The Rolex Submariner is a true icon — and the word "icon" does get thrown around an awful lot. If you were to ask ten people at random to draw you their idea of what a watch looks like, there is a significant chance that they would draw or describe something that looks like a Rolex Submariner. It’s the dive watch of reference, and good/bad/indifferent, there is no escaping it. Throughout its 70-year production, there have been countless small changes made to the model, particularly in the first decade or so, and this Ref. 16618 has its own little place in the history of the model.

The Ref. 1680 was the first Submariner to feature a date, and had a long production run spanning close to 15 years, and was eventually replaced by the 16800 series of Submariner Date. During that 16800 era, the watch underwent a series of changes, with early models featuring matte dials and later models featuring glossy dials with white gold surrounds. As was the case with the Ref. 1680, the 5-digit also received the solid yellow gold treatment.