Page Dimensions

Approx. 8 1/8" x 12 1/4" (20cm x 31cm)

Story and Details

Only three Rolex advertisements come to mind that show a beautiful, full-color image of an early Sea Dweller. I'm talking about the Ref. 1665 "Double Red" Sea Dweller. This is one of them. The other two are incredibly-hard to get. As you can imagine, the Sea Dweller wasn't advertised in mainstream magazines. With the initial target market being saturation divers, the heavily-engineered watch was promoted in journals and periodicals these professionals would subscribe to and read. Because those obscure publications are so hard to find, at this point, I'm more likely to find an actual Sea Dweller washed ashore than find one of those other ads, both mentioning COMEX in the headline. Of course COMEX is the French commercial diving company with a deep history of partnership with Rolex.

Back to this ad, which actually isn't too common if you consider this particular example I have available... Believe it or not, it's not from a magazine. Nope. Rather, it's the very-first page of a reference book. The kind of heavy, hardcover tome you'd find on the shelf of a library. If I'm lucky enough to find a clean page, without a library stamping, writing, or worse, then I've found something unmatched. Unmatched in terms of quality compared to the magazine version. Yes, this ad was run in a few publications - in color and in black and white. The nature of magazine printing means you get a lot of variability... Often the image of the watch isn't crisp. Those all-important lines of red text printed blurry.

However, this version, from a book, is always sharp. The paper is thick and renders the best possible outcome. If you're not lucky enough to own the actual watch, you just need to look at the photo in the ad to imagine what it would feel like to look down upon. The quality is that good. In any condition, this "hardcover book page" version is the example to own. 

In this 1979 advertisement for the Sea Dweller, the basic technology of the timepiece is spelled out. Basically, the Sea Dweller is a watch designed to avoid what divers sometimes suffer from - decompression sickness - or "the bends." 

I have absolutely no desire to dive deep, but that fact wouldn't prevent me from wearing a Double Red Sea Dweller. Personally, I love the fascinating story behind its development and evolution. The history of the watch is reason enough to seek one out and wear it proudly.