Can you remember when Rolex last granted access to their archives? The Genevan watchmaker is probably The brand in watchmaking but also extremely secretive about their inner workings... Little do we know how many watches Rolex actually ever produced and most of the insights we got over the last decades stems from collectors, dealers and enthusiasts rather than Rolex itself. This is about to change for at least one of their signature collections: The Rolex Submariner!
September 18, 2024
Rolex Finally Releases Insights - Quantifying the early Rolex Submariner
Marcus Siems @siemswatches
Collector, Author, Data Analyst
Rolex is probably The brand in watchmaking! But as renowned as the Genevan watchmaker has been on the outside as secretive they have always been about their inner workings... Little do we know how many watches Rolex actually ever produced and most of the insights we got over the last decades stems from collectors, dealers and enthusiasts rather than Rolex itself.
It thus comes as somewhat of a surprise that with the new book "Oyster Perpetual Submariner - The Watch that Unlocked the Deep" Rolex themselves give a behind-the-scenes on the Submariner all the way back to the very first executions! At the 70-ish anniversary Rolex opens their archives and finally speaks - through voice and pen of the experienced Nicholas Foulkes - about one of their most collectible collections: The Rolex Submariner.
Legendary "Submariner" print on the dial of one of the first Rolex Submariners ever - a ref. 6200. Photo Courtesy of Phillips.
The Submariner - or tool-watches in general - are not necessarily our forte and main interest. However, when it's this special time and you get direct information from the Rolex archives that's definitely newsworthy. And what I find most fascinating about the book* is that we do now know exactly about the early production of these pieces - in particular the no-crown-guard references 6200, 6204, 6205, 6536, & 6538 produced between 1953 and 1959. In other words, information I can't pass on!
1) A brief history
During the first years of production we're speaking of five Submariner references (leaving out the ref. 6202 Turn-O-Graph) in numerous variations. An enormous variety before the ref. 5512/13 introduced a relatively stringent line for over 20 years to come (1959-80). And I don't want to go into too many details about the different versions and details here - this has been done before for example by Paul Altieri at Bob's Watches - but rather introduce the models with their distinctive features.
"The Rolex Company produced a special "Oyster" model watch which, affixed outside[!] the Bathyscaphe "Trieste", submerged to 10,350 feet". 1954 Rolex advertorial Courtesy of HIFI Archiv.
The story of the Submariner begins in the early 1950s - a time of adventures, an era of man defying the elements. We saw a British expedition peaking the 8,848m of Mt. Everest for the first time in 1953. The 'Trieste' submerged to a new world record of 10,350 feet below the sea within the same year. And in both cases Rolex got their watches involved in these operations (see above) and their eyes on the future of watchmaking.
The marketing machine was oiled and running on all cylinders as Rolex was prepared to enter the age of the tool-watch: In 1953/54 they introduced their professional lines of sturdy and functional watches - the Explorer, GMT Master and the Submariner. All, flagships of an era that would (in retrospect) be dominated and pioneered by Rolex.
The so-called Rolex "King-Sub" ref. 6200 with Explorer dial. The "lowest" reference number wasn't the first to be launched. Photo Courtesy of Amsterdam Vintage Watches.
Three references were introduced over a very short period in 1953/54 - the 6200, 6204, & 6205. From the serial number ranges it is by now established that the ref. 6204 most likely was the first to hit the market (900,xxx serials) before the refs. 6200 and 6205 were launched at the 1954 Basel Fair. These initial references set the tone for all that was to come but ran only for a very short period - well just about one year to be precise.
After the first generation Rolex launched the second in 1955 with the refs. 6536 and 6538. These two Submariner lines ran for 4 years and ultimately end the no-crown-guard era in 1959 with the introduction of the ref. 5512.
Casting its shadow on what's this collection is yet to become... A tropical 1959 Rolex Submariner ref. 6538 "Big Crown". Photo Courtesy of Amsterdam Vintage Watches.
2) References & Differences
Generally, these earliest Submariner models can be subdivided into two categories: "Big-Crown" (6200 & 6538) and "Small-Crown" (6204, 6205 & 6536). Quite literally this indicates the size of the crown but also the internally tested/proposed depth-rating, 200m (660ft) vs. 100m (330ft.), respectively.
| Reference | Crown | Year | Production |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6200 | Big | 1954 |
303 |
| 6204 | Small | 1953/54 |
2,881 |
| 6205 | Small | 1954 |
810 |
| 6536 | Small | 1955-59 |
5,350 |
| 6538 | Big | 1955-59 |
2,800 |
Table 1. Overview of early Rolex Submariner
There are a few things that become immediately evident. First, "Big-Crown" examples are quite a bit scarcer than "Small-Crown" models (by a factor of 2x to 3x)**. Second, the actual production varies from previous estimations (mainly higher than originally thought). It thus offers new insights into the collectibility of these pieces. Third, the overall 12,144 no-crown-guard Submariners of the 1950s makes up about 2.5% of the estimated overall production volume from Rolex at the time.
Overview over all five early Rolex Submariner references of the 1950s. Caveat, as time wasn't easy on these pieces many can come with replaced/service parts like the dial, bezel, hands, crown. etc. and so beware to take any aspect beside the general design with caution. Photos Courtesy of Antiquorum.
The refs. 6204 & 6205 make a great case of Rolex's experimentation at the time and the development of newly introduced models. As you can see, both feature a "Small-Crown" and very close proximity in their production period. What sets them apart however is the nature of the crown itself. While the initial 6204 came with a "standard" 5.3mm crown the 6205 was equipped with the upgraded 6mm "Twinlock" crown. By the way, you can also dissociate between the refs. 6204 and 6205 by the hand-set: The ref. 6204 will always come with the pencil hands while the 6205 (with the 6200) can as well be found with and introduced the famous "Mercedes" hands***.
(Without being too suggestive due to the angle of photography) The left picture displays the 5.3mm "standard" crown on the ref. 6204 and the right shows the newer "Twinlock" crown on the ref. 6205. Photos Courtesy of Phillips.
If you're thinking why did Rolex introduce the second generation of Submariners already on the heels of launching their first it is due to movement evolution. Rolex moved in-house with their Automatic movement production and equipped the refs. 6536/6538 with their new cal. 1030 with bidirectional rotor. The earlier 62XX references on the other hand were still equipped with the Aeger cal. A296 (ref. 6200) and cal. A260 (refs. 6204/05). Interestingly, The two Aeger calibers did differ in height as the "Small-Crown" references also featured a slimmer case. The use of the generally heftier Aeger movements further coins those references "Bubble Back Submariners".
Comparing the two different movement evolutions within the early Rolex Submariner references of the 1950s: Aeger cal. A260 (left, refs. 62XX), Rolex cal. 1030 (right, refs. 65XX). Photos Courtesy of Antiquorum.
3) Conclusion
I admire this move by Rolex finally putting out some hard facts about one of their most influential collections of all time. Rarely anyone ever got access to the Rolex archives before and everything related to Rolex collecting was ... well ... guessing work. Finding references and vintage advertorials, comparing features like dials, bezels, hands, fonts, etc. to come up with a database of serials is tough.... And for a company like Rolex that swaps parts faster than they produce new watches, few people really know what's been original and what is serviced... What appears hard to determine today might be almost impossible in 30 years when the Submariner turns 100(!).
Thus, kudos to Rolex and Nicholas Foulkes on this creation. I can so far only speak from anticipation but this will be a much needed anchor point in Rolex scholarship. I can't wait to add it to the Goldammer book shelf - and who knows, maybe there'll be a Submariner added to the shop at some point as well...
* Upon publication (2024 Sept. 18) the book is not yet available and all information are preliminary. We can't tell just yet how the context will exactly evolve. The information granted within this article stem from Instagram posts, interactions and forums.
** This makes a lot of sense as also depth-rating - aka technical prowess - is better for "Big-Crown" models.
*** However, not all ref. 6205 will come with Mercedes hands. Original pencil hands on ref. 6205 do exist as well.
References
[1] Oyster Perpetual Submariner - The Watch that Unlocked the Deep; Nicholas Foulkes, Wallpaper (2024)
[2] Rolex Watches Blog at Bob's Watches; Paul Altieri, Bob's Watches [Link]
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