Rolex is a true pioneer in watchmaking technology. Among their most significant inventions is the Submariner, which was the first watch ever to offer water-resistance of up to 100 meters. The now-iconic Rolex Two-Tone Submariner was the inspiration behind the flourishing dive watch market as we know it, and almost every dive watch in existence today was in some way influenced by the Rolex Submariner. While it was developed for use while underwater, the Submariner has since become a coveted timepiece among collectors of all professions. The line is varied and offers a feature set to suit almost any wrist. However, today we will take a closer look at an earlier model of their Rolesor two-tone steel and gold Submariner ( Rolex Submariner two-tone ). The Rolex 16613 Two-Tone Submariner.The Rolex Submariner was developed in 1953 and made its official debut a year later at Basel Watch Fair 1954. As previously mentioned, the collection was the first to offer resistance to depths of up to 100 meters, which would then evolve into 200 meters, before increasing once again to its current and impressive 300-meter depth rating. In true Rolex fashion, the Submariner was carefully refined over the years to include a safer unidirectional bezel, improved materials, and a higher-beat movement.The original model was presented in stainless steel with an all-gold variation following in the late 1960s and a two-tone option coming to market in 1984 via the ref. 16803. The ref. 16613 was released a few years later in 1988 and enjoyed a long production run before being discontinued and replaced in 2009 with the current Cerachrom ceramic bezel 6-digit ref. 116613, marking the end of the aluminum bezel Rolex Submariner two-tone watches.
The ref. 16710 is outfitted with a standard 40mm Oyster case with water-resistance up to 100 meters and a protective sapphire crystal over the dial. The bezel is equipped with an aluminum insert in either all-black, red and blue, or red and black. Depending on the year of production, the watch is also available on the secondary market with cases that have either lug holes or no lug holes, and the luminous material on the dial will vary, as Rolex made the switch from Tritium to LumiNova during the production of the reference 16710 GMT-Master II.With the release of the ref. 116710 came a brand new case design that includes the upgrade to a triple-sealed Triplock screw-down crown, a new bezel mounting system that operates on 24 clicks instead of 120, a tougher “Cerachrom” bezel insert crafted from a scratchproof ceramic material, and a “Maxi” dial topped with larger hour markers and wider hands. The 40mm case also received a larger crown guard and wider lugs, earning it the nickname the “Super Case” among collections due to its thicker and more aggressive overall appearance.The ref. 16710 is equipped with the self-winding Rolex Caliber 3185 perpetual movement, which includes a Quickset function for easy adjustment of the date mechanism, hacking, an independent 24-hour hand, and a 48-hour power reserve. However, near the very end of production of the ref. 16710, Rolex switched movements, and later-era examples of the reference 16710 were equipped with the Caliber 3186 movement. The Caliber 3186 has the same specifications as the Caliber 3185 but is now equipped with Rolex’s newer paramagnetic blue Parachrom hairspring and a smoother operating jump-hour hand. With that in mind, all reference 116710 GMT-Master II watches run solely on the Caliber 3186.
