History of the Rolex Submariner: A Watch That Turned Into a Legend

It is 1953, and the world is on the cusp of several things at once. Hillary and Tenzing are preparing to summit Everest. Ian Fleming is writing his second James Bond novel. Jacques Cousteau is in the Mediterranean, teaching a generation that the ocean floor is not alien territory but explorable wilderness. And in Geneva, Rolex is about to make a watch that will somehow outlast all of them as a cultural artifact.

The first Submariner was presented at the Basel Fair in 1954 — though internal Rolex documents suggest prototypes existed as early as 1953. The reference 6204 was water- resistant to 100 meters, which seems modest by modern standards. It was, at the time, a technological revolution. Virtually no wristwatch of that era was meaningfully waterproof, and the few that claimed water resistance were typically sealed against splashes, not rated for actual submersion.

What happened next is one of the most extraordinary stories in industrial design history.

The First Submariners: 6204, 6205, and the Mysterious 6200

The earliest Submariners are a collector's puzzle. The references 6204 and 6205 appeared simultaneously — no one at Rolex has ever definitively confirmed which came first. They are almost identical: gilt lacquered dials, gold-painted hands, the word "SUBMARINER" printed at 6 o'clock on some examples and absent on others (the prevailing theory being that the text was too wide to fit on early cases).

Both references are confirmed as the first production Submariners by Rolex themselves and by the community of serious collectors. And in the same year, a third reference appeared that is now among the most coveted watches in the world: the reference 6200.

The 6200 is special because of its "Big Crown" — a winding crown significantly larger than standard, designed for operation with gloved hands. It also has the Mercedes hand, a 3-6-9 Arabic dial variant, and an instantly recognizable presence that marks it as a collector's grail. Original 6200 examples now change hands for $200,000 or more at auction.

The 6536 and 6538: Bond's Watches

In 1953, Ian Fleming published Casino Royale, introducing the world to a British secret agent named James Bond. In the second Bond film, Dr. No (1962), Sean Connery wore a Rolex Submariner reference 6538 — the Big Crown that had been introduced in 1954. It is one of the most consequential product placements in commercial history, though at the time it was entirely accidental: the production team simply gave Connery the watch he wore in his personal life.

The 6538 was followed by the reference 5508 (Small Crown) and the 5510 (Big Crown) in the late 1950s. These models saw significant dial evolution: Rolex was experimenting with different printing techniques, different luminescent compounds, and different finishing approaches. The dial classification system for these references — compiled by dedicated collectors — runs to hundreds of variants and sub-variants, each identified by print colors, serif styles, and spacing measurements visible only under magnification.

The Gilt Era: 5512 and 5513

The references 5512 and 5513 represent what collectors call the Gilt era — a period roughly from 1959 to the late 1960s when Submariner dials featured gold-on-black printing that gives them a distinctive warm, almost Art Deco quality. The 5512 was COSC-certified (the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres), while the 5513 was not — a production choice that gave Rolex flexibility in movement supply.

The most famous 5513 variant is the "Bart Simpson" — named by collectors for the distinctive shape of the crown guard, which resembles the cartoon character's profile. This variant, from approximately 1966, was the last gilt dial Submariner produced. It represents the end of an era: Rolex was transitioning away from radium-based luminescent compounds (used on the earliest dials, and now known to be hazardous) toward zinc sulfide-based materials infused with tritium, which are far less radioactive.

The transition from gilt to matte dials is one of the most significant aesthetic shifts in the Submariner's history. Matte dials have a different quality of light absorption — they read as deeper, more monolithic. Gilt dials have warmth and dimensionality. Both are beautiful; which you prefer is a matter of taste that reveals something about your relationship to time.

The Transitional Era: Red Dials and Tropical Variants

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a brief but intensely collectible production run appeared: Submariners with "SUBMARINER" printed in red rather than white. These red-text models — on references 1680 and variants of the 5513 — are among the most sought-after Rolex references ever made. A genuine red-text 5513 in excellent condition can fetch $50,000 or more.

Also from this era: the "tropical dial," which isn't a production variation but rather a natural aging phenomenon. Certain Submariner dials from the 1950s through 1970s were printed with compounds that, when exposed to UV light and temperature fluctuations over decades, oxidized from black to a rich brown. This unintended patina is now one of the most valuable features a vintage Rolex can have — a "tropical" reference 5512 might sell for double the price of an identical black-dial example.

The Modern Era: Ceramic Bezels and the Kermit

In 2005, Rolex introduced the reference 16610LV — immediately nicknamed the "Kermit" for its green aluminium bezel — to mark the Submariner's 50th anniversary. It was the first time Rolex had offered a green Submariner bezel, and the market response was enthusiastic. The Kermit sold out immediately and has remained perpetually unavailable at retail ever since.

In 2008, Rolex moved the Submariner to a ceramic Cerachrom bezel — a change that marked a fundamental shift in the watch's construction. Ceramic is harder than steel, resistant to UV degradation, and virtually immune to the fading that had made vintage aluminium bezels so variable in color. The 2008 reference 116610LN, with its matte black ceramic bezel, is the version most people think of today when they picture a Submariner.

In 2020, the Submariner grew to 41mm across, gained the calibre 3235 movement, and the entire lineup — date and no-date versions, black and green bezels — was comprehensively updated. The current references are the 126610LN (black) and 126610LV (Starbucks, with black dial and green bezel — so named because it resembles the coffee chain's logo).

Seventy Years of Evolution, One Design Language

The Submariner is 72 years old in 2026. It has been through at least fifteen distinct references, hundreds of dial and bracelet variations, and multiple sea changes in movement technology. And yet if you show someone a reference 6204 from 1954 and a reference 126610LN from 2026, they will immediately recognize them as the same watch.

That is the deepest magic of Rolex's design philosophy: evolution so careful, so incremental, so respectful of what came before that the watch never becomes unfamiliar. Each generation is better than the last in every measurable way — more accurate, more robust, more water-resistant, more legible. And each generation is unmistakably a Submariner.

If this history has given you a new appreciation for the watch, explore our collection of superclone Rolex Submariners — each one a tribute to this extraordinary lineage. Or read about the 116613LB Bluesy, one of the most beautiful Submariner variants ever produced, now available as a premium superclone.