Rolex Sea-Dweller 16600

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Rolex is well-known for its watches that were made for specific target audiences, like the Submariner which was made for divers and the GMT-Master made for pilots. Nowadays, these iconic watches still are very popular and desired among many people worldwide. However, Rolex also produced some watches for very specific markets, like the Milgauss which was made for scientists and the Tru-Beat that was made for doctors. Due to the small sizes of their markets, these models were discontinued quickly. Yet, the Sea-Dweller that actually was a modified Submariner and was targeted to a specific group of people who wanted to dive deeper than a Submariner could, has been around since 1969 and is still in production. The reference 16600 was introduced in 1989 as the successor and more-developed version of the 'Triple Six' Sea-Dweller (reference 16660). It has sapphire crystal, a glossy black dial with white-gold applied hour markers and luminescent insert. The example we have on offer dates back to 2003 and therefore already has a superluminova index. It is powered by the calibre 3135.

Introduction

Rolex Submariner Sea-DwellerVisionary Hans Wildorf set out to make the world’s first waterproof and dust proof wristwatch and so in 1926 the ‘Oyster case’ was created. Then later on in 1953, the Rolex Submariner was born, with a water depth rating of 330ft/100M making it one of the world’s first wristwatches designed for the upcoming sport of scuba diving. The wristwatch was created for divers who needed a precise watch which could scale to such depths and be a reliable and accurate way of measuring (with the turning bezel) the time spent underwater. A major aspect of creating such a time piece was to make it easily legible yet aesthetically pleasing, hence the large contrasting white tritium hour markers and Mercedes hand on the black dial. During the 1960s, the needs of professional divers working at great depths led to the development of the first ‘ultra water resistant’ tool watches designed for conducting safe diving operations at 300 meter (1000 feet) depths. The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller Submariner 2000 that became available in 1967 was developed from the Submariner for the Comex S.A., which is an industrial deep-sea diving company. It had a depth rating of '2000 ft = 610 m' and its Rolex reference number was 1665, powered by calibre 1575. Most Sea-Dweller watches incorporate a helium escape valve for saturation diving but very early Sea-Dwellers did not have the helium escape valve yet. The model is also distinguished by the absence of the date magnifier present on most other Rolex models. The Sea-Dweller diving watch range has been standard issue for Comex divers since 1977 and although Rolex designed the Sea-Dweller purely as a dive tool, not a fashion accessory, it got picked up by the general public and became a great daily watch for many.

Shipping

Packages are generally dispatched within 2 days after receipt of payment and are shipped within the Netherlands by Registered Mail through the Dutch carrier PostNL and for other countries by Fedex. Consult us if you prefer another method of shipping. For most destinations tracking is available.