The Most Collectable Rolex Ever

Image credit: Bob’s Watches

The world of vintage Rolex can be a murky and tricky place to navigate. Often subtle variations in a watch’s characteristics can be the difference between something standard and (relatively) inexpensive and a grail watch running upwards of a six figure price point. Perhaps the greatest example of this is the reference 1680 ‘Red Sub’. For all intents and purposes this is a regular Submariner except for a single nuance, the word ‘Submariner’ written in red text on the dial. This little variation can be the difference between an under £10k watch and a £50,000+ for the right version. Among enthusiasts, the Rolex 1680 ‘Red Sub’ is the most collectable Submariner ever.

Rolex 1680 ‘meters first’ and ‘closed 6’, image credit: Sotheby’s

From the get go with its launch in 1967, the Rolex 1680 had some strong credentials. It is still the only Submariner ever to have a bi-directional bezel and it was the first Submariner to add a date function with the iconic cyclops lens. Up until this point all previous Subs had been time only watches.

The addition of a date window was a big deal, remaining a key characteristic of the Sub ever since. It’s a debate that collectors still have today ‘do you take your Sub with or without a date window?’ Other updates included the addition of crown guards and an aluminium bezel. Apart from natural ageing, the 1680 looks every bit like the Submariner of today.

A ‘feet first’ and ‘closed 6’ variation of the 1680. Image credit: Sotheby’s

However, Rolex launched the 1680 with a single line of red dial text and the ‘Red Sub’ was born. This is where things start to get a bit complicated. Not all 1680s contain the ‘Red Sub’ hallmark. The model was in production until 1980 and only the early versions, up until 1975(-ish) contained the red text.

That might seem simple enough, pre 1975 ‘Red Sub’, post 1975 white text Sub, however there’s more layers to this onion. During the first 8 years of the 1680’s life span Rolex did some tinkering and there are six known variations of the red Submariner and an additional 7th if you include the service dial.

All the ‘Red Subs’ come with their own miniscule changes to the dial. The first version, the mark 1 (MK1), is our base camp and there are three things to look out for in a MK1. The 1680 had 200m or 660ft of water resistance and this was printed on the dial. But whether your dial lists feet first or metres first is an important distinction. The MK1 was metres first and in fact this continued through Marks 2 and 3 as well, but for later versions… we’ll get to that.

The red text printed to the dial, ‘feet first’ and ‘closed 6’ gives this away as a MK3 1680. Image credit: Sotheby’s

The second giveaway is the font of the ‘6’ in 660ft. The first 1680 had what’s known as ‘closed 6’. Much like the font of this article the number 6 is joined up so you have a closed circle. The third element for the MK1 is harder to spot. The red ‘Submariner’ text isn’t printed straight on to the dial, instead the red text is printed on top of a white base coat so it has more of a raised look to it. All three of these elements together would signify a Rolex 1680 MK1.

The MK1 only lasted a couple of years before the MK2 came knocking. The subtle change for the MK2 was the use of an ‘open 6’. An open 6, as you may guess, isn’t closed and doesn’t create the circle. It looks like you lifted your pen off the page too early before completing the number. This was the only change for the MK2. Such a small variance is easy to miss so you can see why collectors love to drool over this stuff researching niche variations.

The ‘meters first’ and ‘open 6s’ indicate this is a MK4 or MK5. Image credit: Sotheby’s

The mark 3 update was so subtle it’s barely noticeable. Like the MK2 it also contained the ‘open 6’ however the ‘Submariner’ text was no longer printed on top of a white base. For the first time the word Submariner in red was printed directly on to the dial.

The MK4 threw in a more drastic change. Like any waterslide attendant will tell you it’s best to go feet first. The water resistance text was now inverted to show ‘660ft = 200m’ the reason for this change is also a bit of mystery. The best working hypothesis is that this was done for the US market, although I can’t believe Rolex were receiving many complaints over which unit of measurement went first. Rolex also reverted back to the red text printed on top of white.

Rolex Submariner 1680 Service Dial with ‘Swiss’ below the 6 o’clock hour marker.

Moving to the MK5 and we are back to red text directly on to the dial. The MK4 and MK5 appeared at around the same time although the MK4 was phased earlier than the 5. It suggests Rolex were playing around with the different techniques of text printing and concluded the direct to dial method was preferable.

Over the years as 1680s were sent in for service Rolex would swap the tritium dials for Luminova versions. The whole tritium radioactive thing meant Rolex had to make the swap. These dial swaps only occurred after Rolex had adopted Luminova more broadly and not all dial swaps contained the red ‘Submariner’, many switched it to white. Therefore, despite being a service dial they are incredibly rare. The giveaway for swapped dials in the ‘SWISS’ text underneath the 6 o’clock hour marker. Tritium dials have ‘Swiss-T<25’.

No other Submariner since the 1680 has contained red dial text and given these watches are all nearing 50 years old they are becoming rarer and rarer. Add into the mix the quest for good condition, original papers and a few nuances around the bracelet and bezel and you have a real treasure hunt to find the most collectable 1680 ‘Red Sub’.