Page 115 - Sharp Winter 2025

doubtedly the exploration of the world’s seas and oceans, an undertaking made possible by advances in underwater breathing and photography apparatuses, and one in which the Rolex Submariner played an outsized role. Rolex launched the world’s first waterproof wristwatch, the Rolex Oyster, in 1926, and by the early 1950s, the company was intent on creating an even more robust watch specifically for the quickly advancing field of undersea exploration. Fortunately, among the field’s early adopters was Rolex communications director René-Paul Jeanneret, whose understanding of divers’ specific needs and his connections among fellow diving enthusiasts aided in the development of the first Submariner.
While it may be hard to imagine now, the Submariner was a niche product when it first appeared at the Basel watch fair in 1954. Intent on establishing it as the gold standard in its category, however, Rolex distributed early Submariner models to prominent dive schools, underwater photographers, and Navy officers in the U.K., U.S., and Canada, inviting them to test the watch and share their feedback. Thanks to innovative features such as the unidirectional rotating bezel, which helped divers precisely monitor their dive times, the Submariner quickly gained the approval of these professionals, and its profile began to grow.
Rolex’s elite status among divers helped the brand take part in some of the era’s most historic moments, including the record-breaking dive of the Trieste in 1960. When Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard and U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh successfully descended to a depth of nearly 11,000 metres beneath the Pacific Ocean and returned to the surface unscathed, it marked the beginning of a new chapter in deep-sea exploration.
It also marked a major win for Rolex, whose Deep Sea Special prototype watch had made the journey attached to the Trieste’s outer hull and returned to the surface still ticking. While the Deep Sea Special didn’t share the Submariner’s sleek, sporty looks, it did rely on much of the same technology, a synergy that lent the Submariner even more cachet among both professional divers and civilians in the years to come.
Historical tidbits like these are rife throughout Oyster Perpetual Submariner: The Watch that Unlocked the Deep, but for all of its detail about the Submariner’s early development, there are also plenty of anecdotes that speak to its broader appeal and cultural significance. Much of the second half of the book, for example, is devoted to the Submariner’s growing prominence in popular culture, from the indelible influence of James Bond, when actor Sean Connery wore one onscreen in 1962’s Dr. No, to the Submariner’s appearance on the wrists of celebrities from Steve McQueen in The Towering Inferno to Steve Carrell in The Big Short.
There’s much more to the book, of course, from a detailed look inside the Rolex manufacture and the ways in which every element of the watch is tested for superlative performance, to a list of every historic Submariner model (all 50-plus of them) over the last 70 years. From the 1953 Ref. 6204, which was the first diver’s watch rated to a depth of 100 metres, to 21st-century models with white gold cases and gemstone-encrusted dials, it reveals a fascinating evolution. It also serves as a reminder that, as Hans Wilsdorf so eloquently expressed, there’s no glory in following the crowd.
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