Tropical Dial 1680 Rolex ‘Red’ Submariner

Rolex-Red-Submariner-1680

There are more valuable, complicated, and elegant watches. But there are few watches that optimize for beauty and dependability on the level of a 1680 Red Sub. It’s the sled-dog Siberian Husky of watches. The only way you can make one more beautiful is to wear it often out in the world, and then it…

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Tiffany 1680 Rolex Submariner

Tiffany-1680-Rolex-Submariner

Tiffany today is under LVMH, and as such it’s also slowly LVMH-ifying. Yes it’s a brand, it will always sell things. But people behaving as if a turquoise dial is the second coming need to cool the jets, Supreme marketing won’t work forever. I liked when Tiffany, with respected to watches, operated like any other…

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Meters First, Tropical Mk3 1680 Rolex Red Submariner

The path to learning is through making mistakes. Rolex are often said to never make mistakes. That’s not quite true. There’s the double 9 Air King, 16710 ‘Error’ Dial, Patrizzi Daytona, Fuchsia GMT, Cream Explorer, I could go on. There’s a trend here: do you see it? Rolex do make mistakes, but when they do,…

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Meters First, Tropical Mk2 1680 Rolex Red Submariner

Tropical-1680-Rolex-Red-Submariner

One of the many appeals in vintage Rolex collecting is the vastly different character that the same reference can have, simply as a result of having led different lives. Not all patina is equal. Everyone knows what a red Submariner is. But I’ll be damned if anyone knew it could look this good. This is…

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Tropical Mk2 Red 1680 Rolex Submariner

Red-1680-Rolex-Submariner-Tropical-Mk2

This sub truly does have it all: meters first, red single line, vanilla plots, chocolate dial, and faded fat font bezel. The 1680 was not Rolex’s first Sub with a red line of text (that was probably the 6536/8), but it was the most widely-distributed watch to do so. It was, however, definitively Rolex’s first Sub…

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1680/8 Yellow Gold Nipple Dial Rolex Submariner

1680/8-Gold-Rolex-Submariner

‘Simultaneously totally opulent yet somehow tasteful.’ That is how I’ve previously described the 1680/8 conversationally and stand by it. Rolex’s fabled gold Submariner may in fact be the single watch most classically representative of the ‘fuck-you-money’ attitude, and somehow it has aged into a thing of connoisseurship and studied attention. Times change, and we’re in…

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Mk4 1680 Rolex ‘Red’ Submariner

Mk4-1680-Rolex-Red-Submariner

The 1680 was not Rolex’s first Sub with a red line of text (that was probably the 6536/8), but it was the most widely-distributed watch to do so. It was definitively Rolex’s first Sub to introduce a date complication to the Sub line, which was distinct amongst its competitors. Ever curious where the famed cyclops…

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1680/8 YG, Black Nipple Dial Rolex Submariner

Rolex-Submariner-1608/8-Yellow-Gold

Rolex’s fabled gold Submariner may in fact be the single watch most classically representative of the ‘fuck-you-money’ attitude. Or at least, it was. See, the gold Submariner has gone through this sort of inverse bell-curve of public acceptability from the 1960s through today in 2021. To start, it was a hallmark of a highly successful…

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A Pair of Comex Submariners

Rolex-Submariner-Comex-1680-and-16610

Comex is a sacred grail to those who worship at the altar of flat fours and frog feet. Coming across a strong (or more importantly genuine) example within any generation is an accomplishment. When watch people call a double red 1665 rare, they are kind of correct. They are rare relative to standard 1665 or…

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