Rolex Submariner Date Ref. 16800 - Gloss Dial

Straight Facts

The Rolex Submariner is a true icon - and the word icon does get thrown around a lot. If you were to ask 10 people to draw you their idea of a watch looks like - chances are they would draw or describe something that looks like a Rolex Submariner. It’s the dive watch of reference good/bad/indifferent there is no escaping it. Over its 70 year run there have been numerous changes made to the model, but this 16800 represents a very interesting period in the Submariner story.

The Ref. 1680 was the first Submariner to feature a date, and had a long production run spanning close to 15 years - and was eventually replaced by the 16800 series of Submariner Date. During that 16800 era, the watch underwent a series of changes that saw the earliest models born with matte dials, and the last ones born with high-gloss dials with white gold surrounds. The present example hails from the second half of the 16800 production run where matte dials gave way to glossy dials with white gold lume surrounds. These watches hail from an important era when Rolex was starting to gain traction with professionals who worked in office settings and the brand transitioned upward in terms of pricing and social status as a luxury product. Like any vintage Rolex, over the life of these pieces many watches got destroyed, had their dials changed out, or just got lost in the cushions of a couch that ended up in a trash compactor (Check the cushions ASAP!)

This watch is in excellent overall condition with an unpolished, but honest case. The gloss dial shows slight signs of wear from use and age, and lume accross the dial and handset is an even matching eggshell color - something we love to see! The bezel is in equally attractive shape, with a beautiful patinated and matching lume pip - which are often missing on these watches. Overall, an incredibly honest and robust example of Rolex’s best selling watch - and ready for daily wearing. With the 70th Anniversary of the Submariner in 2023, what better way to celebrate.

*Some marks or spots on the dial are reflections or dust on the crystal and are due to high intensity strobe lighting used while photographing. They are not actually on the watch or visible in natural lighting.