When you talk to vintage Rolex enthusiasts you hear certain models referred to again and again as being amongst their favorites. Watches like the old orange hand Explorer II?the so-called Steve McQueen?or the ?Paul Newman? Daytona come to mind. One model that holds its own in any discussion of vintage favorites amongst the cognoscenti would have to be the early Submariner Date reference 1680, or the Red Sub as collectors affectionately refer to it. What is a Red Sub and what is so special about it? The story behind its genesis and the attraction it holds to modern collectors is a fascinating one. In the late sixties the Rolex Submariner had conquered the sports watch world as surely as Alexander the Great had the ancient one. It was the first successful purpose-designed diver?s watch and since being so famously used by a certain celluloid super spy played by the super cool Sean Connery, the Sub had become a very desirable watch amongst the hipsters and wannabe hipsters of the era. (Steve McQueen actually wore one in his private life.)
The only thing missing from the otherwise perfect watch was in fact a date feature. After all, the most successful Rolex of all time, the Datejust, had made the date and later cyclops magnifier a signature feature of the Rolex watch. The flagship Day-Date model displayed the date of course as well, as did the sturdy pilot/travel watch, the GMT-Master. Somebody in the head shed at Rolex decided the popular Submariner could benefit from the addition of a date wheel, too. Thus was the 1680 Submariner Date reference 1680 born.
One thing immediately noticeable when first viewing the early 1680s upon their introduction circa 1969 was that in addition to sporting the date with the signature Rolex cyclops magnifier, the word Submariner was painted red. This was a nifty way of adding a bit of distinction to this new top of the line Submariner. The regular Non-Date Subs, the 5512 and 5513 models, continued with the original white-colored Submariner on their black dials.
This distinctive paint scheme was also applied to the early Sea-Dwellers, which are often called Double Reds since they had two lines of red-painted magnificence rendered thusly:
Sea-Dweller
Submariner 2000
But that is another story?
So why is the Red Sub still so popular today? In simple terms, the watches are fairly rare.
The practice of painting the dials with red paint disappeared in the mid-seventies and in the intervening years many, many Red Subs had their cool red-painted dials replaced during service with the more common white versions. Because of their cool look and relative rarity, the prices on the Red Subs had climbed into fairly lofty territory as recently as a few years back. When the vintage market hit its modern apogee about two or three years ago, it wasn?t uncommon to see Red Subs sell for two or three times the price of a more common white 1680. In the past two years with the economy in a recession the prices have come back down to earth a bit. Be prepared to pay a substantial premium over a standard white Sub to get one of the coveted reds, but you won?t get gouged as badly today as in the past.
I think one of the reasons the Red Sub is so popular is that it is a realistic, attainable ?wearer? watch for many vintage aficionados. They?re not cheap, but they?re not so crazy expensive you?d be afraid to breathe on one or wear it, either. The 1680, with its unique ?top hat crystal? that is thicker than any other vintage Rolex (required to make the cyclops magnifier work with the date wheel and the dive-worthy water resistance of the watch) is already a special watch. The red paint on the Red Sub variant is just a nice cherry on top for the vintage-loving collector.
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