Rolex Submariner Date Watch : Review

A most iconic watch that kills it at both black tie events or volcano treks and performs anywhere from the deep ocean to any active war zone.

“The Rolex Submariner’s robust and functional design swiftly became iconic. With their subtly redesigned Oyster case, distinctive dial with large luminescent hour markers, graduated rotatable Cerachrom bezel and solid link Oyster bracelet, the latest generation Submariner and Submariner Date are firmly in line with the original model launched in 1953.”

The Submariner Date Watch is priced at $8,550. It’s made up of exotic steel, sapphire crystal, Cerachrom ceramic, jewels, 18k gold and platinum. But this is NOT jewelry.

This Rolex is equal parts tool watch and diving watch, or essentially the ultimate EDC luxury sports watch.

It’s robust as f*ck but handsome as hell and functions like the engineering marvel that it is. Definitively making the Sub a watch you can rock anywhere for anything and at anytime for the rest of your life and beyond.

Officially called the ‘Oyster Perpetual Rolex Submariner Date Watch Reference 116610LN’, it’s the watch I didn’t know I always wanted but also something I would never actually buy.

It was a gift given to me for 10 years of service by my former employer as part of my retirement. When I first received it back in 2012, I treated it as a delicate piece of jewelry, never wearing it and keeping it as an expensive paperweight on my desk for months.

With the boredom of retirement creeping, I was itching for a bit of fieldwork so I took a consulting gig… somewhere. For just the second time I put the Rolex on for it. Little did I know I wouldn’t see my Submariner again for another 4 years, a small price to pay for escape and survival:

I’ll be publishing a post about this in more detail so I’ll keep it short for now… After the job was completed, I was stranded somewhere rural and needed a vehicle to reach a certain time-sensitive border.

With no forms of public transportation and not a single contact within reach, I had to trade my watch with a local farmer for his half-functional pickup truck barely worth the petrol it guzzles. It got me to where I needed to go, effectively saving my life.

Fast forward to early 2016… I visited that part of the world again to seek him out as I told him I may be returning one day for the watch. He still had it. When he invited me to his home to stay for dinner with his family, I saw my watch just sitting on his desk, as I did when I first received it on my desk, collecting dust.

It was sad. Such a beautiful mechanical wearable looking so lonely. It was then I realized a watch (any watch) is supposed to be worn on the wrist, not sitting on a desk.

The farmer told me that he put it on his desk the very day I gave it to him and hasn’t touched it once, awaiting my return. That’s almost 4 years. From the amount of dust that was collected on my watch, he wasn’t lying.

The Submariner is an automatic, so no batteries, meaning it stopped running just 48 hours after he placed it on his desk those years ago. A slight shake of the Rolex to get the dust off jump started the calibre 3135 “engine” and the seconds hand swept like it just awoke from slumber.

From that day on, I’ve worn the Submariner Date every day and for almost every activity. Including actual diving, as it is technically a (THE) diving watch.

This is the first and only mechanical watch I have ever owned so I can’t give the most comprehensive review. My only other experience would be the occasional visits to high-end watch stores like Omega, Rolex, Tag Heuer and the like at airports just to kill time.

I never had intentions of buying such expensive watches but it’s interesting to get a close look at these fine works of mechanical art, not to mention trying them on.

So with my limited but hands-on experience with luxury timepieces, I feel the Submariner is the most ideal EDC or everyday wear watches there is. It looks just as good with a 3 piece suit as it does with a swimsuit. It’s engineered to take beatings while always looking dapper but never ostentatious. Classic and rugged yet modern.

The Submariner Date and “No Date” (model with no date function) are the most emulated watches in the world by the lowest end manufacturers to even higher end watch makers than Rolex themselves. Which is no surprise they are also the most counterfeited watches in the world.

That’s impressive, despite it being around for more than 60 years with a steady course of evolution and design throughout the decades – while retaining the general iconic look of the very first Sub from 1953.

For a tool watch, it’s remarkably comfortable. Thanks to what’s considered by many the best watch bracelet ever made, the ‘Oyster Bracelet’. I sleep with it on every night. Not to mention the luminescence glows all night.

For a sports watch, it’s piercingly aesthetic. Despite the the Rolex Submariner Date Watch’s famed minimal and utilitarian characteristics, every beautiful aspect has a function. For example, the widely imitated but never duplicated rotatable ceramic bezel with graduations in platinum.

For a fancy watch, it’s suspiciously tenacious. This is the most important factor to me. It’s meant to be worn as much as it’s timelessly enjoyed being shown.

This is a wearable work of design and engineering art

If you have the means and want an impeccable automatic watch you can wear everyday without worry, I highly recommend The Rolex Submariner Date Watch.

Perpetual, Mechanical & Self-Winding Movement // Superlative Chronometer // Waterproof 1,000ft / 300m // 904L Steel, Platinum, Gold, Ceramic & Sapphire // Reference. 116610LN // Made in Switzerland

Rolex Submariner Date Watch /// $8K+

[The Seiko SKX007 Watch is the most highly praised and affordable Submariner alternative.]