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Old 15 January 2019, 04:48 PM   #1
JP.
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Sea-Dweller 16660 and 16600 case differences

The crown guards on 16600 are thin. This is a photograph of my friend's MINT 16600 when it was brand spankin' new back in 2004. So please don't come up with the "it has been polished"-stuff. You can find tons of similar examples.



This is a photograph of a 16660. Crown guards are MUCH thicker.



However there seems to be variation. Are these thick crown guards in 16660 line tied to certain model series only?
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Old 15 January 2019, 05:38 PM   #2
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I believe there could be two things going on. 1) variation in the cases for the individual watches and 2) The amount of polishing done on the two watches during services.
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Old 15 January 2019, 05:42 PM   #3
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1) Yes. Strange that I've never seen discussion of this. These thick guards are characteristic to 16660 Triple Six models only. There are no 16600's or 1665's with such guards.

2) Nope. Like I wrote that photograph is from 2004 when my friend received his watch BRAND NEW from the authorized dealer. How could it has been "polished in the service"? My unpolished 16600 looks exactly like that as well.
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Old 15 January 2019, 08:04 PM   #4
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Quote:
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I believe there could be two things going on. 1) variation in the cases for the individual watches and 2) The amount of polishing done on the two watches during services.
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Old 15 January 2019, 09:24 PM   #5
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Interesting. I’ll pull out my triple six and compare it with one of my 16600s. I never closely compared, but I would have thought that the cases were identical. Thanks for posting this
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Old 15 January 2019, 10:04 PM   #6
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Interesting. I’ll pull out my triple six and compare it with one of my 16600s. I never closely compared, but I would have thought that the cases were identical. Thanks for posting this
No problem.

I've seen 16660 cases that are identical to 16600. But I've also seen these cases with bulkier crown guards. First I thought they were fake cases but no... they definitely are genuine. I'm interested if it's tied to certain serial only.
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Old 15 January 2019, 11:03 PM   #7
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If the cases receive a final polish by hand from Rolex as a final step of production (BEFORE being delivered as new to the AD), I would imagine there are slight variations.
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Old 15 January 2019, 11:21 PM   #8
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If the cases receive a final polish by hand from Rolex as a final step of production (BEFORE being delivered as new to the AD), I would imagine there are slight variations.
But there is ZERO variation among the 16600's. They all look identical when new (with skinny crown guards).

Triple Sixes just have bulkier guards.

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Old 15 January 2019, 11:32 PM   #9
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But there is ZERO variation among the 16600's. They all look identical when new (with skinny crown guards).

Triple Sixes just have bulkier guards.


Rolex also, adds the 3rd 6 to the DSSD reference and it too has largest crown guards of its Rolex dive watch universe (6 digit dive watches). Does actually Rolex use the (x)xxx"60" to designate bulkier crown guards I wonder. Interesting topic OP
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Old 15 January 2019, 11:37 PM   #10
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I don't know. I think it's fascinating because I've never seen any discussion of this before.
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Old 16 January 2019, 02:26 AM   #11
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The 16660 also had thicker chamfers as well.

16660 - unpolished


16600 - unpolished
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Old 16 January 2019, 02:53 AM   #12
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In the past, cases were finished by hand by an individual watchmaker. This included the cutting of the crown guards. Makes sense that it wasn't always an automated machining process too. This is why you will see some variation if you look across many vintage models.
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Old 16 January 2019, 03:05 AM   #13
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Cool. I wasn't aware of the thicker chamfers, either. I bought my first Rolex 15 years ago but I still learn something new every day.

One of my fellow watch enthusiast from Finland has posted a lot of pics of his beautiful triple six lately. At first I couldn't put my finger on it what looked different to 16600.
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Old 16 January 2019, 03:16 AM   #14
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This is an interesting thread. Thanks for posting it. I have both a 16600 and 16660 incoming today, so I’ll be interested to compare them side-by-side when they arrive.
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Old 16 January 2019, 03:20 AM   #15
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Very interesting.
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Old 16 January 2019, 04:05 AM   #16
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There seems to be two styles of chamfers, the thicker style which came on more vintage pieces and a “thinner” chamfer that came on later 5 digit pieces.
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Old 17 January 2019, 10:10 AM   #17
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I’m not the world’s best photographer, but for comparison purposes, my new-to-me 16660 and 16600.
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Old 17 January 2019, 05:08 PM   #18
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Thanks for the picture Mick. What a stunning pair!

The difference is more apparent in the shot that has been taken from above.
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Old 21 April 2019, 10:28 PM   #19
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Another interesting observation:

5-digit Submariners and Sea-Dwellers also have some variation in crown guards. This picture of my friend's 16613 has been taken when the watch was brand spanking NEW. The other (lower) crown guard is a little bit thinner and differently shaped than the upper crown guard.

This is actually very common. Also 16600's has been made with non-symmetrical crown guards.

Not that it's a big deal... it's just interesting trivia for the "hardcores". Many of them are paranoid about cases being polished. This is not the case... they came from the factory like this.

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Old 22 April 2019, 01:45 AM   #20
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Old 22 April 2019, 04:21 AM   #21
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Yes... looks like this is typical with the new cases too.
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Old 22 April 2019, 06:25 AM   #22
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Old 24 April 2019, 07:37 AM   #23
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16600 NOS with same characteristics (lower crown guard much thinner than the upper). There seems to be a lot of these cases and I guess they're from certain model series and year.

https://www.chrono24.fi/rolex/sea-dw...GhWN2CNXNsnZSo

Nobody could spot these things with a naked eye and it has ZERO importance... but it's just interesting trivia. Also good to know if people start claiming that cases have been overpolished. No... these came from the factory like this.

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Old 14 June 2020, 03:06 PM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason71 View Post
Interesting. I’ll pull out my triple six and compare it with one of my 16600s. I never closely compared, but I would have thought that the cases were identical. Thanks for posting this
Still looking to see the comparisson pictures Jason !
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Old 9 August 2023, 09:25 AM   #25
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Found this comparison thread, super helpful. Thank you so much guys.
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