Over the last 70 years, Rolex’s divers: the Submariner, Sea-Dweller, and Deep-Sea, have embraced their undying spirit of exploration, setting industry benchmarks as reliable companions through oceanic extremities. Materialising a trifecta of robustness, diver design sensibilities, and pioneering in-house movements, here’s a deep dive into Rolex’s trilogy of dive watches.
Rolex took its first dip in the water back in 1926, when Rolex’s founder, Hans Wilsdorf patented its legendary Oyster case – insusceptible to dust, moisture, and pressure. This airtight horological fortress was worn by British swimmer, Mercedes Gleitze for over 15 hours and 21 miles, as she daringly swam across the English Channel. Unscathed and resilient, her water-resistant Rolex won great acclaim after being featured on the London Daily Mail’s front page.
In 1953, Rolex’s Submariner boldly dove into the abyss and an already cluttered dive watch market. While they weren’t the first to approach deep-sea exploration, their Oyster case and newly patented twin-lock crown allowed the Submariner to make quite a splash in the market, eventually becoming the quintessential diver. But while the Submariner could dive to a modest depth of 100 metres, Rolex needed a diver capable of swimming in deeper waters with the professionals. In the 1960s, the Sea-Dweller appeared – not as a correction of the Submariner’s flaws but in a new-found spirit of oceanic exploration.
In the same decade, the US Navy’s bathyscaphe, ‘Trieste’ descended nearly 11 kilometres, to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the ocean. Attached to the outside of its body, was the Rolex Deep Sea Special prototype. Housing a bulgy bubble crystal, designated for a trip to Earth’s deepest ocean floor, it proved to be the only watch that could withstand the extremities. As an experimental Rolex, of course, it never reached annual catalogues or store shelves. However, in 2008, Rolex decided to challenge its maximum dive depth once again, pushing it to a mind-boggling 3,900 metres with the Deepsea – performing where no other timepiece dared to.
Rolex Submariner – Mastery Beneath the Surface

The Rolex Submariner is the divers’ watch. Though crafter for the gentle seas, it found its home out of water and as an all-round timepiece.
Being Rolex’s first-ever diver from 1953, it’s been a subject of consistent evolution ever since. At launch, it was capable of diving to 100 metres (330 feet) which later graduated to 300 metres (1,000 feet). In form, it featured a graduated rotatable bezel, a strikingly luminescent display, and bold hands and indexes – laying an eternal blueprint for the industry to follow.
One of its most recognized feats is its unidirectional Cerachrom bezel with knurled edges – its 60-minute graduation allows divers to monitor their oxygen and breath underwater. Its Oyster case employs a Triplock winding crown – fitted with a triple waterproof system. For darker undersea adventures, the Chromalight display ensures visibility with its hands and hours dipped in a luminescent material. Hour markers are in simple shapes: triangle, circle and rectangle. The Submariner also boasts a ‘Date’ variant, which also features a self-winding movement.
Rolex Sea-Dweller – New Depths, Same Mission

Designed in 1967, nearly 15 years after the Submariner, the Sea-Dweller was built to extend Rolex’s undersea utility and to meet the challenge of ‘saturation’ diving. Thanks to its helium escape valve, it mastered decompression on the ascent – the most critical phase of deep-sea exploration which could critically damage the watch. At launch, the Sea-Dweller was capable of diving to depths of 610 metres (2,000 metres), which, in 1978 increased to 1,220 metres (4,000 feet) – to better suit the requirements of professional divers.
As Rolex formalized its partnership with Comex in 1971, the Sea-Dweller became their staple-use diver. This partnership also enabled Rolex to co-design and develop hyperbaric tanks alongside Comex, these tanks are used to test the watches’ resistance to depths of up to 13,750 metres (45,112 feet).
The contemporary Sea-Dweller arrives in a 43-millimetre Oyster or Yellow Rolesor (Oystersteel and yellow gold) with a Cerachrom bezel insert in black ceramic. Inside, the Calibre 3235 is self-wound, delivering a 70-hour power reserve. This is strapped on by a three-piece solid-link bracelet which features a folding Oysterlock safety clasp with a Rolex Glidelock extension system.
Rolex Deepsea – Conquering the Abyss

Half a century following the Trieste’s record-setting voyage, filmmaker James Cameron dared to revisit its trajectory in 2012. Descending to the ocean floor of the Mariana Trench, Cameron was equipped with Rolex’s specially designed experimental watch: the Deepsea Challenge. Just like it did in 1960, the timepiece withstood a theoretical pressure of 15,000 metres and 17 tonnes on its crystal.
The Deepsea was designed for daring waters where even sunlight cannot reach. Waterproof to an abysmal 3,900 metres (12,800 feet) and successfully tested at 4,875 metres (16,000 feet), Rolex developed a completely new case that wasn’t overly buffy even though it could withstand pressures at depth. With a patented ‘Ringlock’ system, its compression ring is crafted out of nitrogen-alloyed steel or blue high-technology ceramic. Patented by Rolex in 1967, its helium escape value incorporates a cylinder, piston, gasket, and spring. Measuring 44 millimetres and crafted in Oystersteel or 18-carat yellow gold, the caseback was cast in RLX titanium.
To counter the darkness below, the Deepsea also featured a Chromalight display dial. This special substance developed by Rolex, was luminescent and easy to read even in the deepest darkness. On the inside, the Deepsea is Superlative Chronometer certified after being subjected to an exclusive hyperbaric tank developed by Rolex in conjunction with Comex (Compagnie Maritime d’Expertises).
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