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Watches To Watch: Rolex Submariner

Watches to Watch: The New Rolex Submariner

The new Rolex Submariner models – Oyster Perpetual Submariner and Oyster Perpetual Submariner Date – have been unveiled.

Professional divers’ watches par excellence, they are equipped respectively with calibre 3230, launched this year, and calibre 3235. These are certainly watches to watch.

Conquering the deep

The new generation of Oyster Perpetual Submariner and Oyster Perpetual Submariner Date exemplify the historic links between Rolex and the world of diving. Both timepieces now feature a redesigned, slightly larger 41 mm case. The light reflections from the case sides and lugs highlight the profile.

The new Rolex Submariner models also boast movements at the forefront of watchmaking technology.

Both the Submariner with calibre 3230 and the Submariner Date with calibre 3235 offer time and date functions. Both are featuring in the Submariner range for the first time.

Like all Rolex watches, the Oyster Perpetual Submariner and Submariner Date carry the Superlative Chronometer certification, which ensures excellent performance on the wrist.

Aesthetics

Firstly, true to its aesthetic heritage, the new Submariner in Oystersteel has a black dial and rotatable bezel with matching Cerachrom insert.

Secondly, a yellow Rolesor version of the Submariner Date presents a royal blue dial with a rotatable bezel and a blue Cerachrom insert. This combines Oystersteel and 18 ct yellow gold.

Thirdly, two versions of the Submariner Date, one in Oystersteel and the other in 18 ct white gold, bring original colour combinations, with the dial and Cerachrom insert in different hues. The first watch blends a black dial with a green bezel, while the second proposes a black dial and a blue bezel.

Watches to Watch: Rolex Submariner

An extraordinary history

The development of deep-sea diving brought on the creation of the Submariner. In the early 1940s, the exploration of the deep marked a significant turning point with the advent of scuba diving.

At the time, Rolex played an important role in the development and manufacturing of waterproof chronometer wristwatches, in particular the Oyster case, patented in 1926.

The brand wanted to create a watch that met divers’ practical needs as closely as possible. Therefore, in the 1950s it began an experimental process that involved many successful collaborations with diving pioneers.

The experiments carried out and subsequent technical advances led to the introduction in 1953 of the Submariner. This was the first divers’ wristwatch waterproof to a depth of 100 metres.

Just a year after its launch, the waterproofness of the Submariner increased to a depth of 200 metres.

The watch soon featured other technical innovations. A luminescent disc on the hour hand allowed the wearer to clearly distinguish it from the minute hand.

In 1969, Rolex unveiled the Submariner Date, adding the date function. Its waterproofness was extended in 1979 to a depth of 300 metres. The waterproofness of the Submariner achieved the same depth in 1989.

Over time, the appeal of the Submariner and Submariner Date has extended well beyond the marine world. With their proven performance, these tool watches have become archetypes of the action watch on land as much as underwater.

Watches to Watch: Rolex Submariner

Legibility and functionality

The ability to read the time with absolute certainty is a matter of survival when diving. The design of the dial of the Submariner and Submariner Date is clean and unambiguous.

The hour and minute hands, clearly differentiated in size and shape, and the hour markers in simple geometric forms enabled instant and reliable reading.

The Submariner and Submariner Date also feature a Chromalight display. A luminescent material that emits a long-lasting blue glow in dark conditions fills or coats the hands and hour markers.

On the bezel, the triangular zero marker is also visible in darkness thanks to a capsule containing the same luminescent material.

For more information visit www.rolex.com.

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