To corroborate the thesis of theRolex brand to be understood yes as a first-rate watchmaking company but one that has always given its utmost attention to the resolution of concrete needs, combining in its artifacts at the same time efficiency, solidity but also glamour, today Bonanno Jewelers presents another jewel, another epoch-making watch that confirms theRolex mission : the Rolex Sea-Dweller Reference 1665.
Indeed, the watch we are presenting today confirms the tradition of a fusion of functionality and practicality that the Swiss maison has built up over the decades of its history.
We will tell you about a timepiece that comes from afar through a slow and gradual path, a slightly unusual path if you will also because of how the watch will later land on retailers' shelves compared to previous Rolex families.
Moreover, beyond all that, never before can we say that the Rolex Sea-Dweller Reference 1665, or if you prefer the single family of Rolex Sea-Dwellers, is undoubtedly a case history of how Rolex has produced a watch in tune, if not in synergy, with the company that commissioned it, even though it was a real niche market!
But also how, alongside the story of the watch's birth, a parallel mythology has slowly developed almost linked always to the world of vintage, which has made the Rolex Sea-Dweller Reference 1665almosta collector's icon, with the designation Mark added later by collectors precisely to differentiate, by classifying them, the different dials that the Swiss watchmaker's suppliers have provided over the years.
It all came about on the day when the Marseille-based French company COMEX (an acronym for COmpagnie Maritime d'EXpertise), world-famous for its undoubted quality and expertise in submarine operations, submitted to Rolex a basic requirement to better act within a segment of its business.
In fact, COMEX at that time has very important contracts with companies that extract oil or anything else from the seabed, companies that contract the French to maintain subsea drilling rigs.
Easy, therefore, to associate these interventions, ordinary and extraordinary, with a primary role in determining the quality of the work done by COMEX.
At this point it doesn't take much to realize that if the quality and execution of the work is crucial to the fate of any operation, divers or divers who have to operate underwater for long periods at considerable sea depths must be provided with more than adequate equipment!
And the acronym DRSD also pops up: Double Red SeaDweller Dials, literally double red lettering, which will in fact be the norm for the product when it comes to market.
Shifting the focus further, there are then the inscriptions on theRolex Oyster Gas Escape Valve (Patent Pending) caseback , now moved to the central part, arranged in a circle except for the word Rolex , which is instead across.
There is, however, an additional distinguishing feature and it is the glass used, the prerogative only of this model, the now famous Tropic 39. It is characterized by the typical domed profile, later called super domed or even domed by collectors, but which draws its shape precisely to increase resistance to water pressure-a flat glass would offer less resistance!
In contrast, the presence of the date window at 3 o'clock does not include the magnifying lens. According to many, this choice could be because a glass, with such a height development, would not have allowed the correct focus of the date window through the cyclope.
Then there is the bracelet adopted, which is the Reference 9315 with 385 finials and Flip-Locksafety claspdottedwith Diver's Extension, however the very first examples of this second version may have mounted the Reference 6636 extensible riveted bracelet with 80 finials.
Finally, the maximum attainable depth stated on the dials of the new Rolex Sea-Dweller Submariner 2000 immediately places the watch at the top of professional dive watches worldwide-an all-time high!
So these Patent P ending versions are indeed produced but in small quantities and only in part, but this will be found out later, some of them reach the market probably after the use of those who had tested them, unlike the predecessors 5513/14 equipped with a valve and never marketed because they were destined for COMEX.
However, they remain to be considered for all intents and purposes as a kind of pre-series, partly because of the patent related to the valve that has not yet been registered and will happen later.
We then come to the early 1970s when the final version of the Rolex Sea-Dweller 1665 makes its appearance (finally), intended for regular market release.
The Reference remains unchanged, thus 1665, but the watch, however, has two important structural changes, one tangible and the other less tangible.
The most notable factor visible to the naked eye is the introduction of a new, thicker case, accompanied by the new case back bearing the long-awaited inscription Rolex Patent replacing the previous Patent Pending.
The dial retains the features previously listed, undergoing only a few slight graphic changes: all Rolex Sea-Dweller Submariner 1665s equipped with Double Red SeaDweller Dials or "double red lettering" display the serial number , or part of it, inside the case back.
