$36,000
Ref. 1680, Navy Blue Dial Rolex, “Oyster Perpetual Date, Submariner, Superlative Chronometer, Officially Certified”, Ref. 1680. Made circa 1978. Very fine and rare, center seconds, self-winding, water-resistant, 18K yellow gold diver's wristwatch with date and a Rolex buckle. Three-body, polished and brushed, screwed-down case back and crown, blue graduated bi-directional revolving bezel for the decompression times, Triplock winding-crown protected by the crown guard, crystal with cyclops lens. Navy blue with luminous gold round, triangular and baton indexes, aperture for the date. Luminous yellow gold skeleton hands. Cal. 1570, rhodium-plated, 26 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance, shock absorber, self-compensating free-sprung Breguet balance spring, Microstella regulating screws, hack mechanism. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 40 mm. Thickness 14 mm. Notes Introduced first on the gold GMT 6542 in 1959, this model was fitted with a special type of index. Instead of just being a dot of radium for the luminescence, the designers came up with with a gold thick base that would surround the radium. Carried over to the Submariners in the first models of gold 1680's, they became known to collectors as "nipple dials".
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2008-04-17
