Rolex is no longer a tool watch, thoughts and comments.

[Dompropat]

Rolex hasn't been making tool watches for decades.

[Shamorai]

A friend recently showed me his fathers DJ2. It had been used hard for over 10 years. The shine from the fluted bezel and center links had long gone. It had the appearance of being made from concrete. The crystal was flawless, and kept perfect time.

I guess wether a Rolex is a tool or jewellery is up to the owner. A modern Rolex is certainly capable of handling both tasks.

[Shaney]

MY OPINION

Tool watch which became symbolised as the ultimate gentlemen's timepiece with 007, the character that although may have many flaws still speaks to a 23 year old like myself as the most cool, calm and collected guy around.

I don't know at what point in the timeline these pieces started to be purchased solely because of their status/reputation as a luxury item but I will blindly assume that it might be around the time we began to see the watches appear in popular culture (a nice piece of product placement in Bond film for example)

These days there is probably a cheaper and maybe better option for a watch to carry out specific duties without the £0000 price tags, thats just how tech develops but the Submariners for example stand true and firm, used by everyone from divers themselves to movie stars, businessmen and world leaders because of what it represents: slickness, elegance, resilience (maybe more as I think later but thats my rant for now)

Would appreciate any knowledge or gap filling I've probably missed

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by Jason71

It doesn’t have any crown guards either. That was back in the day when a person could buy a used 16610LV off the forums for $4,500. Personally, I wish those days would return.

Love it!

[bluered]

My DD is a tool watch. Its intended prepose to tell the day and the date. I use it everyday to do that!

[storm66]

Originally Posted by RobearH

Started out as tool watches but now jewelry first...see 2tone SD43 for proof!

X2....... why TT Seadweller,why!!!
What is the world coming too..... first the cyclops on a Seadweller...then TT

[Submarinerman1971]

I dive with any of my Rolex's all of the time. Most of the diver in my group rely on their computers and only wear their watches because they like them. I don't manually track my dives anymore (although I should) and the computer does a nice job keeping track if I have dove too much.
Regards,
Joe

[padi56]

Originally Posted by ruslan1987

I was in Caribbean’s last week and I love diving, a lot. I have 6 Rolex watches in total including a Sub and Deep Sea Blue, but for my diving watch I picked Tag Heuer Aquaracer Chronograph. For sore reason not only I felt bad taking Rolex to the bottom with me but also I though what if something will happen to it and water will get in somehow and I will be stuck with expensive repair. For some reason they started to look fragile to me for that task that they were manufactured for. And I realized that Rolex from tool watch became a luxury only watch to me.

The only watch that I use as a tool watch is a Pepsi GMT whenever I go to Europe and thats pretty much it.

Does anyone actually used Subs to dive with them?

Myself once on a dive in the Red Sea noticed my crown was fully unscrewed on my SD while at 25m plus.But I did not panic as I was in charge of a group of divers I was guiding over the reef they were far more important than any watch.On return to surface watch was fine and watch is still fine today that was quite a few years ago.The days of Rolex being used as a working tool are long gone,most Rolex watches today get such a pampered life they could make them out of glass.

[artschool]

Originally Posted by Dompropat

Rolex hasn't been making tool watches for decades.

very true.

Rolex used to be interested in technological advances in waterproofing, depth and accuracy.

now all the are interested in is what colour the ceramic bezel is

[zengineer]

Pickup truck guys complain that trucks are too expensive and car-like today. Red Wing work boots are nicer looking and not as durable some will muse. The list goes on and now includes Rolex.

It's called nostalgia, the romanticism of the past. It's boring conversation for the most part. It's also inaccurate and distorted usually.

A Submariner is better made than it was "back then". It will still do anything it would do "back then". If because of changing consumer tastes, expectations and market forces it is now an expensive tool...so what? The market price for a tool dive watch is a few hundred dollars these days. Technology allows anyone with a Kickstarter campaign to make a dive watch. Rolex would be nuts to want to swim with them in the shallow end of the consumer pool.

Rolex changed....yes, they adapted. Companies that don't adapt go the way of Blockbuster Video.

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[yessir69]

Originally Posted by bluered

My DD is a tool watch. Its intended prepose to tell the day and the date. I use it everyday to do that!

You don’t even know what day it is without looking at your watch? Man, I want your life.

[Dsmith1974]

Originally Posted by ruslan1987

I was in Caribbean’s last week and I love diving, a lot. I have 6 Rolex watches in total including a Sub and Deep Sea Blue, but for my diving watch I picked Tag Heuer Aquaracer Chronograph. For sore reason not only I felt bad taking Rolex to the bottom with me but also I though what if something will happen to it and water will get in somehow and I will be stuck with expensive repair. For some reason they started to look fragile to me for that task that they were manufactured for. And I realized that Rolex from tool watch became a luxury only watch to me.

The only watch that I use as a tool watch is a Pepsi GMT whenever I go to Europe and thats pretty much it.

Does anyone actually used Subs to dive with them?

I don’t get this. If anything a six digit sub is more robust and more accurate than a five digit sub. How is it less suited to any task?

[AF_Rob]

I would love a pure tool watch again. I feel the Explorer/ExII line and arguably the OP line is all that is even close to the tool heritage. The other lines have been drifting away.

Ditching the ceramic, adding lume to the bezel and researching stronger materials would be a start. I don’t see it happening, though. The world has passed them by and is stuck as luxury, I’m afraid.


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[zengineer]

Originally Posted by artschool

very true.



Rolex used to be interested in technological advances in waterproofing, depth and accuracy.



now all the are interested in is what colour the ceramic bezel is

If Tag Heuer could change the bezel color of a watch and suddenly have people clinging over each other to pay $5000 more than the other color, they would.

I disagree that Rolex is no longer a tool watch. Yes, they became expensive. If you really just want a tool, then buy a $700 Seiko.

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[Busyboy]

Originally Posted by zengineer

Pickup truck guys complain that trucks are too expensive and car-like today. Red Wing work boots are nicer looking and not as durable some will muse. The list goes on and now includes Rolex.

It's called nostalgia, the romanticism of the past. It's boring conversation for the most part. It's also inaccurate and distorted usually.

A Submariner is better made than it was "back then". It will still do anything it would do "back then". If because of changing consumer tastes, expectations and market forces it is now an expensive tool...so what? The market price for a tool dive watch is a few hundred dollars these days. Technology allows anyone with a Kickstarter campaign to make a dive watch. Rolex would be nuts to want to swim with them in the shallow end of the consumer pool.

Rolex changed....yes, they adapted. Companies that don't adapt go the way of Blockbuster Video.

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Yup

[AK797]

Rolex and working watches are not Jewellery by definition.

But one of the tools of a Rolex is that it can be used as jewellery, just as it can for many other purposes and explicit functions.

[bluered]

LOL Duncan true retired life ! No idea what day it is anymore !

[AK797]

Originally Posted by zengineer

Pickup truck guys complain that trucks are too expensive and car-like today. Red Wing work boots are nicer looking and not as durable some will muse. The list goes on and now includes Rolex.

It's called nostalgia, the romanticism of the past. It's boring conversation for the most part. It's also inaccurate and distorted usually.

A Submariner is better made than it was "back then". It will still do anything it would do "back then". If because of changing consumer tastes, expectations and market forces it is now an expensive tool...so what? The market price for a tool dive watch is a few hundred dollars these days. Technology allows anyone with a Kickstarter campaign to make a dive watch. Rolex would be nuts to want to swim with them in the shallow end of the consumer pool.

Rolex changed....yes, they adapted. Companies that don't adapt go the way of Blockbuster Video.

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Even the nostalgia argument is false, by the time we get to Goldfinger and the others the Sub is clearly established as a status watch and Bond is wearing it in casinos and bars to communicate that to his enemies and suitors. He is actually using the jewellery aspect of it as a tool.

Nothing has changed, they are the same watches, used in the same way, at least since the 60s.

[donq]

Originally Posted by Dsmith1974

I don’t get this. If anything a six digit sub is more robust and more accurate than a five digit sub. How is it less suited to any task?

It’s less suited to the task by being eclipsed by more capable, cheaper technology.

A fountain pen, or a quill for that matter, is still capable of writing a letter, But everyone for the most part uses E-mail nowadays.

You could argue that fountain pens have never been better, and you would be right, but in terms of being the best tool for the job they are no longer a front runner. People still use them, but it’s an affectation or style choice, not a practical decision.

Tools are probably best defined by the people who use them to get real work done, that use them everyday and whose income or life depends on them. Pro divers, pilots and explorers don’t all wear Rolex, in spite of what their advertising says.

Mechanical watches have been on the decline in that role since more accurate electronic technology arrived (the quartz crisis). They haven’t changed functionally or capability wise, but the world around them has changed significantly, leaving them behind with the cars with no air bags and the mechanical adding machines.

They are nice things, better built than ever before and highly capable in their own way, but no longer the best tool for the job.

[Greg5512]

Your watch is what it is and/or defined because of the way in which you use it. The original deep sea was two-tone (at least one) which was strapped to the Trieste. So that ends that speculation as to whether a tool watch can be two-tone. So there is one example of it. Other than baseless claims that a ‘tool watch’ must be stainless steel by a bunch of people on this forum, there is no definition of the same. It is no different than claiming that a sports car can only be with a carbon fiber body and not metal.

[airchitect]

Actually, though more refined, more elegant, and generally more “pretty” than in the past, all Rolex watches of today are far more robust than those of yesterday. The only thing I might question is aluminum inserts vs ceramic....that’s it. Cases are beefier, movements more shock resistant, same or better for water resistance.... literally everything, other than the bulk of a professional model being brushed, is better.

[illiguy]

What's the point of his thread? If Rolex is no longer a tool watch company, go buy an old Rolex and get it water tested.

[Dsmith1974]

Originally Posted by donq

It’s less suited to the task by being eclipsed by more capable, cheaper technology.



A fountain pen, or a quill for that matter, is still capable of writing a letter, But everyone for the most part uses E-mail nowadays.



You could argue that fountain pens have never been better, and you would be right, but in terms of being the best tool for the job they are no longer a front runner. People still use them, but it’s an affectation or style choice, not a practical decision.



Tools are probably best defined by the people who use them to get real work done, that use them everyday and whose income or life depends on them. Pro divers, pilots and explorers don’t all wear Rolex, in spite of what their advertising says.



Mechanical watches have been on the decline in that role since more accurate electronic technology arrived (the quartz crisis). They haven’t changed functionally or capability wise, but the world around them has changed significantly, leaving them behind with the cars with no air bags and the mechanical adding machines.



They are nice things, better built than ever before and highly capable in their own way, but no longer the best tool for the job.

Yes good points. There are more choices available these days, but none of that makes a six digit any less suitable than a five digit.



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[2sInHot]

Originally Posted by artschool

very true.



Rolex used to be interested in technological advances in waterproofing, depth and accuracy.



now all the are interested in is what colour the ceramic bezel is

Curious, but I thought that was the point of the DSSD ?

Intersting discussion though

[jason10mm]

I'd agree that Rolex has moved away from tool watches. There was a thread on one of these forums where a guy dropped his subc and cracked the crystal. Must have chipped the ceramic bezel as well. Rolex charged him almost 3 grand for crystal, bezel, and dial replacement! That is a jewelry problem, not a tool watch problem, IMHO.

[jonnyz1245]

Originally Posted by 2sInHot

Curious, but I thought that was the point of the DSSD ?

Intersting discussion though

And its tested to a tolerance of 25% beyond its depth rating. How dare you argue that the DSSD is a tool watch. To quote another poster, you sir are lying to yourself

It's great to see all the divers on this forum using their non-tool watches as intended. I dive with mine too.

[jonnyz1245]

Originally Posted by artschool

very true.

Rolex used to be interested in technological advances in waterproofing, depth and accuracy.

now all the are interested in is what colour the ceramic bezel is

How far down does the DSSD go?

[Dsmith1974]

Originally Posted by jonnyz1245

How far down does the DSSD go?

All the way down. Beyond that which a human can go. Beyond that which a nuclear submarine can go.

I’m waiting to see if Omega or Rolex will be the first to bring out a divers watch whose rating exceeds the deepest ocean on Earth.



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[2sInHot]

Which was my point, regardless of how impractical to a human.

Rolex pushes the envelope there... at least

[2sInHot]

Originally Posted by jonnyz1245

And its tested to a tolerance of 25% beyond its depth rating. How dare you argue that the DSSD is a tool watch. To quote another poster, you sir are lying to yourself



It's great to see all the divers on this forum using their non-tool watches as intended. I dive with mine too.

Ha ha,
Apologies I missed your first comment.

Dive, work and been to war in mine. Strange thing is, when I need to tell the time, it does that to !!!

Granted, sarcasm alert