1997 Rolex Sea-Dweller 4000 Tritium 16600
Ref: 16600
Specification
Lugs : 20mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box & Papers : None
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty
Points of Mention
This watch is sold “Watch Only” without its original Rolex box or paperwork. The watch comes paired with its original Rolex bracelet with a signed Rolex clasp, the bracelet will fit up to a 6.9-inch wrist. The watch is from Circa. 1997 and is sold in worn unpolished condition, but overall fair condition as you can see from the photographs. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.
For more photos see here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13tMAZQZM3z9iPYZioWo3Ii2-6Wf7D2nF?usp=sharing
4K YouTube video, skip to 8:17 - https://youtu.be/qzK1Tq-AFs4
The Watch
In 1967 Rolex introduced the Sea-Dweller Ref. 1665, the first watch with a helium escape valve, helium is used in saturation diving, and particles of Helium build up in the case during extended dive sessions. Divers found that the Submariners had a tendency when they were in the decompression chamber to pop the plexiglass, to solve this issue, a helium escape valve was added to the side of the Sea-Dweller case. Rolex was made at that time of roughly 100 pieces; their design was similar to the Submariner ref. 5514 COMEX. The Ref. 1665 Double Red (due to the two lines of Red Text on the dial) ran from 1967-1977. It was replaced by the Ref. 1665 “Great White” (the Red Text was replaced by White Text) and ran from 1977 until 1983. The Ref. 16660 “Triple Six” was one of the first Rolex to have a sapphire crystal which helped to increase its water resistance from 2000ft/610m to 4000ft/1220m. The Rolex Sea-Dweller 16600 replaced Ref. 16660 from 1988 until 2008. Here we have a 1997 Rolex Sea-Dweller 4000 Tritium 16600, as this dates from 1997, it is amongst the last produced using tritium before they moved to LumiNova. The rugged design is perfectly at home being used for saturation diving, the 40mm unpolished stainless steel Oyster case has crisp lines that flow towards the tapered drilled lugs, and a lug-to-lug length of 47.5mm and a case thickness of 14mm give the watch an impressive wrist presence. On the right side, a Triplock screw-down crown, a system introduced on the Sea-Dweller in 1970, consists of three sealed zones, two gaskets within the tube and a third gasket under the winding crown. On the left side, we have a Helium Escape Valve (HEV) to release the built-up gases that saturation divers experience at 4,000 feet / 1,220 metres. The unidirectional bezel has a black aluminium 60-minute scale and deep knurling for extra grip, a 5.5mm thick sapphire crystal replaced the plexiglass that was used on the ref. 1665, enabling it to descend to those incredible depths. A glossy black dial has Tritium infilled white gold surround disc and baton indexes marking the hours and at 3 o’clock a date window, Mercedes' hands are infilled with Tritium and are complemented by a lollipop counterweighted sweeping second-hand. At 12 o’clock we have the Rolex motif with “Oyster Perpetual Date” printed underneath, at 6 o’clock “Sea-Dweller 4,000 feet / 1,220 metres Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified”. On the reverse, a coin-edged screw-down case back, inside an automatic Rolex Cal. 3135, 31 jewels, 28,800 beats per hour, it is fitted with a Parachrom hairspring designed by Rolex; it offers greater resistance to shocks and temperature variations. The watch comes paired with its original Rolex 20mm solid end link 904L stainless steel Oyster bracelet with an OysterLock safety clasp.
Personal Note
The Rolex Sea-Dweller 16600 is an underrated reference in my opinion, a lot of people immediately assume it will be too big for their wrists as the Sea-Dweller is known for being the bigger Submariner... However, on the wrist, the larger proportion of this model comes in thickness, other than that it feels like a heavier 16610, which isn't a bad thing! I would seriously consider this if you are in the market for a nice Sea-Dweller or Submariner, this model is in incredible condition and still features its original caseback sticker and unpolished case!
The Brand
In 1905, German-born Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis set up a company in London that imported Swiss movements which were installed in British cases and sold to jewellers who put their names on the dials. Recognising the potential for their brand, Wilsdorf created the brand name Rolex in 1908. In 1910, a Rolex became the first wristwatch to carry the Swiss Certificate of Chronometric Precision, awarded by the Official Watch Rating Centre in Bienne, Switzerland. Demand for Rolex watches rose swiftly, and British taxes on the Swiss movements Rolex used prompted Wilsdorf to move the business to Geneva, Switzerland, in 1919. With production costs lowered, Wilsdorf quickly set out to solve the age-old problem of moisture and dust entering a watch case and damaging the movement. The Rolex watchmakers came up with a fully sealed watch case, which Wilsdorf named the Oyster, and released to an appreciative audience in 1926. In 1931, Rolex introduced the first automatic winding wristwatch, giving it the legendary name Oyster Perpetual. In 1945, they released the Datejust which was the first watch to have the date jump instantaneously at midnight. The 1950s saw a whole lot of releases such as the Air-King (1958), the Explorer (1953), the Submariner (1953), the GMT Master (1955), the Day-Date (1956), the electromagnetic field resistant Milgauss (1956), the Lady-Datejust (1957) and the first Deep Sea model (1960). Wilsdorf’s death in 1960, saw ownership of Rolex S.A. (a collection of sub-companies) passed to the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation which was founded by Wilsdorf in 1945, the mission of which is simply to sustain Rolex S.A. indefinitely.