The Rolex Submariner has been a part of the Rolex catalog for well over 60 years. As expected, the famed dive watch has undergone plenty of design and mechanical enhancements over the past six decades, including the all-important timing bezel. Read on to discover all the different types of bezels of the Rolex Submariner.When Rolex debuted the Submariner in 1953, the stainless steel dive watch included a rotating bezel marked to 60 minutes to allow divers to track immersion times. The steel bezel turned both ways for simple timing adjusting, the edge of the bezel was knurled for easy gripping underwater, and the insert was fashioned from black aluminum.The printed 60-minute scale on the earlier versions included markings for every 5 minutes, alternating between batons and numerals. By the late 1950s, Rolex started to include hash marks for the first 15 minutes on the bezel followed by 5-minute markings.Around 1969, Rolex introduced the first yellow gold Submariner, the Submariner Date ref. 1680/8. Accordingly, the knurled rotating bezel was fashioned from 18k yellow gold. What’s more, the Rolex Submariner ref. 1680/8 now offered the choice of either a black or blue aluminum bezel insert and matching dial.
The green-tinted sapphire crystal fitted to the reference 116400GV Milgauss has quickly become one of the defining characteristics of Rolex’s anti-magnetic line of watches. The Rolex Milgauss was first introduced in 1956; however, it was not until 2007 that it received its now-signature, green sapphire crystal – an exclusive feature that was originally introduced as a way for Rolex to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their Milgauss line.No other watch in Rolex’s current catalog is fitted with a green-tinted (or any other color) sapphire crystal. However, at the present time, all Milgauss watches that are currently in production leave the factory with green sapphire crystals. Rather than simply being a layer or coating, the light green tint is present throughout the entire material of the crystal, and will not fade or discolor after prolonged wear and use.Rolex claims that it took them many years of research and development to master and perfect the secret procedure of manufacturing their green-tinted sapphire crystals and that the actual process of producing the crystals takes multiple weeks. What is most interesting is that despite a usual eagerness to patent their various in-house technologies, Rolex claims that the green sapphire crystal in the Milgauss is “not patented, as it is so difficult to make that no one else would even venture to try.”Rolex will never reveal their exact formulas and secrets about how they manufacture the green-tinted sapphire crystals fitted to the Milgauss; however, we do know some general information about green-colored synthetic sapphire and the production of sapphire watch crystals as a whole.There are a number of different ways to produce synthetic sapphire, all of which fall into the following general methods of production: melt growth, solution growth, and high-temperature/high-pressure growth. It is hypothesized that Rolex uses a hydrothermal method of production for its synthetic sapphire crystals, which is slow, expensive, and uses heat and pressure to imitate the conditions present deep inside the earth that is responsible for the production of naturally-occurring crystalline gemstones.
Rolex has been manufacturing watches with 34mm case diameters for the majority of their long and distinguished history; however, these “mid-size” models such as the Date and Air-King often get overlooked due to the multitude of options that exist in the more standard, 36mm Rolex Oyster Perpetual case size. However, Rolex has manufactured a number of excellent watches – both vintage and contemporary – that have 34mm case diameters, and their highly versatile size allows them to look at-home on wrists of virtually any gender or measurement.Although the Datejust collection has historically had a case diameter of 36mm for the standard full-size model, Rolex also manufactures a line of watches called the Date that offers many of the same design traits and features of the Datejust – even the same movement too – only in a slightly smaller overall package.One of the most “quintessentially Rolex” watches currently in production with a 34mm case diameter is the reference 115234 Date. With a Cyclops magnification lens, stainless steel Oyster bracelet, and 18k white gold fluted bezel, the reference 115234 Date checks all the same design boxes as the Datejust, just with a slightly reduced size. Additionally, since the 34mm Date and the 36mm Datejust share the same movement, the reference 115234 is in no way a “lesser” watch compared to the Datejust, just one that is 2mm smaller.Since consumer trends favored smaller wristwatches in past decades, a number of great vintage Rolex references exist with 34mm case diameters. One of the longest-running Rolex models of all time is the reference 5500 Air-King, which boasts a super clean and minimal dial design that perfectly complements its slightly reduced case size.The reference 5500 remained in production for thirty-seven years, during which time it was fitted with both Rolex’s Caliber 1520 and Caliber 1530 movements – neither of which were chronometer-certified. Due to their long production run, reference 5500 Air-King watches were manufactured in relatively large numbers and can still be purchased for very reasonable prices. Fitted with one of the cleanest and least text-heavy dials found inside any Rolex watch, the Air-King 5500 pre-dates the widespread implementation of chronometer-certified movements and represents one of the best entry points into vintage Rolex collecting.Although the Day-Date President is the classic all-gold Rolex watch, it has never been manufactured in a size smaller than 36mm. However, throughout its history, Rolex has produced a number of all-gold watches within their Date collection that have 34mm case diameters, and lack the additional complication for displaying the day of the week that is found on the flagship Day-Date line of watches.One of the more modern incarnations of the all-gold 34mm Date is the reference 15238, which stands out due to a number of characteristics that help separate it from previous iterations of Rolex’s all-gold 34mm Date watch. While earlier examples were made from 14k gold, there reference 15238 is craft from 18k – the same as what Rolex uses to manufacture their flagship Day-Date President watch. Additionally, the Date 15238 is fitted with Rolex’s Caliber 3135 movement and a synthetic sapphire crystal, which give it all the ingredients necessary to be a fairly modern watch.
After in stock again, let’s check the most important place that has been improved on this replica watch. It is the 8500 movement. The replica uses a completely new movement, which took V6 factory one year to research and produce, it is not based on Miyota or Asia 2824, it is just a brand-new movement that was independent designed by V6 factory, according to genuine Omega 8500 Caliber. Now this re-made movement works completely same as genuine, such as real hack feature and independent adjustable hour hand to adjust hours and date. The movement not only looks the same as genuine in appearance, it also functions like real.About other details, they are as accurate as older edition. Dial is sandwiched and the bottom plate is applied genuine Swiss Superlumed material, top plate has skeletonized hour markers, and there are 3-6-9 Arabic numeral markers. Silver hour and minute hands are cut very well and full of angular sense. The Omega Logo and “OMEGA” word are not printed, they are stainless steel made in silver tone, raised from black dial, just like the 3-6-9 hour markers.
OM started to make their reputation when they published the first Speedmaster Chrono with full functional hour and minute counter. In recent years, OM expanded their business to other models like Omega Seamaster and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, now, I see the potential this factory has, it has the ability to become a big factory.Today, I want to introduce one Omega Seamaster Diver replica watch from OM factory, it is the latest model whose dial has wavy texture. Before, the dial only has black and blue options, now, OM also offers this white dial option. Compared with the black and blue dial version, this one with white dial is my favorite.First, I do not like this Seamaster watch just because it uses a wavy texture dial. Why did Omega abandon their smooth black dial and adopt this wavy dial? I do not think this wavy dial is more classic. However, on this model, its white dial just smoothens the wavy texture, I did not even notice it if I have not checked carefully. Like the black bezel, the white dial uses real ceramic material, the black bezel matches the white dial perfectly, it makes the watch look more classic than the one with black dial. On the dial, both hour markers and hands are filled with white luminous material, in dark condition, you will see two different lume light emitting from the dial, OM factory makes the dial lume correct. The only flaw which I can find from the dial is that the edge of hour markers is a bit thick. Check the date font shown in the window opened at 6 o’clock, although it is centered, but the date font is not made to be perfect.
Here I will give an introduction of the same watch, but there will be some strange things you can find on the watch, have you noticed? Yes, it is the dial and case back.The replica here is also manufactured by Noob factory, with every detail made to be perfect, black dial and black ceramic bezel are main features of Submariner 116610 LN, super clone bezel has correct markers engraved in suitable depth and thickness, bezel engravings seem to be thinner than that of other Submariner replicas published before, but you can not deny this one is the best and closest to genuine.The dial is black and has a little difference with the formal 116610 LN, you can see red words “FUCK EM” printed on, the dial lume is as strong as the previous Submariner. Do not be obsessed with the thickness of these dial fonts, many people can not find such flaws even some watch experts, if you are too concerned about these small details, I suggest you buy a genuine Rolex Submariner, because a replica will never be made 100% same as genuine, its dial is the biggest tale. About the red words “FUCK EM“, I do not know its meaning, you could google it and tell us by leaving a comment under this post, thank you.Case back is smoothly polished, it is screwed down, so there is no gap between the case back and the main case holder, this design gives the replica super water resistant performance. On the center of the case back, it is curved with word “Supreme”.
Black dial has a micro-sand finish, there are two small dials, like the two eyes of owl. Small second hand is running on the subdial at 9 o’clock. The subdial at 3 o’clock now works the same way as genuine watch, there are two hands on that subdial, the longer hand is displaying minutes chronograph, while the shorter hand is hour-chronograph pointer. The movement has been modified by OM factory, so the minute and hour chronograph could be completely achieved on this replica watch.Black nylon strap may be the best match for this watch. The texture of the black nylon band is exactly in line with the black matt finish of the watch. On the back side of the band, the side that touches your skin, is made of genuine leather. I tried this type of band on my hand, it maintains the soft wearing comfort of full genuine leather band, but also looks very cool due to its black nylon material on outside.
