VINTAGE ROLEX 1680 MATTE DIAL SUBMARINER DATE TROPICAL LUME SS MENS WATCH 1978

Name: VINTAGE ROLEX 1680 MATTE DIAL SUBMARINER DATE TROPICAL LUME SS MENS WATCH 1978
Price: 12800 USD
Availability: InStock

Used⌚️ Watches · 1960s–90s

The edit · Watches

A used Rolex Submariner watch. A mechanical watch from these decades was built to be repaired, not replaced. Patina on the dial and a bracelet softened to the wrist are earned, not defects.

The name on the wrist that never lost value.

Founded in London in 1905 by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis, then moved to Geneva in 1919. Rolex made the first water-resistant wristwatch, the Oyster, in 1926, and the first self-winding movement with a perpetual rotor in 1931.

No other brand holds value like Rolex. Steel sports models from the 1960s and 1970s, the Submariner, Daytona and GMT-Master, are among the most liquid collectibles on earth, and their scarcity is part of the design.

Why it's called that

Rolex Submariner

The name is literal. When Rolex introduced it in 1953 it was one of the first watches you could genuinely dive with, water-resistant to 100 metres. The Submariner defined what a dive watch looks like.

What to look for

Check the reference number between the lugs and the serial, and whether the dial, hands and bracelet are period-correct. An original dial and an unpolished case are worth far more than a refinished one.

Check the case back and movement markings, and whether the crown winds cleanly. A service history doubles the value of any mechanical watch.