Confronto Rolex Sea-Dweller vs Rolex Deepsea replica watches uk

They often write to me: would you buy a Sea-Dweller or a Deepsea?

Almost everyone is referring to which of the two is the best investment; so I decided to compare them so maybe at the end of this article you can better draw all your conclusions.

But before starting, let’s start from a fixed point that is evident: it is the Rolex Submariner that is always the brand’s best-selling and most recognizable diving watch.

Before the advent of the Deepsea, on 10 Rolex divers you saw 2 Sea-Dwellers, the rest were all Submariners. This was partly because those who bought the best performing were amateur or replica watches uk professional divers, and not everyone used it as a daily watch. Furthermore, the fashion was not yet born – also the work of Rolex – that a diver could be a welcome watch even at a gala. With the arrival of the Deepsea – and especially the D-blue version – the relationship has changed, moving a little more towards professionals.

The Rolex Sea-Dweller, conceived in 1967 at a time when all divers were considered diving instruments, is a line of watches that with its exceptional performance from the beginning was designed in Geneva to continue from 200 meters where the Submariner at that time it stopped.

In 2008, the Deepsea, the most waterproof watch on the Rolex list, came as a surprise. Despite the apparent similarities and the fact that both bear the Sea-Dweller inscription on the dial, the differences are not few.

Collection
Between the Sea-Dweller and the Deepsea, the entire Rolex Sea-Dweller collection currently consists of 3 watches in different variants. The classic Rolex Sea-Dweller waterproof up to 1,220 meters is offered both in Oysterseel stainless steel (ref. 126600) with black dial and single red writing and from 2019 also with steel and yellow gold case (ref. 126603).

The Rolex Deepsea – guaranteed up to 3,900 meters (but tested well beyond) – is in the catalog in two variants, both in Oystersteel stainless steel. Reference 126660 is equipped with a classic black dial while the other – ref. 126660 – has a degradé dial called D-blue that fades from dark blue to black and features the writing DEEPSEA in bright green.

Aesthetics
The Sea-Dweller’s case is in the classic Oyster style that distinguishes Rolex divers. In particular, the one starting from the version with crown guards appeared in the Submariner 5512 of 1959. It always measured 40 mm until 2017 when with the arrival of the Sea-Dweller Red Lettering it was increased to 43 mm. With this version, the cyclopean lens always appears on the sapphire crystal for the first time.

Compared to the Sea-Dweller, the Deepsea is a watch with a very different case structure. While the design of that of the former is similar to the Oysters of a typical Rolex watch excluding shoulders, that of the Deepsea which measures 44 mm uses the Ringlock System a sophisticated system patented by Rolex.

This device allows it to safely deal with the pressure it would encounter at depths greater than 3,900 meters (12,800 feet). the presence of the Ringlock System translates into a more massive design than the Sea-Dweller, and together with a much thicker glass (5.5 mm) – without a Cyclops magnifying glass – gives the watch a more massive look.

Movement
At the moment both the Sea-Dweller and the Deepsea have the same caliber. With the arrival of the Sea-Dweller with red lettering in 2017, Rolex began updating the entire collection by replacing the glorious, extremely reliable, and easy to repair caliber 3135 in service since 1988 with the latest caliber 3235 movement with date display.

Protected by fourteen patents, the caliber 3235 is a completely new movement compared to the previous one. With a power reserve of 70 hours it also incorporates the new Chronergy escapement.

This is an evolution of the classic Swiss anchor escapement and is characterized by the inversion of the length ratios between the teeth of the escapement wheel and the anchor levers. Both are made of nickel-phosphorus to be insensitive to magnetic interference. According to Rolex, the Chronergy escapement is 15% more accurate than a traditional escapement.

Differences between Rolex Sea-Dweller and Rolex Deepsea
As can also be seen from the images, while differing by only 1 mm in width in the cases, the Rolex Sea-Dweller and the Rolex Deepsea have a rather different appearance that immediately catches the eye if you focus your eye on the rehaut of the dials and on the glass thickness.

The valve for the expulsion of the helium mixtures that are breathed in saturated dives in Deepsea is also increased, a fact always underlined on the rehaut with the words “Original Gas Escape Valve” together with “Ring Lock System”.

The extra thick and very domed sapphire crystal that rests on the inner bezel ring, which is part of the Ring Lock System device (not the flange), is made of an alloy of very hard steel and nitrogen. The latter is a common element in indestructible austenic steels, the same used for submarine hulls.

This device allows the Deepsea glass to withstand a water pressure equivalent to a weight of over 3 tons.

Furthermore, even though it is full, the Rolex Deepsea caseback has been redesigned in shape, always to be able to face extremely high pressures that would deform a traditional solid caseback.

While the Rolex Sea-Dweller’s caseback is made from a single piece of Oystersteel, the Deepsea’s is made up of multiple elements. It consists of a slightly flexible titanium lid that rests on the side opposite the support ring of the inner bezel, while a donut-shaped stainless steel element screws onto the upper part of the titanium lid to hold it all together.

As the depth increases, the water pressure pushes the crystal and the titanium back cover which compresses the seals of the watch pushing them against the steel support ring of the Ring Lock System.

Opinions
There was no need to make a comparison between the Sea-Dweller and Deepsea to deduce that Rolex has an incredible, nearly 100-year-old experience in building a waterproof watch.

But that’s not the only diver pro trait that we reviewed together.

There are watches that guarantee triple water resistance to that of professional Rolex divers, but very few offer a technical package compared to the quality of the materials like the Sea-Dweller collection, which translates not so much to the goal of being able to take a step on a bathyscaphe but in an indescribable duration. Yep, these are two divers are highlander watches.

And now, more than an opinion on which of Sea-Dweller and Deepsea is the best investment, a simple reflection.

By now we all know that every time Rolex brings out a novelty, even if not as unreleased as the Deepsea, the demand is so high that the other models are forgotten for a while, especially those fake watches from the same collection. It happened recently with the Batman 2019 compared to the new GMT-Master II Pepsi that entered the collection only the year before and which had been waiting for a Cerachrom bezel for 14 years.

Beyond that both have a very long waiting list, since the latest version of the black knight’s watch was released everyone has forgotten the genuine Pepsi.

When the Deepsea came out in 2008 after a normal initial blaze, the Sea-Dweller regained ground quickly enough on its big brother, also thanks to the arrival in 2014 of the ref. 116600, for me the last true and pure Sea-Dweller.

But when the Deepsea D-blue came out, many could not resist the version reminiscent of the Challenge which, accompanied by director and explorer James Cameroon, reached the incredible depth of 10,908 meters fixed on the arm of his submersible.

Consequently, to date, among all the pieces in the collection, the D-blue is the best investment, in fact it is also more expensive than the Sea-Dweller both in the gray market and in the second wrist.

But there are buts.

Those who buy a Sea-Dweller with red writing ref. 126600 one day could find his pockets full of money if he were to go out of production and maybe in his place a model would return that remembered replica watches the references that have always been in the catalog.

We must not forget that the 2017 model celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first Sea-Dweller, the one with the double red lettering, and at the moment it is the only steel Sea-Dweller in the catalog. Isn’t it a bit strange why things stay like this forever?

What do you think about it?

Which of the two would you buy or own?

Leave all your impressions in a comment.