Marine Headers

Submariner: The first and second generation

In 1953, Rolex has decided to produce a professional diver's watch: Submariner. This idea came from the design department. The lead designer, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, served in the Navy in the past and was also passionate about diving. He had been in the deep sea and knew what features were most important to a diver's watch realiable. Submariner then must meet the following requirements:

One, good visibility in the deep sea, high contrast ratio black dial & large luminous hands.

2, anti-magnetic, good waterproof construction and anti-collision.

3, good resistance to corrosion and resistant to the temperature difference intense.

As the first generation Submariner, Ref. 6204 (1953-1956) was different from 6202, Ref. 6204 is water resistant to 100m. In appearance, the hand has been changed, simple right hand down replaced the "Mercedes-Benz" by hand. To be practical to identify the header of the second hand was round light spot, no bite .

During the same period, Rolex Ref. 6205 (1954-1956), compared with 6204, 6205, not only had the "Submariner" words, but it also marked 100M = 330ft depth waterproof on the dial, 6205 still used A260 movement. Ref. 6200 (1954-1957) was a special edition Submariner. The difference between it and other common feature Submariner Roman hour markers amounts to 3, 6 and 9. In my opinion, I do not think that these figures had a greater recognition that the ordinary sticks at 3, 6 and 9, but increased scarcity value. 6200 was equipped with A296 movement, also between 0 and 10 minutes on the bezel, there were no minutes of scales that could be found on other submariners.

Ref. 6538 (1956-1964), Submariner came to the second generation. The same as the first 6202, this generation of submarine also had the iconic "Mercedes-Benz" by hand. 6538 Case diameter was increased to 38mm, the watch uses Cal. 1030 movment rotor butterfly, the best move at that time and had passed the test COSC. Below the "Crown" logo on the crown, "+" was changed to "patent" words. The most important thing was 6538 could be water resistant to 200m, he created a new record sealed. Ref. 6536 (1956-1964) was cheaper version is not COSC 6538, although he also used Cal. 1030 movement, 6536 did not have the COSC, featuring 37mm case diameter, water resistant to 100M and a lot cheaper than the 6538.

Opinion

In 1953, Auguste Piccard and Jean plunged to 3150 meters in the sea and created a record of diving news. At the same time, a super star was born in the watch: Rolex Submariner, because this watch diving in deep water that has been developed by Rolex this year was set on the outer surface of the submarine, and plunged 600 meters. This marked the success of the second experiment cruel after crossing the Channel in 1927.

October 21, 1954, CBS aired the film in black and white - Casino Royale (Barry Nelson, acting), it was the first time 007 appeared on the screen, was exactly what he was wearing the Rolex Submariner, which has out in the previous year. Next, Dr. No, in the film, Sean Connery always wore a Submariner watch. ROLEX but does not sponsor a Submariner with Sean Connery, so the director had to pay his own belt Submariner NATO Sean Connery. Because of this history, today, some fans also watch Oyster bracelet SUBMARINER change their own origin in a cloth strap to NATO.

Submariner: The third and fourth generation

The third generation was Submariner ref. 5508 (1958-1965), he used the Cal. 1530, 37mm case diameter, water resistant to 100M. To see all of its functions, 5508 was already mature. Attention, "Submariner" words on the dial to the red version and the price was also higher. In addition, the "SWISS" logo was changed to 6 "T" 25. "Beca.