ROLEX SUBMARINER .THE ORIGIN OF MAN’S WATCH' LUEL MEGAZINE JAN. 2014
Everything has a start. Even when too much time has passed to remember anything about the start, nothing comes to exist without a start. The very first step of my watch-ridden life started with a Japan made electronic watch I received as a gift for my entrance to school.
I didn't realize at that time that my life was slowly turning toward a certain direction as the numbers on the liquid crystal screen kept changing - eventually to own a vintage watch shop. It was the time when the world I knew was full of handsome watches, like the used antique watches street vendors sold and military watches smuggled out from the US bases to the black markets. Moreover, no one ripped you off taking advantage of the 'vintage' trend.
I found out that the world of man's watch was very much different from the kid's world, thanks to the first James Bond movie I watched on TV.
Poster Dr.NO 1963
To be more specific, the wrist watch Jame Bond wore in 'Dr. No' under his tuxedo and used to check the countdown of a time bomb instantly caught my eyes.
It was a totally different watch from what I knew. It looked simple, solid and yet mature and manly. A little while later I found out that Rolex was once an official supplier of diver watches to the British Royal Navy, which ultimately led to my possession of the 'Bond's watch.' As many of you already noticed in the photos above, the James Bond's watch was Rolex's all-time classic Submariner Ref. 6536-1.
Photo Credit- HQ Milton
Exactly speaking the very first Rolex Submariner was Ref. 6200 launched in 1953, and the first Submariner available to customers was Ref. 6204 disclosed at the 1954's Basel Fair. But 6204 used the same case as that of a gentleman's watch 'Turn-o-graph' (Ref. 6202), which didn't have the waterproof function enough for a diver's watch. For that reason, Ref. 6536 is regarded as the origin of Submariner as we know it.
36mm steel case of the 6536 model carried COSC(Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres)-certified automatic caliber 1030. As proudly marked on the dial, waterproofness up to 100m deep was a pure revolution of technology back then, making the watch a life-saving equipment for divers rather than a simple time keeping device. Before long, Submariner further improved waterproofness to 200m, and became similar to the current model by adding crown guard to the case.
NOSTIME VINTAGE WATCHES