Rolex Deepsea Yellow Gold Blue Dial 136668LB 2024

Reference 136668LB is the Deepsea in 18 ct yellow gold, blue dial under a matching blue Cerachrom bezel. A saturation diver's watch made out of solid gold, which is either the least sensible thing Rolex has done in a decade or the most honest one.Underneath the theatre there is real engineering, and the Ringlock System is worth understanding because nobody explains it. At depth the component under the most load is not the case — it is the crystal, pressed inwards by several tonnes of water. A conventional dive watch asks the middle case to resist that, which is why most pressure ratings run out in the low hundreds of metres. Rolex instead fits a compression ring inside the case and lets the crystal bear against the ring rather than the case. The ring takes the thrust; the middle case only has to hold the ring. The crystal itself is domed sapphire, five and a half millimetres thick, which is more glass than most watches have case.In gold the whole proposition turns faintly absurd, and that is most of the appeal. Forty-four millimetres of 18 ct yellow gold is not a light object, and the depth rating is one that no human being will ever test. The numerals on the blue Cerachrom insert are gold-coated rather than printed, and against a gold case the blue reads considerably harder than the same colour does in steel.Calibre 3235, self-winding, approximately 70 hours of power reserve, certified to minus two and plus two seconds a day after casing. Waterproof to 3,900 metres, with the helium escape valve and a unidirectional 60-minute bezel, on the yellow gold Oyster bracelet with an Oysterlock clasp and the Glidelock extension.Mint, 2024, offered as a full set. A second hand gold Deepsea, which is not a phrase that existed at all until recently.Every watch is authenticated by an independent watchmaker before it changes hands, never by us. Viewing by appointment at our Collins Street boutique in Melbourne, insured delivery Australia-wide. We buy Rolex outright and source specific references on request.