The Rolex Submariner is the most iconic Rolex watch and today, without exaggeration, the most iconic watch of all time. This moniker and unique position comes after years of refinement by Rolex. New models have few changes. Since the first reference 6204 manufactured 61 years ago in 1953 (introduced in 1954) Rolex has had 10 major iterations with over 29 distinct references of the Submariner. This means that each major iteration of the Submariner lasts on average about 6 years before being refined a bit more…
The model 114060 in question with “Super Case” design and Cerachrom (ceramic) bezel here was released in 2010 and lasted 10 years before being replaced with the current reference 124060 in 2020. But what makes the Submariner desirable and worthy of cult status? It’s not one factor, but a series of factors. Let’s explore its history in watch and pop culture while going deeper into the features of this model and expose why the Submariner is the cult watch par excellence.
The Submariner was best known as the watch that James Bond wore in the 60’s and early 70’s — in the nascent days of the franchise. It was also the time that sports watches became the de facto watch to wear, even in dressy occasions — indeed, 007 wore the Submariner in all occasions during the fanciful thrillers. That trend: sports as all purpose watch, continued and cemented the Submariner as the prototype for the genre.
However, the Submariner has always been a tool watch and it remains that today. It’s a serious diver’s watch with current depth rating at 300 meters — earlier models in the 80s and before that were rated 200 meters. Rolex has always designed and built the Submariner to exceed its stated limits and that goes for the case construction, which while similar to prior models has evolved slowly (yet steadily) over the years. For instance, this model (reference 114060) was part of the 2010s releases that introduced the ceramic bezel which makes the bezel almost scratch proof. And like all modern sports steel Rolexes, it uses 904L steel which is harder and more resistant to tarnishes and the environment.
Another steady improvement that Rolex makes to the Submariner and indeed all Rolex watches is to improve the legibility of the dial and the accuracy of the movement. First, the dial includes Rolex’s own version of SuperLuminova called Chromalight which has a long lasting blue luminescence that will last hours into the night. The current 2024 models include the 3230 movement which is an improvement over this model which contains the older 3130 movement. However, the major perceived differences from specifications is an increase in power reserve from 48 hours to 70 hours while retaining the same +2/-2 seconds accuracy promise.
The Submariner 114060 is my favorite and most versatile watch. It is infinitely wearable in all types of settings. While I could try to come up with my subjective reasoning let’s explore the objective features. First at 40 mm the case is perfectly sized for my 6.5 inch wrist and while the large 28 mm lugs — part of the “Super Case”‘design of this reference — make it appear a larger watch it’s indeed 40 mm. The oyster bracelet is the best in class for dive watches and again infinitely wearable. First it tapers to the clasp from 22 mm to 16 mm. Second, Rolex includes the Glidelock system that allows easy adjustment to an extra 20 mm in 2 mm increments. After removing a few links my adjusted exemplar weighs 150 grams and stands at 12 mm high which contributes to how well it wears.
Rolex makes a date version of the Submariner or the Submariner Date which has the same specifications but with a date and cyclops over the date to magnify the digits. Additionally, there are Submariner models in precious metals (white gold and yellow gold) and different dial variations. One model (now discontinued), to highlight in particular, with green dial and green ceramic bezel, commonly referred to as the “Hulk” was released as the 50th anniversary model. Currently there remains another model with green bezel (but black dial) in production, along with a white gold and blue dial and blue ceramic bezel, and finally a solid yellow gold and two tone model (or Rolexor).
The Submariner is the dive watch other watches (not only other dive watches) are compared to. But as a pure dive watch, many other models, even from Rolex have more elaborate diving specifications. For instance the Rolex Sea Dweller and Sea Dweller Deep Sea are other watches from the Rolex professional line up that have specifications beyond the Submariner. However, none of them, from experience owning them, wear better than the Submariner. They tend to be bulkier and larger.
Omega in particular has the most comparable model to the Submariner: the Seamaster. Omega makes many variations (dials, materials, with straps and bracelets) of the line including various models that recent James Bond characters have worn … there are reissued models from the Omega collection from the 1970s to complement the line. All these watches are decent dive watches with their unique design language. But they are not the Submariner. This is not meant to be a negative assessment of the Seamaster but stating a simple fact.
The Submariner has a unique feel that nothing else replicates. There are many copycats of the Submariner design and various homage watches. I have yet to see or try one that gives the same feeling as the original. There’s a reason Rolex keeps improving its watches. That ensures small and incremental evolution that results in the watch it is today.
Is the Submariner the watch I would keep as my sole watch If I had to liquidate my collection? Yes. It’s as simple as this. But is it my favorite watch? No. And the reason for not being my favorite watch is that it is too common. While it works with almost all outfits and styles, I am far from the only person to have realized how good of a watch it is. This means that it’s the watch that I will see the most when I wear mine.
I don’t mind that others have the same watch but it’s sometimes nice to wear a watch that matches my style and is not so common. While the Submariner is near the perfect watch it fails to be that for me as it has fallen victim to its own success… one cannot blame Rolex or other Submariner owners for that. The Submariner will always have a permanent place in my collection. I will continue wearing it. I just wish I was the only one who knew of its perfection…
About the Gear
In this post I used four Leica cameras with an assortment of Leica and non-Leica lenses. First for the tabletop macro shots I used the Leica SL2 and SL2-S with Leica’s 90mm Elmar-M Macro, Sigma 70mm f/2.8 DG Macro, the Leica 60mm Macro Elmarit-R f/2.8 and the brilliant 100mm APO-Macro-Elmarit-R f/2.8 with R-L adapter. This setup also included Profoto lights which is a combination of two Profoto A2 with soft-boxes and one B10X (behind and below the table) to control the background and backlight.
The macro lume shots was taken with the Leica S (Typ007) paired with the awesome 120mm APO-Macro-Summarit-S f/2.5 CS. I used the same setup to capture the photo of the Submariner on the PADI dive book. I also used LED panels from Lume Cube to control the ambient light to parts of the scene and improve the atmosphere of the scene where needed.
Finally I used the Leica Q for wrist shots and the final table top photo of the SL2-S “Reporter” with lenses and watch. This setup with the Profoto flashes remains ideal for wrist and environmental shots. First, for its compactness and macro features but also because the Q uses a leaf shutter which means that it will sync at any speed. Newer Leica Q models are even better (sensor and feature -wise) and include the same 28mm macro lens which is key.
