Rolex Submariner 116610LN: The Newest “Sub” Sizzles

Behold the six-digit Rolex Submariner. It’s 50 years of Rolex Submariner patrimony distilled into a single 40mm statement penned in 904L stainless steel. With its “super case,” “maxi dial,” and bomb-proof Rolex caliber 3135 automatic movement, the Rolex Submariner 116610LN will have James Bond second-guessing his defection to Omega.

Rolex teased its next-fen Submariner with the 116619 “Smurf” 18-karat white gold/blue ceramic Submariner of 2008, but dive watch die-hards had to hold their collective breath until 2010 for the launch of a proper steel ‘Sub. At that year’s Baselworld watch show, Rolex drew the covers from the one we’d awaited, the Submariner in stainless steel – just as God and Hans Wilsdorf intended.

The latest evolution of the classic Submariner adds technology and style to the model’s already staggering historic resume. Rolex employs its newest “super case” to add wrist presence. Despite measuring the same nominal 40mm at the bezel, this 116610LN benefits from burlier lugs and crown guards.

The result is a broad-shouldered Sub that wears as well as the old 16610 but boasts a stance to rival the latest 44mm Breitling Superocean and 45.5mm Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean on the wrist. A Cerachrom ceramic bezel insert enjoys sapphire-like scratch resistance and gloss luster that looks rich, wet, and three-feet deep.

Rolex’s “maxi dial” is the other half of the new style equation. Larger white gold indexes and matching hands provide greater legibility in daytime and glow with more force at night. The otherworldly luminescence of Rolex’s Chromalight dial lume provides a distinctive glow that sets this Sub alight with alacrity – hours after night falls.

Rolex is a true manufacture, and the company’s famed caliber 3135 maintains the tradition of in-house competence for which the Geneva giant is renowned. COSC Swiss Chronometer precision is assured by certification, and a free-sprung balance on dual-anchored bridge resists timing error from disruptive shocks.

Rolex equips each Submariner 116610LN movement with the Parachrom Blue Breguet hairspring; it’s a hand-made unit that features superb resilience in the face of magnetism, shocks, and temperature fluctuation. Rolex’s “Perpetual” Teflon-isolated reversing wheels ensure silky-smooth automatic winding in both rotor directions, so this tank-like movement offers equal measures of refinement. The “rotor wobble” associated with cheaper watch movements is unknown in the kingdom of the five-point crown.

The Rolex Submariner 116610LN is shod with a bracelet of equal merit. Solid links, solid end links, a milled Oysterclasp, and the peerless Glidelock dive extension impart a feel of unparalleled substance. The three-link bracelet is supple and solid, but the Oysterclasp is the real highlight.

This clasp opens and closes with a click so sweet it borders on mechanical melody. The days of stamped clasps are receding into distant memory, and the new milled-from-billet Rolex Oysterclasp feels as solid as a block of granite. But the clasp packs refinement to match; its Glidelock dive suit adjustment permits up to 20mm of tool-free resizing in 2mm increments. Kiss clumsy “dive extensions” goodbye, because the Rolex Oysterclasp sets the standard for ease -of-use and practicality.

See this Rolex Submariner 116610LN at The 1916 Company in high-resolution images with full Rolex factory accessories, boxes, manuals, and documents of provenance.