A one week pictorial review and observations of the SeaDweller 50th anniversary.

[Mystro]

Originally Posted by Dirt

There's plenty of strap options out there.
Rubber B comes to mind, or something in Kevlar perhaps?

Wasn’t a option as Rolex is a bracelet watch in my collection. Their bracelets are too nice to not use them. I own other watches like Panerai that are my strap watches. It’s not that I don’t love the SD50th but I can’t wear it without my hand going numb. Sucks but life goes on and so will other Rolex models.

[Mystro]

Originally Posted by Bigblu10

Based on your Hulk ownership, I estimated you would have this watch for about a year before you flipped it, even with your glowing reviews. Boy, did I overestimate that figure.

. Yet I owned a Bluesy for 19 years before that so generally I don’t flip watches. This catch and release was beyond my control. The SD50th is increadable and my situation is rare and takes nothing away from my opinion or my love for the model.

[strafer_kid]

Great pictures!

[Bigblu10]

Originally Posted by Mystro

. Yet I owned a Bluesy for 19 years before that so generally I don’t flip watches. This catch and release was beyond my control. The SD50th is increadable and my situation is rare and takes nothing away from my opinion or my love for the model.

You want a grail get a full gold Sub. YG or WG, whichever you fancy. You will forget about the SD and Hulk real fast. Love mine.

[JacksonStone]

Originally Posted by Mystro

It’s a bummer but my wife had mercy on me and green lighted some more money to purchase a grail watch that is 40mm and not as heavy in its place.
Decades at this hobby and it still can throw a curve balls at you.

Do we get to know the grail, or should we wait until the big reveal? (Normally I'm annoyed when members drag it out, but yours are fun. I credit the awesome pictures and write-ups.)

[crazycarlitos]

Originally Posted by Mystro

I have a somber follow up to this review:

I have been having finger numbness and wrist/arm pain for a week now. I went to my friend that is a MD and he narrowed down that I have two raised tendons on the inside of my left wrist that flexes up when I make a muscle. My SD50th clasp is putting pressure on these two tendons and causing this pain and numbness. Its a combo of the weight of the watch and the clasp. I have tried sizing the watch looser but it wraps off my wrist bones and hand. I have tried every sizing combo there is in a desperate attempt and I cant get the paint to go away while wearing the SD50th. I have lifted weights for 30 years and am very muscular but the tendons rise up too high around my wrist muscles.
I have never had this issue with any of my other oversized watches. I switched the SD out for another watch like my DJ2 and the pain and numbness goes away within a 1/2 hour. Ugh.... Talking this over with my wife I am going to cut the SD50th loose and put down some more money to purchase a grail watch that is in the 40mm size. I am at a watch size/weight impasse for my wrist. I wear a 44mm Panerai on a strap for years without any issues and it doent give a whiff of pain perhaps because its on a strap.
I am pissed about the whole situation as I could have never have factored a pinched tendon in on a watch purchase. I think this is a unique situation and doesn't take anything away from the SD50th at all. Decades of Rolex ownership and this is a first.

sorry to hear

confused if its the weight or the size that is causing problems for ur tendon...

but if its causing pain, definitely trade for one that doesn't.

keep in mind, PM models weigh more than sd43

[Mystro]

Originally Posted by Bigblu10

You want a grail get a full gold Sub. YG or WG, whichever you fancy. You will forget about the SD and Hulk real fast. Love mine.

All that PM weight will be a issue so I am going with a very unique TT profesional model that brought me to my knees when it was introduced this year, new movement, updated design, 40mm,.........it can only be a GMT 126711 CHNR. Wearing a Bluesy for 19 years and was moving away from yellow gold but that rose gold this year with that tobacco brown/black dial put it on the top of my list. Availability was a major pain but since I know what size watch my wrist likes I said what the hell and tracked down a new stickered full set bought this month. One of our trusted sellers helped me out. Our network takes care of our own. Incoming Friday.

[Bigblu10]

Originally Posted by Mystro

All that PM weight will be a issue so I am going with a very unique TT profesional model that brought me to my knees when it was introduced this year, new movement, updated design, 40mm,.........it can only be a GMT 126711 CHNR. Wearing a Bluesy for 19 years and was moving away from yellow gold but that rose gold this year with that tobacco brown/black dial put it on the top of my list. Availability was a major pain but since I know what size watch my wrist likes I said what the hell and tracked down a new stickered full set bought this month. One of our trusted sellers helped me out. Our network takes care of our own. Incoming Friday.

It is a beautiful watch. I can't fault you one bit.

[samson66]

Originally Posted by Mystro

Here is a pic of the two together. The DJ2 is much thinner and lighter in weight.

I agree, but what I'm saying is you stated the DJ2 is 42mm. I'm pretty certain it's almost exactly 41mm in diameter. The DJ41 on the other hand comes in at 39.5mm I believe.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge using Tapatalk

[Mystro]

Originally Posted by samson66

I agree, but what I'm saying is you stated the DJ2 is 42mm. I'm pretty certain it's almost exactly 41mm in diameter. The DJ41 on the other hand comes in at 39.5mm I believe.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge using Tapatalk

Could be. I have read 42mm and 41mm and have seen a few informal size comparisons to the new DJ41 and the DJ2 is bigger.
I have not actually measured my DJ2. I need to brake out the calibers as that is one area with watches I have not gone into that much.

[antbkny]

Sorry for the pain, I’m glad you figured it out quickly. Must be the additional width of the clasp in comparison to the sub?

And rubber ain’t so bad! But I agree, the oyster bracelet is hard to beat.

[jenedla]

Wow, what a curious turn of events and such a shame for you, Mystro.
I'm looking forward to your review and wrist shots of the CHNR; its been on my shortlist.

[VicLeChic]

Originally Posted by JacksonStone

VicLeChic says the Rolex master catalog lists the SD43 dial diameter as 29mm, and the Sub and DSSD dial diameters as 28mm. Given Rolex's liberty with measurements (we all know the DJ41 is really 40mm, for instance), I'll take that with a grain of salt. Even if Rolex's figures are correct, though, proportionally the SD43's case is 16% larger than the Sub's by top-surface area, whereas the SD43's dial is only 7% larger than the Sub's by the same standard. In other words, the SD43's dial is proportionally smaller relative to its case and bezel. I can already see Padi yelling about how hung up we are on picky details, but the numbers do confirm some subjective observations that the SD43's dial appears "small" compared to the case. At the very least, we can objectively say that the proportions of the SD43 are different from that of the Sub's.

Comparison with the Explorer II raises another question. When Rolex beefed up the Exp. II from 40mm to 42mm, they not only made the dial bigger, but they actually created a larger movement specifically for the watch, so the date window would not be too far inboard and throw off the dial layout. The SD43 uses the same size movement as what's in the current Sub (the 3235 is the same size as the 3135). If they made the SD43's dial too much bigger, without also enlarging the movement, the date window would be out of place and screw up the look. So the question is, why would Rolex develop a larger movement for the 42mm Exp. II, but not the 43mm SD43? Was that a conscious design choice, a functional consideration (due to WR requirements), or a cost-cutting measure?

I've had another look at the dial section of the master catalogue, available here : http://oysterworld.de/dials-bracelets.html.

Printed the pages and measured with a ruler. Far from accurate but gives a good idea of the dial difference, which is actually a lot less than what I initially thought.

I get 27mm for the Sub and Deepsea dials. The SD43 measures a tiny bit more at 27.3-27.5mm approximately, hard to tell without a caliper. Maybe someone can give a better measurement.

[VicLeChic]

Originally Posted by Mystro

I have a somber follow up to this review:

I have been having finger numbness and wrist/arm pain for a week now. I went to my friend that is a MD and he narrowed down that I have two raised tendons on the inside of my left wrist that flexes up when I make a muscle. My SD50th clasp is putting pressure on these two tendons and causing this pain and numbness. Its a combo of the weight of the watch and the clasp. I have tried sizing the watch looser but it wraps off my wrist bones and hand. I have tried every sizing combo there is in a desperate attempt and I cant get the paint to go away while wearing the SD50th. I have lifted weights for 30 years and am very muscular but the tendons rise up too high around my wrist muscles.
I have never had this issue with any of my other oversized watches. I switched the SD out for another watch like my DJ2 and the pain and numbness goes away within a 1/2 hour. Ugh.... Talking this over with my wife I am going to cut the SD50th loose and put down some more money to purchase a grail watch that is in the 40mm size. I am at a watch size/weight impasse for my wrist. I wear a 44mm Panerai on a strap for years without any issues and it doent give a whiff of pain perhaps because its on a strap.
I am pissed about the whole situation as I could have never have factored a pinched tendon in on a watch purchase. I think this is a unique situation and doesn't take anything away from the SD50th at all. Decades of Rolex ownership and this is a first.

Wow, first time I hear of such thing. Sorry but glad you found the cause and can easily put a remedy to it. The SD43 clearly wasn't meant for your wrist. The good thing is you got more cash to spend on its replacement, so that's cool.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Mystro

I have a somber follow up to this review:

I have been having finger numbness and wrist/arm pain for a week now. I went to my friend that is a MD and he narrowed down that I have two raised tendons on the inside of my left wrist that flexes up when I make a muscle. My SD50th clasp is putting pressure on these two tendons and causing this pain and numbness. Its a combo of the weight of the watch and the clasp. I have tried sizing the watch looser but it wraps off my wrist bones and hand. I have tried every sizing combo there is in a desperate attempt and I cant get the paint to go away while wearing the SD50th. I have lifted weights for 30 years and am very muscular but the tendons rise up too high around my wrist muscles.
I have never had this issue with any of my other oversized watches. I switched the SD out for another watch like my DJ2 and the pain and numbness goes away within a 1/2 hour. Ugh.... Talking this over with my wife I am going to cut the SD50th loose and put down some more money to purchase a grail watch that is in the 40mm size. I am at a watch size/weight impasse for my wrist. I wear a 44mm Panerai on a strap for years without any issues and it doent give a whiff of pain perhaps because its on a strap.
I am pissed about the whole situation as I could have never have factored a pinched tendon in on a watch purchase. I think this is a unique situation and doesn't take anything away from the SD50th at all. Decades of Rolex ownership and this is a first.

Sorry to hear

Have you considered tendon surgery? I mean, the problem isn't going away, just the symptom when you wear this particular reference seems odd. Just a thought

All the best of luck to you.

[Devildog]

Originally Posted by VicLeChic

I've had another look at the dial section of the master catalogue, available here : http://oysterworld.de/dials-bracelets.html.

Printed the pages and measured with a ruler. Far from accurate but gives a good idea of the dial difference, which is actually a lot less than what I initially thought.

I get 27mm for the Sub and Deepsea dials. The SD43 measures a tiny bit more at 27.3-27.5mm approximately, hard to tell without a caliper. Maybe someone can give a better measurement.

The only problem here is that you are making a MASSIVE assumption that the images in the catalogue are all exactly to scale.

[Devildog]

Mystro - also sorry to hear that you can't wear the watch without pain.

Great choice on the CHNR however

[VicLeChic]

Originally Posted by Devildog

The only problem here is that you are making a MASSIVE assumption that the images in the catalogue are all exactly to scale.

Reasonable assumption I think, considering my Yacht-Master dial is 27mm when I measure it inside my watch and on the catalogue. Do you have reasons to believe the catalogue is not to scale?

[Devildog]

Originally Posted by VicLeChic

Reasonable assumption I think, considering my Yacht-Master dial is 27mm when I measure it inside my watch and on the catalogue. Do you have reasons to believe the catalogue is not to scale?

Yes, on the basis that there is no need for the catalogue to be to scale. Just approximate.

Also, does the dial sit behind the rehaut or inside it. If behind you’re not seeing all the dial when you measure your watch but you are in the catalogue

The margins you’ve measured would need the catalogue to be exact to give a meaningful conclusion, statistically.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JacksonStone]

Originally Posted by Devildog

Also, does the dial sit behind the rehaut or inside it. If behind you’re not seeing all the dial when you measure your watch but you are in the catalogue

That's a good point. I've tried measuring my Sub's dial with calipers, but it's no use, since the only physical thing for it to grab on to is the edge of the crystal, which extends past the rehaut. Therefore, I'm not getting an accurate measurement of the visible portion of the dial, let alone what might not be seen. FWIW, I measure the crystal diameter at 30mm.

[samson66]

Stumbled back to this thread for some reason and I'm informing you that I am officially stealing this photo from you. Just love this picture. Beautiful shot the way the bezel catches the sun!

[Neutronman]

Nice review, nice watch. Too thick for me.

[fsprow]

I have had one for two months and it is becoming my favorite. Astoundingly accurate -- within 1 or perhaps 2 seconds per day stored overnight with stem up.

[burnthesehills]

Awesome photos! Nice job.

[strafer_kid]

Originally Posted by fsprow

I have had one for two months and it is becoming my favorite. Astoundingly accurate -- within 1 or perhaps 2 seconds per day stored overnight with stem up.

Same here - have noticed great accuracy with mine so far!

[Rolexnoob2018]

Absolutely stunning pics!