The Reference 126600 Rolex Sea-Dweller was released to the public at Baselworld, Switzerland in 2017. As was the norm for many years, Rolex launched all of its new models at the famous Baselworld trade show. Unfortunately, it may be among the last Baselworld releases since Rolex recently pulled out of the 2021 Baselworld show.
Although Rolex has made many innovations to the horological world in the past 100 years, the Sea-Dweller is arguably the most important achievement. The Sea-Dweller, originally introduced in 1967 supported an extreme depth of 4,000 for deep sea divers. This capitalized on the success of the Rolex Submariner. Yet, Rolex wanted to do something no watch company had ever achieved. They took it new depths with the release of the 44mm Rolex Deepsea version in 2008 which supports incredible depths of 12,800 feet. They commemorated this achievement in a historic solo dive by film director James Cameron who filmed the dive down to 11,000 meters deep – at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. This 2014 commemorative Rolex Deepsea has a D-Blue dial.
Rolex Sea-Dweller 2017 – Reference 126600
Rolex Founder, Hans Wilsdorf had 3 goals when creating the Rolex Oyster timepiece. It had to have precise timekeeping, an automatic movement and water resistance. The reason this was so groundbreaking at the time, was because watches were a thing to be left on the sideline. It was never part of athletic or professional pursuits. With the advent of the waterproof case, now watches could be part of the action and man’s and woman’s greatest achievements.
Rolex continued the tradition and goals Hans Wilsdorf set out for them by making its timepieces ever more precise and water resistant. The Sea-Dweller appeared in the 1960’s when mankind was exploring the deepest parts of the ocean and traversing such deep and distant places like the North Pole and Antarctica with new submarine technology.
The Sea-Dweller is built with industrial grade 904L stainless steel 43mm case. It is 1mm smaller than its big brother – the Rolex Deep-Sea. It comes in an all-steel version and two-tone Rolesor which combines Oystersteel and yellow gold.
It has an amazing 70 hour power reserve in its caliber 3235 movement. The bezel rotates in one direction and has 60 minute graduations in the black ceramic. Large luminescent hour markers and hours, minutes and seconds hands give the timepiece visibility in the darkness of deep sea diving depths where light is extinguished.
The greatest achievement of Rolex’s history is arguably the Helium Escape Valve of the Sea-Dweller. It is visible on the side of the sizable case in the above photo. Before the Escape valve technology was developed, timepieces would essentially explode – the crystal of the watch would often pop off when the diver would be in the decompression chamber. Fine timepieces would essentially be ruined by the end a dive because the Helium in the breathing gases would build up in the case until the pressure would cause the fine crystal to break or pop off the watch. The Helium Escape Valve allows that gas the ability to escape through the side of the timepiece, allowing the timepiece to remain in peak working condition.
50th Anniversary of the Sea-Dweller
In 2017, Rolex wanted to reintroduce the Sea-Dweller with great fanfare – to commemorate its stunning achievement 50 years prior. Although, its predecessor was released only 3 years prior in 2014, the 116600 Sea-Dweller which had no cyclops window and a 40mm case, was completely replaced by the new 126600 Sea-Dweller. The new case has gone through aesthetic changes and gained 3mm in size to 43mm. It also features the cyclops lens over the date aperture. Yet, the depth rating remains at 4000 feet. However it is notable that Rolex actually tests its Sea-Dwellers to withstand 5000 feet of pressure before it releases it to the public.
The Sea-Dweller is fitted with an Oyster bracelet and Oysterlock clasp. The clasp features the Glidelock extension system that extends the length by 20mm in increments of 2mm and a Fliplock extension adding 26mm to its length. The new 43mm case also increases the size of the lugs from 20mm to 22mm.
The name of the model features a red color on the black dial. A Cyclops magnifying lens was also added to this model for the first time. For more information on the 2017 Sea-Dweller model, visit the watchmaker’s official website at rolex.com.
The biggest change on the Rolex Sea-Dweller 2017 is the new caliber 3235 which features 14 new patents. The advancements in Chronergy escapement, new alloys made from nickel-phosphorus, more magnet resistance and powerful Parachrom balance spring allow the new Sea-Dweller to have a 70 hour power reserve, up from 40 hours in the reference 116600.
Rubber B has developed custom straps for both the Rolex Sea-Dweller 2017 (43mm case – reference 126600) here. And it has custom straps developed for the Rolex Sea-Dweller 2014 (40mm case – reference 116600) here.
Rubber B bracelets are made from the finest vulcanized rubber, and each piece is produced in Switzerland. These bands support multiple clasp options including a Tang clasp, Velcro clasp and the original Rolex deployant buckle. These bands feature the Rubber B signature “T” design and have its engineered tight fit to the Sea-Dweller case.
