter, and our mailing list is the first place to find out about all our events. Join us at the next one!

Was a Rolex the first to the top of Mount Everest? Which watch was first to the top of Mount Everest?

The Rolex Explorer Everst Controversy

Rolex Myth-making and the birth of the Rolex Explorer

The Watch Collectors' Club is here to help you learn more about the world of watches. We will introduce and explore types of watch, and highlight some of the variety available from around the world. This week we consider a very popular type of watch: Tool Watches.

A Tool watch is a watch that contains one or more functions additional to telling the time. It is a watch that provides a useful tool on the wrist.


Some functions are common and some are very rare. In the watch world, functions are also known as complications. Watches with a date function or calendar function are not usually thought of as Tool Watches but can be a very useful tool themselves. Many Tool Watches include more than one additional function.


There are many variations of tool watch design as designers like to experiment with ways to display these features, but most tool watches are very easy to read and use. 

The best reason to buy one is that you want to use the function it comes with. You might buy a Chronograph, or Stopwatch, if you want to time how long something runs for, or even just timing a recipe. You might buy a watch that shows multiple time zones to keep track of a meeting with colleagues overseas, or your home time while you are abroad.

People love Tool Watches for other reasons. They were originally designed for specific uses, such as Scuba Diving, Navigation for Air Pilots, Motor Racing Timing, and Artillery Timing. The design requirements for these uses have a lot in common. The first is a really clear dial, including the function readout. So if a chronograph is to be useful, it needs to be easily read on the subdials, the second-hand needs to be clear etc. If it has a scale around the outside then this needs to be clearly marked, such as the Tachymeter on the bezel of the Omega Speedmaster or Rolex Daytona.


Dive watches in particular need to be useful underwater where the light is filtered. This leads to dark dials, bright indices or numbers and luminous material used liberally. They also often have Bezels around the dial which can be turned. These are used for dive timing and need to be very easy to read. Rather obviously, they need to be waterproof, and sturdy so they aren't easily damaged. These features are found in other Tool Watches and are very helpful. People want watches that are waterproof and sturdy.

There are so many options, designs, and functions to be found in the world of tool watches we encourage you to explore widely, embrace interesting options, and if you don't know what a watch is trying to do, ask! There are many great Microbrands experimenting with Chronograph or Dive Watch design. The world of High Horology excels in finding complicated ways to add functions to watches, often putting many different ones in the same watch. We love finding both the new and exciting ways to represent something done widely and also the niche new technological marvels from the very cleverest watchmakers.

All Digital and Smart Watches are Tool Watches

Most digital watches come with a range of additional functions and are Tool Watches by default. This is because adding the functions adds no cost to a digital watch, just a decision on where to put the buttons in the design. Customers expect functions such as timers, stopwatches and alarms to come with a digital watch. 

Smartwatches are all Tool Watches also. Smartwatches, including the Apple watch, are small computers to which software applications, or apps, are added. All of these Apps provide a function or a tool for their user.

The Watch Collectors' Club exists to help you learn, explore and share your passion for watches. This coming Monday, March 21st we are hosting a digital Meetup via Zoom, where we will talk about the watches we've seen at this weekend's London Watch Show. If you'd like to join in please register here.

In April we are very excited to announce our first event with a Retail Partner, where you will be able to directly compare and contrast Tool Watches from two top Swiss brands. You'll be able to directly see the features of Dive Watches and Pilots Watches especially. If you've never been to a watch boutique before, this is a great opportunity to join us for a friendly introduction to how they work. We'll also be giving some informative talks to introduce the brands, what they stand for, and what to expect from their timepieces. It's on April 12th in Central London, and you can find more details here.

Finally, if you liked this article and know someone else who might find it useful, please forward it to them, and let them know The Watch Collectors' Club exists. We are on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, and will be hosting at least one online and offline event every month. We hope you can join us!

Introduction to Tool Watches, Explaining the different types of Tool Watch

What is a Tool Watch

Introducing Tool Watches and their many functions

The Watch Collectors' Club held another successful Meetup this week, and it went so well we want to highlight why they are so much fun. If you are wondering if they are for you or are uncertain who comes along, then read on!

A Watch Meetup is where a group of people interested in watches meet specifically to discuss and look at watches. Everyone is welcome, whether you have been collecting for years or are just getting started. You don't need to own or bring a watch. Your interest is enough. 

At The Watch Collectors' Club Meetups, we want everyone to feel welcome and make it as accessible as possible. There's room for people with years of experience and people with the beginnings of an interest. We want people exploring their first few corners of the watch world to enjoy the events just as much as someone who has bought and sold countless timepieces.

We actively host our events. We make sure everyone is involved and that they can see the watches people have brought along. There will always be people happy to share their timepieces and there's always an interesting story to hear. 

The most wonderful thing about Watch Meetups is you never know what people will bring along. The variety never ceases to amaze me. For example here are some of the wonderful watches brought along this past week: 

The Watch Collectors' Club exists to help you learn more about the watch world. There is so much to cover, so many interesting stories and fascinating timepieces, that even the most experienced collector can learn something new when they are least expecting it. 

At each Meetup we give a couple of five-minute talks to help you explore. While it might be on a topic you know a bit about, it'll always be from a different angle and trying to put things in context. We avoid jargon, reference numbers or dry facts, instead, we hope to open up areas of the watch world you might not have considered looking at before. If there's anything our members would like to know more about we can always talk about that. We're here to help.

We know that a lot of the watch world is exclusive, complicated, and hard to understand. The internet and social media are full of watch content, but it is spread out and hard to find. 

We are building a place to make it easy to share interesting watches, stories and information about the watch world without telling you what you should or shouldn't do. Our events will be in interesting relaxed venues, where friendliness and openness are our priorities. You'll find an enthusiastic selection of people sharing the watches they like. We'll help you turn an interest into a hobby, or if you just want to come and see something new, then that's alright too.

We hold at least one Watch Meetup event every month, both in-person in London, and online on Zoom. You and find all the details on our Events Page here. Please sign up for our mailing list and follow us on social media to hear about all our plans. If you know anyone else who has an interest in watches and might like to learn more or explore the watch world, please send them this email and let them know about us. We have an active presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. We hope to see you at a Meetup soon!

What happens at a watch meetup? What to expect at a Watch Meetup.

What happens at a Watch Meetup

We explain what to expect at a watch meetup

There is currently one Rolex that is both iconic and overhyped. In regular production yet completely unobtainable. Standard in function yet held in high regard, and named for a blue-collar race track yet owned by the very wealthy. This week, we're going to tell you the story of the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona.

The Daytona, as it is most widely known, is a Chronograph, or Stopwatch. It has the ability to time up to 12 hours on the dial, using the central seconds hand, Subdial at 6 o'clock position for the minutes, and a Subdial at 9 o'clock for the hours.

This is actually a very strange question to explore. The Daytona is most famous now for being popular, and for a short while being the most expensive wristwatch to ever sell at auction. That watch is known as The Paul Newman Daytona, was a gift to the actor Paul Newman from his wife, and sold for $17.8mn at Phillip's in 2017. That really is a lot of money.

It's strange this watch is famous because at first, it wasn't popular at all. Rolex have never been leaders in the development of Chronographs. They developed them alongside the rest of the industry at the end of the 1930s, sold them in World War 2 in the 1940s, and then introduced new models slowly but surely as they tried out different designs and features. At that time, they were focused on their other watches, many of which are still very popular today.

While Rolex were interested in making stopwatches and associating their watches with Motor Racing, this wasn't their largest area of focus. When the Cosmograph was launched in the early 1960s, at first it was going to be called the "Le Mans", after the famous racetrack in France. For unknown reasons, this was replaced by the name Daytona, a race track in Florida in the United States. The name Cosmograph was first used to talk about a Moonphase watch. However also for unknown reasons, the name was given to the Chronographs, presumably to try and make them stand out from the competition, and the name stuck. The full name today is the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona

As Rolex developed various models, they changed the design notably. From an old fashioned busy looking dial to a wide, clean looking dial, the watch evolved into what today we would say is a very 1960s/1970s looking timepiece. The two main design elements are the spacious dial with three subdials, and the bezel, or outer ring with the Tachymeter scale.

Paul Newman was a handsome and successful Hollywood actor who won two Oscars. He made two films about Motor Racing and enjoyed them so much he took the sport up as a hobby in the 1970s, and was involved in it for the rest of his life. There is no evidence that he had any formal relationship with Rolex, but he wore the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona from around 1969 onwards. In particular, he wore one with a rare dial. It has a Black face, a white surround to the dial and a red seconds track. The watch case was made of steel. It is very funky as you can see here.

Strangely, it appears a Rolex-sponsored publication of a book about Paul Newman was the catalyst for the popularity of these watches. Here is the front cover, courtesy of Rolexmagazine.com. You can clearly see the watch that became so famous. It is then thought that Italian Collectors famous for giving unusual vintage watches names and hyping them up, started to get enthusiastic about these Rolexes. 

This funky dial is quite special, the main differences being the little square dots on the subdials and a different font used for the numbers. This is the dial that is now very famous and valuable. When it was in production, the opposite was true. These watches were not popular, and often sat in Rolex Dealerships for years. They sold for around $300 at that time, and there are estimated to be 20x fewer of these dials than the standard dials.

It is this combination of dealer hype, dial variety and rarity that has led to the astonishing increases in value from $300 to $300,000 that we see today. Coupled with the increase in popularity of sports watches and chronographs, as we talked about in our blog post here, this model from Rolex has only ever grown in popularity.

Rolex themselves have done an enormously successful job of making the Daytona more popular, and by the 1990s had settled on a formula that worked. The watch got a Rolex-manufactured movement in 2000, and it was now chunkier, more visible, and kept the most unique aspects of the Daytona we saw in the 1970s; the Tachymetre Bezel and the Screwdown Pushers and Crown. There are very few watches with screw-down pushers, as people do not usually assume that Chronographs need this level of protection from water and dust entry, and this helps the watch stand out.

The watch has also continued to feature a huge range of dials, from the simple, as you can see with today's white and black dial on the steel model, to the extravagant, such as the Tiger design featured in the catalogue for many years. There are also a large range of non-catalogue dials featuring precious stones that can be bought by very wealthy customers on special order.

There is no obvious answer to why these Rolexes are worth so much more than most others, and why they are perceived as the most valuable of all the vintage Rolex models. If you want to know the exhaustive details then you can read this helpful article from Hodinkee, but even they have no explanation for the tremendous value premium these watches generate.

We at The Watch Collectors' Club have don't focus on which watch is better, best or the most valuable. We are here to explore the full extent of the world of watches, and sometimes it's interesting to highlight the most famous and most talked-about watches to see what's going on. If you are very lucky you might see a Rolex Daytona in person at one of our Meetups. Our next one is next week, on Tuesday 8th March, and you can sign up here. We hope that this article was of interest, and if you know anyone else who might like it, please forward it on. We are also easy to follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

What is the Rolex Daytona? Why is the Rolex Paul Newman so famous?

Introducing the Rolex Daytona

A Short introduction to a puzzlingly popular watch

The Watch Collectors' Club runs regular events where we teach members a little about watches, watchmakers, watch

A club for everyone who likes watches.

Following the fantastic success of our recent event Exploring British Watch Design and our last Blog Post introducing watch design, we though it might be fun to dive into a popular but fairly unusual way to tell the time on a watch. The use of a jump hour, or displaying the hour using a rotating dial so only one numeral is visible at a time. The minutes are often displayed the traditional way using a hand, or sometimes another rotating disk. This simple change to one of the time telling features of the watch opens up endless possibilities for watch designers, and we'll now show you some of the bold and memorable designs from the last 100 years.

While this idea had been used in pocket watches dating back as far as the seventeenth century, an Austrian watchmaker called Josef Pallweber worked out how to get the dial to rotate precisely on the hour. This may seem trivial, but managing the power requirements for a disk are different to those from a hand, and all watch designers need to take this into account. For this reason, jump hour pocket watches made at this time IWC Schaffhausen but coped by others, were not as accurate as traditional models, which limited their appeal. 

Some of the most famous Jump hour designs can be found in the 1920s and 1920s, inspired by Art Deco design. The most famous is the Cartier Tank a Guichet, which follows the simple aspects of Art Deco design with perfectly proportioned windows to see the hour and minutes. This design was copied by many other brands at the time. 

One of the most successful luxury brands of the 21st century has an iconic watch that uses both jump hour and jump minutes to create a digital time display. The Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk is a very distinctive watch, and has proven very popular amongst watch lovers as it is so recognisable. This explanation of how it works underlines how much consideration needs to be taken for this mechanism to work accurately. 

Other luxury watch brands have used the jump hour to create really outlandish designs, with technical or engineering inspiration. These watches attract a very niche customer, but have proven consistently popular.

At the affordable end of the watch world, modern brands have used the jump hour to create exciting and unusual designs, especially in the Microbrand community. British brand Mr. Jones uses an image-first design philosophy, as they want to find new ways of telling the time, and using a jump hour and sometimes jump minutes makes this much easier for their designers. It allows them to create some truly beautiful pieces, that while not necessarily easy to read, are interesting works of art for the wrist.

Earlier this year a very special jump hour watch was launched to celebrate the new Alliance of British Watch and Clockmakers, an organisation dedicated to building the art and craft of watchmaking in Great Britain. This collaboration between two brands, Fears Watches and Christopher Ward, created a large dress watch with a striking dial containing the jump hour at 12 O'clock. This limited edition was highly reviewed worldwide, showing the power of using this unusual design to attract attention to a brand while remaining consistent with their prior design language. Jump hours offer designers the chance to do something special.

Unusual ways of telling the time allow watch designers the opportunity to explore watch designs that break the mould. These can be found at a range of different price points, and are often a great joy to wear as they provoke so much discussion, even amongst non-watch lovers! We at The Watch Collectors' Club encourage you to explore watch design more widely, and try on a jump hour watch next time you see one. You never know how much you might like it!

We look at different kinds of jump hour and jumping hour watches

Introduction to Jump Hour Watches

We explain the jump hour complication and look at unsual watch designs that use it.

Since we started The Watch Collectors' Club we've found that the number one thing most people are interested in is the look and feel of their watch. Next comes the history heritage and status of the brands, and then comes the technology inside the case. While this may not surprise many, it means that our events have been mostly focussing on the looks of a watch and the brand or model history, as well as helping people understand how to buy and sell the watches they want. 

One often wonders where watch designers start, and the simplest answer to this is style. Over and over again we see watch brands adopt a distinctive style, either of their own or in the traditions of a type of watch (such as a Dive watch or Pilot's Watch) and then develop their individual ideas from there. Of course, the designer has to decide on what functions they want the watch to have, and then fit them into the required size. They also need to decide very early on what the time display will be, whether it will use hands or another mechanism, and what type of dial to use and how to make it.

We once spoke to a legendary watchmaker, Kari Voutilainen and he said "It all starts with the dial", so want to reiterate that point, as the first question a designer has to answer is how the functions of the watch will be displayed.

There are an enormous number of both styles and types of watches. Here is an example, one common type of watch is a chronograph, like the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona. It is a steel sports watch, with a bezel that helps make calculations based on the stopwatch function that makes it a chronograph. It also has a distinct style, it is large and chunky and has a high level of water resistance to 100m. It is a serious-looking watch that looks like many other Rolexes, and comes from a long line of previous models with the same name. Everyone can see what it is, and while there are dial and case material variations, plus some gem-set models, the style is distinctly Rolex. 

Another chronograph, one made by British brand Studio Underdog, is completely different, it is colourful and playful by design, and as the first watch from a new company there was no heritage to draw on. It is instead themed on different things, including fruit, but mainly focused on colour combinations. It still has subdials and pushers, or buttons on the side to work the chronograph function, but the designer has used completely different aspects of each. The case is also thinner and there is no bezel. 

With these two examples, we can see that designers are working with totally different styles, but both had to start by thinking about how to represent the chronograph function of the watch.

To further illustrate the point, we can use a watch that tells the time without using hands. In this example from Mr. Jones Watches, the hour is displayed in a window within the branches of the tree, and the minutes are indicated by different arrangements of stars as displayed at the 3 o'clock position. This style of watch is unusual and comes from a brand that starts by trying to think of ways to tell the time with an image that hasn't been done before. This is truly design-led watchmaking

How does a designer turn a design into a watch?

A designer today has more options than ever before to make a new watch a reality, whether it is something simple, fun and affordable or extremely complicated and expensive. Whatever they make they need to work out how it is going to be made, and where. If a watch is going to be Swiss Made, then 60% of the components must be made in Switzerland and it must be assembled there. If it is going to say it is British made, then it must be assembled in Britain, such as those from Mr. Jones watches. The designer also must work out the price of the assembly and how that relates to the expected selling price. 

Fortunately, today, there are many suppliers and factories that can do a whole range of things, and in some cases, simply produce an entire watch with a limited amount of additional help needed other than quality control. This has allowed startup watch brands to flourish, to the benefit of watch lovers everywhere who want to take a chance on something different. For established brands, they already have factories and a supply chain, but need to decide how complicated to make the movement and cases to meet the price point their customers expect.

Like any area of design, the watch world is subject to fashion. We see this in the popularity of watch styles, the size of watches, materials used, and many other aspects of watch design. Right now, it is clear that watches are getting smaller again, and that brands are more confident selling watches in a range of sizes, including under 40mm diameter. We are also seeing lots more colour being used, on both classic models and new entrants. Finally, we continue to see the adoption and use of interesting materials like Titanium, Bronze, or Carbon Fibre for cases. There also remains a trend to create modern watches that reissue historic models or are very similar to them. We expect all of these trends to continue to the benefit of watch lovers who gain more variety from both new and established brands. 

The Watch Collectors' Club exists to help you explore the watch world through our events and our attempts to help explain how things happen and why watch companies do the things they do. We hope interviews with designers at our events and on our YouTube Channel will further your insight into what you like about watch design. If you have any questions about watch design or suggestions for related topics we could cover please do not hesitate to ask us!

How are watches designed? Where do watch designers start?

An Intorduction to Watch Design

We explore how watches are designed and how designers get started

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."

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...

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.

Some entertaining stories to help you explore the history of the Rolex Submariner

Rolex Submariner Stories and Uses

To celebrate our Rolex Submariner Event, we bring you a few interesting examples of the Submariner's many uses.

A few fun stories about the Rolex Submariner

Join The Watch Collectors' Club on Thursday July 13th to explore Sustainability in Watchmaking with Oris at their South Molton Street Boutique in London. Oris is a family-owned company who have recently put sustainability initiatives at the top of their near term business plan. At this event you will learn all about how they are improving the sustainability of their company and their watchmaking. You will also see the watches that are the result of their partnership initiatives, including the Oris Aquis Date Upcycle. 

Expect warm boutique hospitality, three short talks to help you understand more about Oris and sustainable watch manufacturing, and the chance to try on watches from across their range. 

We learn abour Oris' Sustainability and Social Impact Initiatives at their South Molton Street Branch

Learn about sustainability in watchmaking and the watch industry with Oris and The Watch Collectors' Club

Exploring Sustainability in Watchmaking with Oris

Join The Watch Collectors' Club on Tuesday 4th July from 6:00PM for an evening at TAG Heuer's flagship London boutique on Oxford Street to explore the Carrera Range. The newly-renovated boutique will provide their usual excellent hospitality, you'll hear two short talks to help you learn more about the watch world, and you'll meet loads of fellow watch lovers. 

The focus of the evening will be the famous Carrera, and in the week of the UK Grand Prix we will highlight TAG Heuer's long legacy of motorsport history. You'll get to try on the whole range, and of course, also see the rest of the Tag watches in the catalogue. 

Expect a fun time with lots of super sporty watches and other watch enthusiasts. Please sign up below to come along. 

Join us at Tag's Flagship boutique on London's Oxford Street to learn more about the Carrera range.

Explore the Tag Heuer Carrera with The Watch Collectors' Club

The Watch Collectors' Club at Tag Heuer Oxford Street

Join us for a watch event run solely for women. On Thursday 20th June from 6:30PM we'll meet in a Central London wine bar for a fantastic evening of watches and talks.

As the watch industry continues to focus their marketing and products primarily on men, the number of women attending our events is increasing with each month.

This event will bring together women who are new to the world of watches, and those who already collect watches with the aim of learning from one another.

The event is hosted in a private area of a central London wine bar, and the event will follow our inclusive, informative and fun structure.

If you have a watch or two to bring along please do. We are interested in all types of watches – from Casios all the way to complicated Swiss watches, and everywhere in-between.

A watch meetup solely for Ladies in Central London. Meet other female watch enthusiasts with The WCC

Watch meetup for women, ladies' watch meetup, femal watch enthusiasts

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