Rolex

Baron - Mr Red
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Rolex 1665 - The Rail Dial

The 1665 Double Red Sea-Dweller (DRSD) has a very broad following amongst vintage Rolex collectors. There are entire websites devoted to the history, details and intricacies of this great watch. Produced for a decade (1967-77) with a multiple of dial and detail variations. It has captured the imagination of the vintage collector. The DRSD, however, has overshadowed a number of other great watches of the same genre.

Most obviously, I am talking about the 1665 Great White. I hunted a Great White “Rail Dial” (GWRD) for a couple of years. I wanted an early and original version with its full package of box and punched papers. Over the same time period, I was also hunting a DRSD Mk3 and DRSD Mk4. I found plenty of examples of the Mk4. The Mk3, of course, is much harder to find. I would say that the GWRD is about as rare as the DRSD Mk3. So, in terms of rarity, the GWRD is an unusual watch. But I think it is sexier than many of the DRSDs for a number of reasons. I would say it is time for the Great White to come out from the shadows of its Red Brother.

The GWRD was released in 1977, undergoing a makeover from the 1665 DRSD Mk4. The 1570 movement stayed the same (indeed all 1665s kept the 1570 movement with hack mechanism). However, the text “SUBMARINER 2000” was removed from the dial, leaving just “SEA-DWELLER”. This evolution of the Sea-Dweller is interesting. Is it a subset of the Submariner reference or is it a reference with its own unique identity? Well, I think it started as a subset of the Submariner group but evolved with its own very unique identity. One no longer thinks of the Sea-Dweller as a Submariner. When the Sea-Dweller was first launched, it is likely that Rolex needed to differentiate it from the standard Submariner, but wanted to attach some of the Submariner commercial appeal to the Sea-Dweller. Hence, at birth, the Sea-Dweller did not have a distinct lineage. The name “Submariner” sat on the dial.

The 1665 Great White was the first Sea-Dweller to actually drop “Submariner” from its dial. Well, actually, that is not 100% accurate. The very first prototype patent pending, nicknamed the “Single Red” did not carry the “Submariner” line, but since there is only one or two of such examples, it is reasonable to say that the first production watch to carry just “Sea-Dweller” was the Great White. One could argue that the watch’s evolution from being part of the Submariner Group to being a Sea-Dweller became crystalised with the Great White when the Submariner name was dropped from the dial.

Like its predecessor, the Great White came with a number of dial varieties. Most experts would say that there are 4 different dial varieties. However, thanks to Chris, on this forum, it now seems that there are five, with Chris showing an example of the Mk0 – the “Big White”. I attach a link here to Chris’s original article.

rolex.watchprosite.com

Here is a scan of the “Big White”, with the first line of text clearly over-hanging the second line of text (overhang marked in red by me). The “Big White” came in a very narrow serial range (5175XXX), pre-dating the Mk1 dial. The Mk0 dial was manufactured by Lemrich & Cie.

The Mk1 dial came on a serial number in the 5.2-5.7m range but also occasionally from 5.9-6.1m. The text “2000ft – 610m” was written in non-italic font, similar to the DRSD Mk4. The marking at 6 o’clock is also written as  SWISS – T < 25, which differentiates it from the subsequent Mk 2 dial. The Mk1 dial was manufactured by Beyeler.

Another factor that differentiates the Mk2 dial is the 6 o’clock marker which is T SWISS T < 25. Again, this is the only Great White dial variant that has this specific format.

Although one can never be 100% certain on serial ranges, I think it is comfortable to assume that the “Rail Dial” is typically found in a range of 5.7-6.0m.

There are other small variations specific to the Mk2 dial. For example, the style of the “6” in 610m is different in the Mk2 compared with the Mk1. In the Mk1, the 6 is an open 6, whereas in the Mk2 the 6 is closed. It is also correct to say that the font style for Mk2 onwards becomes italicised. Other small variations of this dial include the fact that the hour markers are closer to the minute track than in other dials and the minute markers are somewhat longer too.

One last nugget for the Mk2 is that the dial was manufactured by the Stern Company who also made the 600m Comex dials for the 1665 between 1977-79. There is a rich history to the “Rail Dial” for sure. Stern is also responsible for other Rolex Rail Dials (the 1655 for example). However, establishing this link between Comex and the Great White makes it very cool to my mind given the diving nature of both watches.

The Mk 3 dial has some subtleties too. The Rolex coronet has sharper (or at least more pointed) tips, and the depth rating has a slightly different font with the “ft” and “m” smaller than in the Mk2 dial. Mk3 dials were manufactured by Beyeler.

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