The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner is without doubt one of the most popular Rolex Watches, and among the most popular in the sports luxurious genre. It is characterized for being a watch targeted specifically to Divers due to its high resistance to water. The model was first seen in 1953 with the reference number 6204, a bidirectional Bezel, a thin case, and a small sized shoulder-less screw-down crown. The model 6205 was also manufactured at the time and both watches are nearly identical. One interesting detail on these two models is that most of the time you would not see the word Submariner imprinted on the face. Sometimes you would see the brand Submariner, however it was not a consistent branding at the time. In 1954 Rolex presented  its sequel, Ref 6538, also known as the James Bond model  immortalized by Sean Connery. It used a caliber 1030 movement, and the first Rolex bidirectional rotor movement, and an oversized crown.
In 1959  and in 1962  the Submariner 5512 and 5513, respectively, were presented  as the first models with shoulders to protect the crown. Those changes marked how the watch would look in the following years.  In 1969 the Submariner Date Ref 1680, still with its acrylic crystal was first seen. In 1979 was presented for the first time The Rolex Submariner with Sapphire crystal and an outstanding waterproof rating of 300 meters. The 16800 “Sub”, 40 mm, with movement caliber 3035 is the watch that we  well know today. The “Sub”as we call it, revolutionized how a sports watch should look and feel. Moreover, apart from small changes in recent years such as the trip-lock system and Cerachrom disc, it is pretty much the same watch we saw in 1979 that we love so much for so many years.

Rolex Submariner 6204

Rolex Submariner 6538

Rolex Submariner 5512

Rolex Submariner 1680

Rolex Submariner 16800

2010 Rolex Submariner

In 1905 Hans Wilsdorf a 24-year-old manufacturer from Germany, and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis founded “Wilsdorf and Davis” in London.

Rolex Submariner

The lack of capital was not a limit for them to start the business. At the beginning they imported Swiss movements, dials and cases to England so they can ship them later to their costumers.

Rolex was registered in 1915 in Switzerland by Hans Wilsdorf, who had an excellent business vision. Rolex Watch Company Ltd. was established in 1919. His business goal was to give the world the most precise wristwatch they could ever imagine so it could compete with the pocket watch.

The origin of the name is unknown. Wilsdorf just wanted a name easy to be pronounced in any language. He never confirmed the rumors that the name of Rolex came from the French phrase horlogerie exquise, meaning “exquisite clockwork” or that the name was an imitation of the sound of a watch being wound or that the name was just made up. Some people say that the name was given by his business partner Alfred Davis who was a Rolls Royce lover, so he mixed the beginning of this brand Rol and the end of TIMEX, a popular watch brand at that time, to have as a result the word ROLEX.

After Wilsdorf death in 1944, his wife established the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation which would have all his Rolex shares go directly to charity.