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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9401/0 Snowflake Tudor Submariner

94010-Snowflake-Tudor-Submariner

As pumpkin lumed 76100 snowcones, and MN milsubs are growing astronomically more expensive by the day, it’s worth considering the base original. I wouldn’t wear an MN on the daily for fear of bashing it or worse, theft. But I would wear this 9400-series. Every damn day. There’s a lot to be said for the…

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Tropical ‘Swiss Only’ 7928 Tudor Sub

Tropical-Swiss-Only-7928-Tudor-Sub

This one is about to get as nuanced as my posts come; which is to say I’m not really that educated on these matters. Nonetheless, we’re going to get down and dirty with Wilsdorf iterations again. The 7928 is one of my highlights in all vintage divers, for its working-class charm, often wild patina, and…

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Meters First 5513 Rolex Submariner

Meters-First-Rolex-5513-Sub

I (and probably many others) had a collector tell me once, ‘. . .just buy the sub.’ In the previous decade those would have been wise words to adhere to, almost poetic in their truth. The world which we now inhabit, I think it is safe to say, is a bit more nuanced than that.…

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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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Tropical Gilt 7928 Tudor Submariner

Gilt-Tudor-Submariner-7928-Tropical

If, as Lord Harold Samuel popularized, the three things that matter in property are location, location, and location, then I’m here to state that the three things that matter in vintage are condition, condition, and condition. This is taking authenticity, originality, and provenance for granted. Auction results, private sales, and enthusiasm confirm this simple fact.…

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Gilt 5508 Rolex Submariner

5508-Rolex-Submariner-Gilt

What is there to say about the no crown guard, unpretentious, gilt tool that is the 5508 which has not already been said? The inherent lack a frills or finishing is its inherent charm. The small-crown sub is a cult favorite amongst Rolex collectors and for good reason. The 5508 was the genesis for all…

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Tropical Rolex 6538 Big Crown Submariner

Rolex-6538-Big-Crown-Submariner-Tropical

Here we have the mackdaddy submariner, and one of the more unique examples I’ve seen for sale this year. Before the 6538 generation, the submariner was a serious tool for those divers who required water resistance. The 6538 took the submariner to the people by way of Sean Connery in the 1962 classic Dr. No.…

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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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