Rolex Submariner: A Father’s watch

I’ve always had a fascination with Rolex wristwatches, every since my father purchased a stainless steel Submariner back in the late 1980’s. I remember going to the mall on weekends with him to make payments on the watch. I’d peer into the showcase and my father would tell me all about the watch and its capabilities, it’s water resistance stainless steel Oyster case (resistant up to 300 meters), distinctive dial, large luminescent hour markers, and the perpetual movement feature of its interior components.

Even at a young age I could see the amazement in my father’s eyes, and perhaps that is why I have grown to have an appreciation for both the brand Rolex and the Submariner model of watches.

The Rolex Submariner is considered the quintessential diver’s watch, and ‘a classic among wristwatches’.  The Rolex Submariner was first introduced to the public in back in 1954 at the Swiss Watch Fair, during the height of the scuba diving era.  It has long been considered the archetype of the divers watch, epitomizes the pioneering link between Rolex and the underwater world, though its iconic and sophisticated design allow it to be at home both under the water or at a gala dinner.

Rolex has always been a brand that upholds innovation, starting with its founder Hans Wilsdorf who first imagined a watch that would be worn on the wrist. Another innovation of Rolex is the perpetual movement of the watch, an exquisite mechanism know the world over for its chronometric performance. The Perpetual movement is an integral part of Rolex’s reputation for excellence, and can truly be admired for what it is, a work of art.

My father showed me first hand the water resistance capabilities and perpetual motion of the watch by placing his Submariner at the bottom of our pool over night. The next day my sister and I ran out to the pool to get our dads watch, and as soon as we picked it up out of the water, the watch sprang back to life, dials moving like it had never been submerged at the bottom of the pool overnight.

The watch was as durable and resilient as my father had told me it was. My father wore his Submariner every day whether to work at General Motors on the assembly line or to church on Sundays. No matter the occasion I was always captivated by the iconic and sophisticated look of the watch on my father’s wrist.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve looked at getting a Rolex Submariner of my own to match my father’s. A few months ago my father called me to tell me he was going to sell his stainless steel, black-faced Rolex Submariner. At the time I was a bit taken aback as I had long wanted the watch and thought it’d be an heirloom of sorts, but not wanting to argue the matter with my father, I said nothing, he’d just retired anyways and deserved a watch upgrade.

So my father purchased a new Rolex Submariner with the blue-face and gold trim, which is a very classy looking watch.  However three weeks later while visiting with my father in Michigan, he surprised me by taking me aside and giving me his used Rolex Submariner with the black-face. The very watched I’ve wanted since I was 8 years old, and even after twenty-three years of constant wear and use, the watch is in pristine condition and works just as fine. There is something to be said about a watch that tells time accurately, and even more so about a watch that stands the test of time.

Check out our collection of pre-owned Rolex Submariners.