Men’s Rolex Sea-Dweller 1665

Vintage Watch Condition Examination:

This watch is in great vintage condition. The case is in great condition with normal signs of wear; it has been polished. The bezel ring has remained sharp and the black bezel insert is in great condition with some wear. The pip in the bezel at 12 is a later replacement. The crown has some wear. The dial is in great condition with some light patina. The hands has developed some patina and the lume in the hands has been color corrected/ relumed to match the color of the lume on the dial. The bracelet is in very good condition with normal signs of wear and a bit of stretch between the links which is not uncommon. 

Description: Rolex Sea-Dweller 1665

Pre-owned Rolex Sea-Dweller ref 1665 (1979) in general are some of the rarest vintage Rolex sports models out there. Rolex introduced the celebrated model in 1967 and they still make it today. The Sea-Dweller was developed for use by professional deep-sea saturation divers, particularly with its inclusion of a “Helium Escape Valve” or “HEV” on the 9 o’clock side of the case to help the watch survive decompression from dry, pressurized environments. The earliest Sea-Dweller examples had red printing and are called “Single Red” or “Double Red” due to the one or two-lines of red text on the dial. Rolex stopped using Red text on the Sea-Dwellers around 1978 and moved to all white text. The example we have here is circa 1979 and has all white text. Collectors refer to these as “Great White Sea-Dwellers. These Great White’s tend to fly under the radar because from a far one would think it’s a classic Submariner; it takes more of a collector’s eye and is one of those “if you know, you know” watches.