Welcome back to SwissWatchExpo. This is Richard, I'm Jonathan, and we're coming
to you today with a brand new series. Stick around. We're going to tell you all about it.
Back again again, my name's Richard, this is Jonathan. We're coming to you today with a brand
new series called Taking Time. Jonathan, what is this series about, man? It's really just something
new that SwissWatchExpo is going to be doing. It's kind of a discussion or instead of, you know, just
showing you one watch, we're going to be doing a variety of different topics today. We're starting
out with the Rolex Submariner, specifically, starting out with the Kermit 16610LV.
You know, we're catering to the, our humanitarian side. We're going green. We're going green.
Definitely. So to give you a little rundown of the Rolex submariner started out with the
production being released to the public in 1953. The public wasn't allowed to buy it
until 1954. Right. So that's why we have the anniversary model.
And then that's the 2003 model, correct? That's when it came out. Yeah. Yeah.
Really cool. Very popular watch. This one I have here is called the Flat 4
because this was produced in 2003, with the four at the 40 actually being a little fatter than the
other one that we have here right now that our little interesting tidbit is that this is what's
called a serif bezel. So serif is little accents added onto fonts that in essence,
make this a lot more rare. It's pretty cool. And then after 2004 Rolex switched over to the
model that went from 2005 to 2010, and there was actually a variety of different
variations in this watch. There's like seven in total. I personally don't
know them all. Right! It's really hard to find the nuances, by the
Way, if you guys do this is a very interactive series. What we want to do is we want to be
very engaging. If you guys know something, we don't know, feel free to put them down in the
comments we want to interact with you guys. Do you guys know something we don't by no means
any information that you guys give us is going to be super beneficial. So this is going to help us
serve you better here at SwissWatchExpo. We'll go ahead and I'm sorry, John.
That's all right. So that's what we're doing The Rolex Submariner is a 40 millimeter watch.
It's their classic dive watch that essentially has the 3135 movement in it. Very classic. You know,
they ran through all the way until I think the recent 2020 models that were released. That's
whenever they actually changed it. The whole revamping. Yeah. Yeah. So this will have the
Oyster case that's water resistant to a 300 meters has a stainless steel bracelet and the clasp
and all of these models that differentiate them besides the green bezel is all these models
were made with a date. So, that being said, you want to move on to the 2010.
Let's go back just a little bit for, cause I want to do a brief summary of sort of the Submariner
history, if we can. Cause we talked a little bit about we, you know, so it started in 1953,
a lot of people because it was released to the public for purchase and it was in 1954,
but we know that because of the release was 1953 Rolex actually considered that to be the
anniversary. That's why it came out in 2003. One of the interesting things that we found out during
our research of all this, if you don't know about the Submariner, there was a man named Rene Paul
I'm going to mess this up. I'm not French. Jeanneret - close enough. Right? Very close
friends with the illustrious and famous sea diver, uh, John Jacques Cousteau who
both have yes, exactly. And so Rene Paul was actually on the board of directors for Rolex.
At that time, he reached out to Jacques Cousteau as a consultant
to help them design this piece. Okay. And again, this is based on a lot of this case
design is actually based on the Submariner that they used to take the deep sea diver
the very first Submariner, now I could get this wrong, but I think it's, I think this is about
right. The very first Submariner, right at a hundred meters actually made it down to
three hundred and thirty three hundred thirty meters and still kept good time. Oh wow. So
that's the crazy part, even though it was right at a hundred meters, it still made
it down further than that and kept perfect time when it came back up. So, is there, what about,
is there other history and it's some really neat tidbits about the history that you can think of?
I mean, other than, you know, what pertains to these models,
you know, another cool little aspect is that this is the first piece that they went to the Maxi
dial with the Maxi indices being maximized. So maximize legibility and the maxi hands.
Other than that, I mean, this watch was actually in production. Like not very popular.
Oh, really? Did not pick up
Until the likes of like Instagram and all that started actually making it very popular. Social
media. So you want to talk a little bit about the Rolex Hulk? Yeah, absolutely.
Let me see which one which one's here. So we got the Rolex Hulk. All right. So this is the Rolex
Hulk denoted by the model number 16610LV. And if you don't know what L V stands for,
that's French for another word that I'm going to screw up, that is Lunette Verte.
Cause I got this perfectly down here. So that's the notion for the green bezel.
Now all of these models are going to have that, that nomenclature attached
to the model number simply because of the Lunette Verte green style bezel that we have.
So very similar that they've actually stuck very close to heritage. The Submariner hasn't
changed a whole heck of a lot, but this case design. So this, this is the super case.
Unlike the oyster case, this is also an oyster case, but this is what they call a super case.
You'll know this because this is a 40 millimeter case, just like the previous
models, the only differences, well, not the only difference, many, many differences,
but the one that might notice you might notice the most is that the lug girth is just a little
bit fatter making it a bolder watch on the wrist a little bit heavier as well. But this, this became,
this one was really, really super popular. Now, when it first came out in 2010, this case was
released with the GMT's in 2008. But for us, for our purposes, with this particular model,
it came out in 2010 and debuted at Basel World, much like many of the other pieces that we have.
So it has all your standard Submariner, Sumbariner components. You like, it's got the oyster steel,
904L bracelet for those who don't do the military thing that were veterans, by the way.
So we got on the side of stuff. So it's got the Oyster steel, Oyster bracelet. It also has your
classic. And this is, this is one of their new and improved versions of their, their clasp design. It
has your tri, your locking glide glide slide on, on the clasp. So if you need to extend it
for diving purposes or just because just a little bit too hot today, you can actually pull that out
and lock it down to fit your comfort at that at the moment, all without a tool, right? Yeah. It's
pretty handy. You don't have to take it into a jeweler and watchmaker to have him have him fixed
that. Just like everything else has got the maxi bezel, like Jonathan was just talking about for
those that don't know the markers, the markers are actually what they call Chromalight luminescence.
That's a term Rolex likes to, they like to coin every one of their terms. So that's one of those,
that's one of those nuanced terms. They like those, this is the Chromalight luminescence on
the markers. And those are actually encased inside of an 18 karat marker. And the reason they do
that is so that they don't tarnish white gold. Exactly is 18 karat, white gold. So, you know,
one of the problems that they used to have with these, uh, these old bezels is they would fade
over time. Now they've got what they call a Cerachrom. So Jonathan's forgotten more about
watches than I'll ever know. So this is why I keep referring back to Jonathan here. So this is, this
is the Cerachrom bezel. Um, and so this is, this is not going to fade throughout the life of it.
So part of the reason they did that on the dial is to add that same longevity to the dial itself,
Even with the ceramic bezel, too. Yeah, exactly. So I think, um, yeah,
now this one got coined the Hulk and I'm not necessarily sure why they coined it,
the hockey into the theories on that. So one it's this mixture of the super case, you know,
being a lot more substantial on the wrist. So it's going to look thicker that makes,
and then also mixed with the green on green. Okay. Just kinda makes it a Hulking watch.
I always thought it was cause you wouldn't like it when it was angry or something. I don't, I don't
Really, you know, they could be too. That could be too. I don't know. We want to graduate from
this one because this one is actually, this was discontinued in 2020. So we think this
is the perfect segue to walk into is now known as the super Kermit, the Ceracrhom, the Kermit
that this is the black dial green bezel, and this is denoted as the 126610LV. So this is, this got
released with the submariners that they released in 2020, slightly different. As you'll notice,
they completely revamped this case from the Hawk. I'm kidding. They didn't, it's about the same
dang thing. It's very minute. So if you're not paying attention, you might not even notice it.
So the way they did this one is just like they did all the other Submariners,
but we liked this one. The most, this one is actually coined the Starbucks, the Starbucks.
So we think we have a theory as to why this was actually called the Starbucks. And
because this one actually has a 70 hour power reserve because of the 2225 upgraded movement. So
we, so we believe that this, and they called this one, the Starbucks one because of the green and
black motif on it. But also because they pumped this thing full of energy, just like Starbucks.
It's 72 hours of power reserve, it's like your, your classic pumpkin latte. This thing is a
beast. Yeah. Um, so again, when we go back to the case, we're talking about just slight variations
between the case design lugs being just slightly different and girth and weight. So not just, not,
not as substantial, but just as delicate and nice as the Submariner it actually gets it
a little bit closer to being closer to the ones from the, from the past versus this old
closer to those in terms of styling, it comes with your try, tri-locking crown, just like normal.
Um, and that's always denoted with your three, your three dots on the crown. So it's got your
monobloc case. And your tri locking crown. Now that crown was actually designed off the whole of
the submarine. Really? Yeah. So I found that out. That was kind of neat. Then when I, when I, when
I discovered that and you know, this, the, these are just gorgeous pieces, that the cool thing is
this is an iconic watch has been around for 50 years, but the market went absolutely mad
after, after the Hulk version came out 2010, the market went nuts. Um, and it's very difficult to
get these pieces now, especially with the Hulk being discontinued. We won't say that, you know,
honestly, if you wanted to go to an AD for some of these pieces, you wouldn't find it,
but you know, here's our shameless plug. We got it. So come in and see us, at SwissWatchExpo.com
Give us a call, too! One of the things I learned too during our research is if you're a Bond lover,
if you love the Omega 007 what I found out is actually the very first of Oega, excuse me,
the very first Bond watch held my Sean Connery in 1962 was actually a Rolex. It was a Rolex
Submariner. So that's true. That's a little bit of a fun fact. So let me ask you Jonathan,
out of all of these pieces, what's your favorite? Which one would you take home?
Well, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to be a purist. And I'm very, I go with the
originality and I'm going to have to go with the 16610LV, the original Flat 4, because it's just,
it's the starter, you know, started the whole trend. It's the original 50th anniversary.
And you know, it started with the maxi dial, the maxi hands and it's got the pre super case.
So it's a lot slimmer on the wrist and it's got, I really liked the, uh, aluminum bezel insert
versus a ceramic, you know, ceramics not going to age, it's not going to scratch. This will
patina with you. I like the character that you get after wearing it over some period of time. Yeah.
So what about you, Richard? Uh, I think, uh, so, um, you know, you're, you're an old guy.
I'm a young
Guy. No, I'm kidding. I think we're about the same age here, but so I'm actually going to go with the
Starbucks and here's why I'm like an Energizer bunny. I need something that's going to stay with
me. I like caffeine, caffeine. I drink six cups of coffee a day, no less. So I'm, I'm all for the
70 hour power reserve. And you know, if you're an avid collector, chances are, oh, I got the hoax,
forgive me. I got the whole, let me get, let me pull up the right one here. So yeah, I'm going
To go with the Starbucks. And I do like the name. I think the market is still trying, you know, the,
the, the watch world is still trying to figure out whether or not this is the Cerachrom Kermit or the
Super Kermit or the Starbucks. I'm going to go. I'm going to go ahead and promote the Starbucks
because I think it does work for being the 70 hour power reserve. And I like it because, you know, if
you, if you, if you own this piece, you obviously have an appreciation for watches. You probably
have several of them. If you won this and wear it one day, you're going to be able to set this down
for almost three days without having to wind it again. And you put it on your wrist and go where,
you know, the other ones you might have to pick up after a day and a half, two days of winding. I
liked this one because of that reason. So yeah, those only have a 48 hour power reserve. So,
So this is my pick. This is Jonathan's pick. We want you to put down in the comments,
what would you choose and why. We want you to be really engaging. Talk to us,
tell us what you think, why you love it. And you know,
if, if there's something else you want to inform us about, please feel free to put
that in the comments too. SwissWatchExpo.com. We'll catch you next time on Taking Time!