This remarkable story presents one of the earliest known Rolex Submariner serial numbers, specifically #949,197. The case for this beauty was made in the second quarter of 1953, and appears to have been retailed in South America by Serpico Y Laino, which not only has their logo on the dial, but also features the ultra-rare split SUBMARINER | PERPETUAL dial logo designation, and it's up for auction at Christie's Auction house.
The first Submariner dial was distinctive, a quiet testament to Rolex’s pioneering spirit. Initially christened the “SUBMARINER PERPETUAL,” it bore “SUBMARINER” on the upper left beneath “ROLEX,” with “PERPETUAL” poised on the right, almost in a wing-like pattern, which ended up being a fleeting arrangement reserved for the earliest models.
After I first published this story you are reading, I went digging through my archives looking for a Submariner that was even older than the Serpico Y Laino and came up with this Submariner Reference 6204, also from Q2 of 1953 that features an earlier serial number of 949.143, which is 54 digits earlier, and incorporates an unusually cool and interesting honeycomb dial. This watch appears courtesy top vintage Rolex dealer and expert, Eric Ku.
Just for frame of reference, the photo below shows the next Rolex Submariner Reference 6204 that came after the Reference 6204 pictured above, and as we see, it says "OYSTER PERPETUAL" under the Coronet/Crown Logo and "ROLEX" dial designation, and then we see the "SUBMARINER" dial designation centered on the lower part of the dial, directly above the 6 O'clock marker. This early model still lacked the now iconic Mercedes Logo hour hand, and featured the mini lollipop second sweep hand.
Since we are on the subject of timeless Rolex Submariner evolution design language, let's take a look at the current 41MM Rolex Submariner Reference 124060, which is the great, great grandson of the original Reference 6204, and they were born 73 years apart, yet they looks highly related. The current model features a depth rating below the "SUBMARINER" dial designation and it features the "Mercedes" logo hour hand.
For further frame-of-reference I put together the image below which shows the first Rolex Submariner 37MM Reference 6204 from 1953 next to the current 2026 Submariner which carries a Reference of 124060 and has grown 4MM to 41MM over the past three quarters of a century.
There are a number of additional details on the current Rolex Submariner, like the "ROLEX, ROLEX, ROLEX, ROLEX" etching running around the rehaut, not to mention the 5 minute marker indices are not applied on white told surrounds, as apposed to printed using a galvanic gilt process on the original. The original Submariner bezel featured an aluminum bezel insert, which was prone to scratching, whereas the current Rolex Submariner features a ceramic bezel insert which is much sturdier. Also, the original Submariner came on a riveted bracelet, and the current model is on a solid bracelet with solid end links, coupled with a flip-lock.
Let's get back to examining the Serpico Y Laino Submariner featured at the beginning of this story. The photo below shows the inside engraving on the caseback and we see not only the Reference 6204 number, but also the "2.53" manufacturing date stamp. The first thing I thought of when I saw this watch was the fact that when it was sold in Caracas, Venezuela, is how at the time, André-Jean Heiniger was the head of sales in South America. Serpico Y Laino was a retailer in Caracas with a fascinating history.
The Lot Essay from Christie's Auction House reads:
"Amongst the rarest and most historically important early Rolex sports watches, this Submariner reference 6204 represents the very beginning of the Submariner lineage, when Rolex was experimenting with their diving watches. Produced in 1953 and retailed by the famed Venezuelan jeweler Serpico y Laino, the present watch features the coveted and exceptionally rare “Split Logo” text, in which the 'Submariner' and 'Perpetual' text is divided on each side of the center pinion.
The watch further distinguishes itself with its gilt dial, “pencil” and "lollipop" hands, both being hallmarks of the earliest Submariners. Unlike later printed matte dials, gilt dials were produced through a galvanic process that left the text and minute track shimmering warmly, creating remarkable depth and richness. The elegant pencil hands, used before Rolex adopted the Mercedes handset, underscore the experimental and highly collectible nature of these first generation diving watches.
Furthermore, the dial is signed Serpico y Laino at the lower half and is furthered with 'S&L ACERO' to the caseback. The present reference 6204 stands among the most desirable, rare, and historically significant early Rolex Submariners to survive today."
Lord Mountbatten & Dimitry Rebikoff
As mentioned earlier, this exceptionally rare Submariner boasts the second earliest known serial number. The earliest one belongs to the Submariner owned by Lord Admiral Mountbatten, who is pictured below (in the middle) in 1952 with Pierre Vanlaer (on the left) and Dimitri Rebikoff (on the right), the man who assisted Rolex in designing the Rolex Submariner.
Mountbatten and Rebikoff were also close to Henri Broussard, the head of the Club Alpin Sous Marin diving club in Cannes, France. Broussard founded the club in 1946, and it was there that many early Rolex Submariner tests took place. Admiral Mountbatten, at the time, was the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in the Mediterranean and was also an accomplished scuba diver.
Lord Mountbatten is pictured below in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., with President Kennedy and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the American military, Lyman Lemnitzer.
In the subsequent image, we observe Lord Mountbatten accompanied by his nephew, Prince Charles, who has since ascended to the throne as King Charles.
Lord Mountbatten is pictured below with his family on vacation in Scotland, and he is rocking his Submariner.
Dimitri Rebikoff is featured on the cover of one of my upcoming books on the history of the Rolex Submariner and in the photo below we see him rocking his prototype Submariner which he co-developed with Rolex back in the early 1950s.
Below is a letter written by Rolex Marketing Director René-Paul Jeanneret to Admiral Mountbatten, which highlights Dimitri Rebikoff’s pivotal role in the development of the Rolex Submariner. As evident from the letter, Rolex provided Lord Mountbatten with an early Submariner for testing purposes. This explains why it possesses the earliest known serial number of 949,120, which is 77 digits earlier than the one being offered at auction at the beginning of this article.
Regrettably, the current whereabouts of Lord Mountbatten’s Submariner remain unknown to this day. Consequently, the Serpico Y Laino Submariner model featured at the beginning of this story, with a serial number of 949,197, is recognized as one of the earliest known Submariner models, as there are still known models that featured serial numbers in the range of 949,14X.
Below we see a very rare original copy of the Dimitry Rebikoff's Rolex Submariner Trial Report Renè-Paul Jeanneret included with his letter to Lord Mountbatten:
The copy of the Submariner Trial Report was published in the Club Alpin Sous-Marin Number 8 in 1956, and is from the personal collection of Frédéric Dumas, who was the dive leader aboard the RV Calypso and co-authored the book with Jacques-Yves Cousteau, The Silent World in 1953.
The Things That Dreams Are Made Of
In Jules Verne’s epic masterpiece, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, published in 1870, he prophetically unveiled humanity’s profound yearning to conquer the ocean’s mysterious abyss. The Rolex Submariner, born of that same indomitable spirit of exploration, transformed Verne’s visionary science fiction into enduring reality close to a century later—a timeless sentinel of the depths, where human ingenuity defies the deep sea, while touching the eternal unknown. Daring adventurers like Dimitri Rebikoff and Jacques-Yves Cousteau (pictured below wearing his Rolex Submariner tool watch) embodied that same spirit, turning Verne’s vision into reality.
Captain Nemo tells the three men when they board his Nautilus Submarine:
"You will not regret the time spent on board my vessel. You are going to travel through a wonderland. Astonishment and stupefaction will be your normal state of mind... I am going to embark on a new underwater tour of the world... and you will be my study companion.”
Nicholas Foulkes interesting new book on the Rolex Submariner goes into some detail on the role Dimitri Rebikoff played in the development of what went on become the most famous dive watch in history. I have been working deeply on researching Dimitri Rebikoff's role in the genesis of the Rolex Submariner watch model for many years now, and have been preparing to publish a detailed story with my clarifying findings sometime soon, so the timing seems perfect to share this preview with you now:
In my upcoming story we will hop in the Rolex Time Machine and travel back to yesteryear to learn all about Dimitri Rebikoff (pictured above and below) and his amazing lifetime career achievements from many people I have interviewed who were close with and knew him well. This is an amazing story about a man and his machines he brought to life as necessity compelled. The photo and excerpt below on Dimitri Rebikoff were published in 1957.
The Rolex Submariner is one of the most iconic and famous sport watches on earth. It's handsome, rugged, and sporty, yet super versatile.
The late art-deco design language from the early 1950s that still permeates the Rolex Submariner continues to transcend time. The Submariner can be dressed-down with everything from a pair of shorts and a T-Shirt with flip-flops, to being dressed-up with a formal black tie. The photos below of Hollywood actor and producer, Brian Kelly rocking his Rolex Submariner illustrate this point perfectly as they were taken more than a half-century ago, yet they almost look like they could have been taken yesterday...Brian Kelly played Porter Ricks on the 1960 aquatic show named Flipper.
One of the great unanswered questions is 'Where exactly did this timeless Rolex Submariner tool watch come from, and how—precisely—did it get its name? And, how is Submariner properly pronounced? This upcoming story will answer these and many of other seminal questions for the first time.
The Life Aquatic
In this upcoming story we will learn all about how the Rolex Submariner began its humble life as a Rolex Explorer variant, which of course, began its Maratime career as an Oyster Perpetual variant, which we witness with the 1929 Rolex Magazine ad (pictured below) for the then avant-garde Rolex "Oyster" tool watch.
Just to be crystal clear, on the simplest level, I am saying the Rolex Submariner evolved from the Rolex Explorer, which had previously evolved from the Rolex Oyster Perpetual.
This early 1929 Rolex Oyster advertisement pictured above appears in my upcoming book series in Volume 1 and is the earliest known aquatic themed Rolex Magazine advertisement I am aware of, but suffice it to say Rolex's founder Hans Wildsorf was always very aware of the role it could play in the life aquatic.
Below we see another magnificent art deco Italian Rolex mermaid Rolex Magazine advertisement which is so beautiful...
Basel Fair was the biggest watch trade show in Switzerland and was founded in 1917. Rolex first exhibited their watches at Basel Fair in 1939, and in 1942, Rolex flexed their technological prowess when they displayed Rolex watches easily withstanding their environment in a tank pressurized to 120 Meters (394 Feet), as we see in the image below that was published in the Revue internationale de l'horlogerie.
If you look closely, you will notice there is an unusually large watch located on the left side of the tank displayed on the bottom image of the page seen above and it features a black dial. Below we get a closer look at the mysterious Rolex Diving Watch from 1942, and it's located in the bottom left hand corner, and appears to have a black dial.
My best guess is this may be the highly elusive Rolex Reference 2533 with a cushion case that was published in a 1935 Rolex Catalog, but unfortunately today there are no known examples out in the wild, although it has been rumored Rolex has an version of it in their private museum collection in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Rolex Reference 2533 formed the basis for which the original Panerai Watches were based upon, and essentially Rolex took a 47MM Rolex Oyster Pocket Watch as illustrated below, and rotated the case 90 degrees to the right, then soldiered lugs on the case, and removed the hanging watch chain fob as seen below in this image from the ultra-knowledgable horological forensics expert, Jose, at Perezcope.com.
The supreme irony with the oversized 47MM Rolex Oyster pictured above is in many ways it represents the genesis of the Rolex diving watch in the sense it was the first watch destined to conquer the Deep Sea, and when I publish the full version of this article, it will go into great detail on the evolution of this watch model and how it ultimately led to the advent of the Rolex Submariner.
Basel Fair 1954
The Birth of Rolex Cosplay
In 1954 the Swiss Industries Fair (Schweizer Mustermesse Basel) dramatically expanded its facilities in Basel when the new Hall 2—the large square building with the distinctive circular courtyard—opened for the first time. Designed by architect Hans Hofmann and constructed in roughly ten to eleven months between the 1953 and 1954 fairs, it is the prominent structure shown on the right in the aerial photograph below. The older Hall 1 appears on the left.
Basel Fair Hall 1 and Hall 2 pictured above in 1954 in Basel, Switzerland
Basel Fair in 1954 represents and demarcates a seminal year in which classism gave way to modernism in the world of horology—as the world raced ahead into the space age—and Rolex was there front and center with a cadre of new Rolex Sports Tool Watch models as seen in this page from Europa Star published in 1954.
Keep in mind that despite the fact the Rolex Submariner today is considered to be an absolute classic design, it was once considered to be extremely bold and modern. At the time many people ridiculed Rolex sport watches saying they were way too big and heavy.
"All that was great in the past was ridiculed, condemned, combated, suppressed—only to emerge all the more powerfully, all the more triumphantly from the struggle."
—Nikola Tesla
The Rolex Magazine advertisement seen below for the Rolex Explorer is from 1964 and captures the core essence of Rolex tool watches, as it features the Rolex Explorer, but there is much more to the Explorer than meets the eye.
Where's The Beef?
Where's the Submariner? Show me the Submariner!?!! One of the interesting details I couldn't help but notice in Nicholas Foulkes recently released Rolex History book named Oyster Perpetual Submariner, The Watch That Unlocked The Deep, which I will be reviewing soon here on Jake's Rolex World, is it strangely didn't contain any photos of Dimitri Rebikoff wearing a Rolex Submariner?
This seems like a supreme irony to me as Rebikoff helped bring the Submariner to life, so I thought I would share some images in this preview, and mention I have many more never before seen exclusive photos coming up in my full article. The photo below shows Rebikoff rocking his prototype Submariner back in 1955 as he is working in his back yard on an underwater lighting "Torpedo".
Talent does what it can... Genius does what it must...
Below we see a Rolex Magazine ad featuring the Submariner from 1957 that was taken during prototype testing.
Speaking of books on Rolex History, I have been working for years now on a series of 15 books, or volumes, that cover the entire historical arc of Rolex, and my chapter on Dimitri Rebikoff is featured in VOLUME 3, which is titled, "The Complete History of Rolex MAD MEN: How They Created The International Mark of Success, by JAKE EHRLICH", and we see the cover art for that volume below.
Speaking of Rolex Mad Men, the reason Volume 3 of my book series is titled "Mad Men" has to do with the role the original Ad Men of Madison Avenue played in making Rolex the most reputable brand on earth today.
Many people have been asking me when I plan to begin publishing my upcoming series of 15 volumes on the history of Rolex? Essentially, I have been researching and writing the equivalent of an Encyclopedia on Rolex History, which is a massive undertaking. My goal is to leave no stone unturned, and I wan't to make certain I deliver books that are as magnificent as Rolex itself, and as they say, 'good things take time.' As soon as I have a firm ETA I will post a story here on RolexMagazine.com.
In the meantime, I hope you have enjoyed this teaser for my upcoming story on Dimitri Rebikoff, and when I publish this full story later this year, I am certain it will shed substantial light and immense insight on the genesis of the Rolex Submariner that has never been previously documented—so stay tuned...Special shout out to the Uber talented horological historian, Nick Gould for his invaluable contributions to this story...
Also, thanks to Dimitri Rebikoff for his invaluable design and utilitarian engineering contributions to the Rolex Submariner which he wore his entire career, and we see it on his wrist in the exclusive photo below that has never been published before from the collection of Captain Litt, who worked with Dimitri Rebikoff many years ago. In my upcoming article on Rebikoff, we will see many more action photos of him rocking Rolex Submariner watch models which he kept the time of this amazing life with.
ROLEX
The Timeless Time Machine
I put together a bunch of cool images that depict what I illustrated in the story above, as they tell a story without me having to write words beyond this:
Historically Rolex has always been extremely secretive and discreet, and no journalists in the past have ever been invited "INSIDE ROLEX" to explore and report on all four Rolex Manufacturing faclities in Switzerland.
In November 2013, this changed when Rolex invited Jake to take an unprecdented journey into the heart of Rolex to learn and report on everything he witnessed and learned.
This Super-Detailed 3 Part Story is a "MUST READ" story for anybody who wants to understand what really makes Rolex tick.
