Finally seen a 1971 Red Submariner out in the wild

[Onequik135i]

I Just got back from Publix food shopping & ran into an older gentleman wearing a red sub. So I struck up a conversation with him, the watch was his dads originally which was handed down to him with no B&P. He hasn’t had it serviced since 10 years ago & he claims it wasn’t ever polished. I asked to take a wrist shot so he obliged, figured I would share with you vintage experts out there.


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[alwayshere]

geezzz... crossing wrists... a bit intimate, don't you think?

nice pieces but definitely polished before. The upper lugs shouldn't be mirror finish which the pics show otherwise.

[Onequik135i]

In the photo the lugs do appear polished I agree but in person the lugs did not appear polished and had very pronounced chamfers. Not something I see everyday of course so figured I would post it up on the forums.


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[indianmachine]

nice encounter! Maybe just be a sleeve polish?

[Dries]

Great shot

[RollieAMI]

Nice eye in a Publix! Meters first is definitely the more collectible version of the red sub, although this one does appear to be polished..usually not good when you can see your reflection in the lugs, but your Daytona looks great!! I’d also say that is has a thin font service insert which is kinda sad too..probably had a nice faded fat font that was swapped during service

[FrenchBigCrown]

Thanks for sharing.

[1675-David]

Originally Posted by indianmachine

nice encounter! Maybe just be a sleeve polish?

X2 sleeve polish. When a watch is polished the polisher will almost certainly restore the matted surface of the lugs, sleeve polished lugs confirm that the watch hasn't been polished for a long time, possibly never.

[1William]

Nice watches.

[Haywood_Milton]

Well spotted! It's a rare beastie.

The last decade's fascination with the finish of exposed metal parts on fifty year old watches is somewhat puzzling to me.

The headline historically (and for me still should be) that this has not just a red writing dial, but a meters first red writing dial.

While grumbling, may I also complain about the increasing use elsewhere of the term "Single Red" for such Submariner 1680s. A "Single Red" is something entirely different and it is lazy / incorrect to conflate the two.

Insta : haywood_milton_rolex

[mattedialdoc]

Originally Posted by 1675-David

X2 sleeve polish. When a watch is polished the polisher will almost certainly restore the matted surface of the lugs, sleeve polished lugs confirm that the watch hasn't been polished for a long time, possibly never.

X10 sleeve polish. I had a MF just like that. Thick as thieves and shiny AF.


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[alwayshere]

haha putting aside the debate on polish no polish vis-a-vis value, i'm not sure why some are saying its not polished with this "sleeve polish" concept?

I think its pretty obvious its been polished before. Who would purposely polished the sleeve of the lugs to confirm it hasn't been polished otherwise? what new nonsense are we trying to introduce into this vintage world now...

[baumare]

Originally Posted by 1675-David

X2 sleeve polish. When a watch is polished the polisher will almost certainly restore the matted surface of the lugs, sleeve polished lugs confirm that the watch hasn't been polished for a long time, possibly never.

For sleeve polish you mean polished just by daily friction with clothing etc..?

[Wahlberg]

Originally Posted by alwayshere

I think its pretty obvious its been polished before. Who would purposely polished the sleeve of the lugs to confirm it hasn't been polished otherwise? what new nonsense are we trying to introduce into this vintage world now...

What?

Either I don't understand you or are you joking? You understand the term sleeve polish right?

[fskywalker]

Nice!


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[1675-David]

Originally Posted by alwayshere

haha putting aside the debate on polish no polish vis-a-vis value, i'm not sure why some are saying its not polished with this "sleeve polish" concept?

I think its pretty obvious its been polished before. Who would purposely polished the sleeve of the lugs to confirm it hasn't been polished otherwise? what new nonsense are we trying to introduce into this vintage world now...

Sleeve polish is what happens to the tops of the lugs after decades of daily wear from the sleeve of the shirt, jumper, jacket you are wearing...if however you only wear tee shirts like in Australia, sleeve polish is not going to be an issue, that's probably why you never heard of it

[Haywood_Milton]

Originally Posted by 1675-David

Sleeve polish is what happens to the tops of the lugs after decades of daily wear from the sleeve of the shirt, jumper, jacket you are wearing...if however you only wear tee shirts like in Australia, sleeve polish is not going to be an issue, that's probably why you never heard of it

While in the UK we more commonly suffer from tweed-burn, as on this 6536/1 bezel :

[brandrea]

Sounds like a nice encounter OP

[Dan S]

What a great meet-up! This never happens to me. The only watch encounter I can recall recently was seeing a gentleman wearing a new yellow gold Yachtmaster on a rubber strap. I threw up in my mouth a little bit.

[alwayshere]

Originally Posted by 1675-David

Sleeve polish is what happens to the tops of the lugs after decades of daily wear from the sleeve of the shirt, jumper, jacket you are wearing...if however you only wear tee shirts like in Australia, sleeve polish is not going to be an issue, that's probably why you never heard of it

guys.....seriously....are you saying that you can get a polish on the top of the lugs to a mirror shine via sleeves over time? an area largely protected by the bezel and both left and right hand of the watch?

tell me you're joking....

[1675-David]

Thats exactly what I'm saying, no joke, honest! Cross my heart!!

Here's my unpolished 1675

[alwayshere]

Originally Posted by 1675-David

Thats exactly what I'm saying, no joke, honest! Cross my heart!!

Here's my unpolished 1675

Not quite the same mirror polish btw - you can actually still see the "brush" on the top of your lugs.

The OP's picture I think tells a different story. I'm still skeptical.

[1675-David]

Originally Posted by alwayshere

Not quite the same mirror polish btw - you can actually still see the "brush" on the top of your lugs.

The OP's picture I think tells a different story. I'm still skeptical.

I don’t have a problem with that

[Onequik135i]

The guys watch did show brushing on the top of the lugs w great chamfers in person that is. That pic I took does not justify that obviously. It looked terrific in person & my eyes can pick up on things like this. I was just very excited to actually run into something like that & of all places at a local Tampa Publix.

[2loaded]

Very nice !

[1665fan]

Very nice meters first! Needs a long 5 insert…..I have a never polished 1680 5.5 mill serial so probably 5 years newer never polished and the lugs are also sleeve polished bits never been polished in the past…. The lugs aren’t as shiny as that but most of the brushing is gone on the left hand lugs

[ianmcg]

Originally Posted by 1665fan

Very nice meters first! Needs a long 5 insert

Is that for sure - I've often wondered. I have a MK3 1680 with a tropical dial and faded insert which is not a long 5. Of course it may not be original insert and/or by the time they were making the last m first red 1680s they may have started using the Mk3 inserts.

However, I noted this Rolex Submariner brochure photo which clearly is a Mk1 1680 with no long five where the contemporaneous 5513 does have a long a five.

Brochures are not definitive perhaps (Big White 1665 being the classic case) but I'd be surprised if this isn't deliberate given that the two are on the same page.

Any thoughts?

Ian

[scooba]

Originally Posted by ianmcg

Is that for sure - I've often wondered. I have a MK3 1680 with a tropical dial and faded insert which is not a long 5. Of course it may not be original insert and/or by the time they were making the last m first red 1680s they may have started using the Mk3 inserts.

However, I noted this Rolex Submariner brochure photo which clearly is a Mk1 1680 with no long five where the contemporaneous 5513 does have a long a five.

Brochures are not definitive perhaps (Big White 1665 being the classic case) but I'd be surprised if this isn't deliberate given that the two are on the same page.

Any thoughts?

Ian

Hi Ian
Thank you for putting the picture up from Rolex , I notice the bracelet on the Red sub isn’t a 9315 but looks like a 7206 riveted version . I still own my Meters first MK1 full set mine has had the case recut at some point but I still enjoy owning it .

[swish77]

Originally Posted by alwayshere

guys.....seriously....are you saying that you can get a polish on the top of the lugs to a mirror shine via sleeves over time? an area largely protected by the bezel and both left and right hand of the watch?

tell me you're joking....

Very hard to tell either way based on this one photo, but what I can see on the 1680 are lugs that appear about as thick as they get, possibly indicating an unpolished or minimally polished watch.

And yes, sleeve polish is definitely a thing.

[epicurus]

Sleeve polish...wear....whatever. Who cares. Hes wearing it and its not in a safe deposit box.