Would this be too late to review my 16610?

[JJ Irani]

Hi guys,

What can I say about the superlative 16610 - or more popularly known as the SS Sub-date?

I've had my baby on now for just over 8 months and, knowing how anal I am about accuracy and performance, I am absolutely overjoyed to announce that this watch has NEVER let me down in this department!!

Even as I type this message, the watch is virtually spot-on!! Everything they say about the amazing 3135 movement is true - very true!!! Yes, there are much better finished and more attractive movements out there...and from some of the finest watch manufacturing Swiss firms in the world!! Those movements, in fact, are so beautiful, they deserve a transparent caseback.

However, with the 3135 movement, there's really NOTHING to see in terms of beauty and finesse. It's a bloody workhorse...and that's exactly what it's been designed to do. So Rolex never make any watch with transparent casebacks. Their movements have been designed to be heard and appreciated...NOT watched (no pun intended!! )

The CASE: Massive and very solid. Love the no-holes on the sides look! Gives it a nice smooth kinda continuity. Crown guards are perfectly designed to hug the massive TRIPLOCK crown. Size of 40 mm is perfect for virtually most wrist sizes - not too big and not too small!!

The CRYSTAL: Whereas the older models had their crystals sitting very high up on the top of the case, this one is virtually flush with the bezel and with only a very, very slight and negligible height difference. Solid, massive crystal designed to easily take water pressures at a depth of 1000+ feet of water!!

The CROWN: Love the TRIPLOCK crown, its largeness and the feel of its ultra-smooth winding mechanism. The added 'O-ring' around the stem gives you just that extra assurance that this baby can go down to virtually any depth YOU can possibly take it down to.

The BEZEL: Never had any problems with it. Hardly ever use it except perhaps sometimes at parking meters when I go downtown. Clicks through 120 stops for one complete counter-clockwise rotation. I'm happy with that!!

The DIAL: Now we come to the most aesthetically important part of any watch. This dial is black...and I do mean BLACK.....a total negation of all colours!! And that's what BLACK's all about!! NO COLOURS!! The standard size markers and hands are perfectly suited for this all time classic and, I'm afraid, a maxi dial and hands on this beauty would just about ruin its all time PERFECT appearance. And that unique centre sweep...absolute CRACKER!!

The BRACELET: With all this recent hype about HOLLOW and SOLID centre links, frankly I see no problem with HOLLOW centre links. I can assure you these links are extremely strong. Each link is additionally reinforced with small spring bars inside to compensate for friction. Seriously, you could hang a 200 pound man from this Oyster Fliplock bracelet and it would HOLD!!

The CLASP: I much prefer this longer 8-hole clasp as compared with the shorter Oysterlock one. Somehow it sits much better on my 7½" wrist, but some may prefer the shorter clasp.

Well, that's about it, guys. In 26 years, this is my FOURTH SS Sub-date. Guess I just keep going back to it, uh?
Thanks for reading, guys - JJ