Dear friends of IWS, welcome back to our magazine where today we will tell you another mysterious yet fascinating story from Rolex.
As many of you may know, Rolex represents one of the brands within which many of the watches produced during its existence, to this day, have no clear history, and it is not known why the specific model was produced.
These models that we can describe as “mysterious” include a particular professional watch made of unusual material for that time, namely the Submariner ref. 1680 in white gold.
White gold in the submariner
Nowadays, the king of the deep by Rolex, declined in a white gold version, can appear as a rather normal thing. In 2014, Rolex officially launched a white gold version of its successful diver with the introduction of reference 116619.
For most enthusiasts and collectors, this Submariner, nicknamed “Smurf” by collectors because of the hue of the bezel and dial, represents the world’s first Submariner to be made of white gold.
Actually, the white gold version of this model saw the light of day much earlier, namely in the 1970s. At that time, the maison made three white gold Submariners, two of them with blue dials (those to date that have appeared on the market) and one with a black dial.
These three very rare models fell under the Submariner reference 1680 but were never put in the catalog and are believed, to this day, to have been made as prototypes. In addition to the particular use of white gold, these three watches are characterized by the presence of different components than the reference 1680, which could be chosen in steel or yellow gold.
The prototype Rolex Submariner 1680 in white gold
The watch was made in 1973. To confirm the year of production we can take into consideration several elements including the dial classified as “feet first,” that is, a feature that appeared on Submariners after 1971 and was to replace the “meters first” dials.
On the “Nipple” dial of the two known Rolex Submariner Prototypes in white gold, there is also the inscription SWISS T, indicating the presence of tritium on the indexes and hands.
In the case of the model that appeared in the Iconeek auction held in December 2022, one can see the “retrimmed” indexes, most likely the result of a service performed by Rolex. Another element that places the production of these three prototypes during the 1970s is the movement with serial number “D701771”, which can be dated around 1972.
The watch’s president bracelet, also made of white gold with a special finish on the central links, also features the number 54 on the finials, allowing it to be dated around 1973. Looking at the watch, attention can immediately fall on the distinctive bi-directional white gold bezel that features a hybrid design between a classic Submariner and a Thunderbird.
The uniqueness of this bezel also lies in the fact that it has got notches only in two opposite places so that it can be handled with two fingers, but also that it has alternating raised Arabic numerals and fluted decorations, as will be found much later on the Turn-O-Graph.
Turning instead to the back of the watch, inside the specimen sold by the Iconeek auction house, we can see, engraved internally, the inscription “Ref. 1680” and all the gold hallmarks, similar to those on the yellow gold version.
Also engraved on the inside of the case back is the key 12 from the case manufacturer Genex S.A., which specializes in producing Oyster cases from Ref. 1680 and those from Ref. 6062. A ‘further peculiarity of these three very rare prototypes, which also justifies their absence from Rolex catalogs and non-marketing, is the fact that the lugs are not engraved, thus missing the serial and reference numbers of the watch.
The two white gold Rolex 1680s appeared on the market.
When we talk about watches of such rarity, it is quite difficult and almost impossible to reconstruct a real history of them, especially regarding Rolex as it is impossible to find information directly from the maison. What is certain is that if two of the three hypothesized examples had not appeared on the market, to this day we would not even be able to tell you about the characteristics of this particular watch.
In 2017, in fact, the well-known auction house Christie’s sold the first 1680 in white gold for a figure of about EUR 647,000 making it the Rolex Submariner sold for the highest figure in history.
In December 2022, however, the auction house Iconeek put the second example of 1680 in white gold on the market with an estimate between EUR 717,000 and 1.2 million. In this second auction, however, the watch was not sold.
Our opinion
What we can certainly tell you about these prototypes is that a real history will never be known, as of all those models that Rolex never put into the catalog or made through special orders. For example, the platinum Zenith Daytonas we discussed in a dedicated article.
What we can tell you, however, beyond analyzing the objective data in our possession due to the appearance of the watch on the market, is to try to leave to your imagination why these prototypes were produced and reconstruct what may be a possible history.
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