Vintage Rolex 1665 Double Red Sea Dweller Mark IV Feature | Very Rare
In this article, we are going to dive into one of the most highly collectible Rolex watches in history: The Vintage Rolex 1665 Double Red Sea Dweller.
The Double Red Sea Dweller is a vintage Rolex sports watch that was created at a time when Rolex, the horology powerhouse, had already made a solid reputation for creating wristwatches that could handle the forceful conditions of the ocean.
It was the 1960s, and at that time, a Rolex Submariner was the go-to watch for divers. However, due to unique deep-sea experiments by saturation divers, there was a need for a watch with extended underwater capabilities. Therefore, the Rolex Sea Dweller Submariner 2000, coined the Double Red Sea Dweller by collectors, was born.
Of course, it wasn’t as simple as a flick of the wrist for Rolex to create this, but by the late 1960s, they had created a watch that was capable of withstanding depths of 2000 feet for long periods of time; hence the ‘2000’ in the name of the then-new Rolex reference.
The Sea Dweller Submariner 2000 (Rolex 1665 Double Red Sea Dweller) was the deepest watch of them all.
This Double Red Sea Dweller (DRSD) feature discusses the history of the Sea Dweller (more specifically the DRSD 1665); the unique features of the Double Red Sea Dweller, both in function and appearance; and for those who have large pockets, we are selling this watch, which is part of our vintage Rolex private collection, so we will show you pictures of our excellent condition Double Red Sea Dweller and give you the ability to contact us if you have the interest to purchase it.
History of the Double Red Sea Dweller (Rolex Sea Dweller Submariner 2000)
We’ve already briefly discussed the background of this watch in the intro, however, we wanted to go into greater depths (pun intended) on the development of this iconic, highly collectible, vintage Rolex watch.
The Rolex Submariner
Although the Submariner wasn’t the first sports watch made for diving ever, it’s the ultimate watch for divers. The Submariner is everything you could ask for in a diving watch. It has the functions and the esthetics. It became the form you would expect from a diving watch as soon as it was released in 1953. So although it wasn’t the first, it was definitely the best and most well known, and that still rings true to this day.
The Submariner was capable of reaching depths of 200 meters (660ft), which was superb at that time and is perfect for the needs of most underwater activists; however, for saturation divers, they were in need of something more. Saturation divers, who required helium to be replaced with nitrogen so they could stay down longer and at seriously greater depths to work on deep-sea oil rigs, experienced some issues with their Submariners during decompression after a dive.
Issues during decompression
During SeaLab expeditions, many divers experienced an odd occurrence to their esteemed Submariners when in the decompression chamber after a long dive – the crystal would come off. It goes without saying, but that wasn’t ok. Now, as we said already, this wasn’t just any underwater experience, this was a serious, long exposure, expedition dive held by SeaLab to study the effects of prolonged underwater exposure at great depths – In 1965, ex-Astronaut Scott Carpenter made an incredible achievement of staying underwater for 30 consecutive days. So as you can imagine, they were doing some truly amazing experiments.
Staying underwater for prolonged periods of time could only be possible with saturation diving. Saturation diving was where Rolex’s Submariner met its only difficulty. Saturation diving involves the use of helium within the gas divers breathing machine. When wearing a diving watch, helium atoms would accumulate inside the case after being underwater for so long. So, when the divers would come up for decompression, the helium atoms created pressure that would have to be released. Therefore, the pressure would be released from the weakest point, which was the plexiglass crystal.
This was the first time people were ever staying underwater at great depths for prolonged periods of time, so it was a completely new phenomenon to resolve. Many precursor models were made to experiment with to solve this occurrence of helium build up, and they were mostly nicknamed “Sea-Dweller”, due to being underwater for multiple days.
The Game Changer
Long story short, Rolex ended up making a simple yet effective mechanism to solve the helium issue. It was a very small helium escape valve, which was placed on the side of the case. The Sea Dweller was the fist watch to ever reach a depth of 2,000ft and maintain perfect form and function – an incredibly impressive feat at the time. This new innovation from Rolex changed history and it went on to get a Swiss patent.
It’s important to note that it wasn’t as though Rolex thought of this as ‘fixing an issue with the Submariner’; the Submariner was perfect for what it was intended to be used for. They set out to create a new watch that had an incredibly niche demand – a watch for aquanauts…and they did just that.
The first Sea Dweller made its release in 1967, The Rolex 1665 (Double Red Sea Dweller). The production of the Rolex 1665 Sea Dweller, which later gave rise to its nickname the Double Red Sea Dweller, went until the early 1980s; at which time it went through a multitude of small changes. The first 10 years of production had both Submariner and Sea-Dweller names in red ink print on the dial; hence it’s nickname. During those ten years, there were four small dial variations and three different case back arrangements – Mark I to Mark IV.
Since then, many Double Red Sea Dweller watches had a dial replacement at Rolex Service Centers, leaving them with newer-era dials, which didn’t contain the Submariner name and had all white text. Thus, original Double Red dials are pretty rare and very valuable in the Rolex collector community.
The Rolex we are featuring today is the Mark IV variation and it has the original dial and is in amazing condition.
Rolex 1665 Double Red CASE
The Double Red Sea Dweller has a 40mm steel case. Comparing to the Submariner of the time, the distinguishing difference would be the helium release valve on the left side caseband.
Special feature – The Helium Escape Valve
When saturation divers are decompressing, helium particles get stuck in the case. The helium escape valve was the simple yet brilliant solution to releasing the helium safely during decompression. It made its debut in 1967 with the first Sea Dweller, Rolex 1665 Double Red Sea-Dweller.
The Rolex DRSD case is Thick, Really THICK.
Besides the case being the same size at 40mm diameter, it’s super thick; much thicker than the Submariner. It has a thicker caseback, thicker mid-case, and a taller domed crystal which adds up to just over 17mm thick. That’s around 3mm thicker than the famous Red Submariner that has a top hat crystal. The mid-case is one millimeter more than the standard Submariner, plus the T39 Tropic Superdome makes it tower over the Sub.
The Superdome crystal protecting the dial is very distinctive due to its dome shape. As you can see, our Superdome crystal is in great condition with no scratches or marks.
Why isn’t there a cyclops?
Rolex made it clear that the original Rolex 1665 didn’t have a Cyclops because, with so much pressure on the crystal at such great depths, the Cyclops would be a very weak spot on the surface and wouldn’t have sustained the water-pressure.
Nonetheless, collectors love the original plexiglass thick dome crystal without the cyclops.
Overall, the case on our Double Red Sea Dweller is in excellent condition, which makes it a very rare piece. The serial number is on the inside of the case, and the caseback has the original 1665 stamp. The serial and reference numbers are easily readable which is also a big plus.
Double Red Sea Dweller BEZEL
The bezel is noticeably taller than the Submariner, standing at 3mm tall. Additionally, it provides a lot of grip. This is a crucial aspect for hands-on deep-sea divers. The bi-direction revolving black bezel insert on our vintage Double Red Sea Dweller is an original, as is the timepiece as a whole, and is in premium condition with no fading.
Rolex 1665 Double Red Sea Dweller DIAL – Mark 4
Firstly, due to the big domed crystal, the seemingly familiar dial has a completely different look when staring down at it on your wrist in person. It’s very deep and seems a bit distorted at the edges because of the dome shape. Furthermore, without the accustomed cyclops, the silver date wheel appears strangely minute, as the rest of the watch is so massive and pronounced. Either way, it is very fitting for the original Sea-Dweller as it accentuates the active, purposeful essence of the watch and its history.
On the dial itself, there are some noticeable differences from the original Submariner. It provides a date display at 3 o’clock, which is useful for saturation divers, as they’d spend days underwater.
The Rolex Sea Dweller Submariner 2000 was given the nickname, Double Red Sea Dweller due to the famous double lines of red lettering on the dial: ‘SEA-DWELLER’ on top and ‘Submariner 2000’ below. Below the red lettering, Rolex clearly states the incredible depth the DRSD could reach, which is 2,000ft or 610 meters.
Four Variations of the Double Red Sea Dweller
There were four versions of the Double Red Sea Dweller: Mark I, II, III, and IV. Here we have the original Mark 4 dial in superb condition, which is incredible for how old this watch is.
The Mark IV is the final version of the original Rolex 1665 DRSD and this is the most common one as it was marketed for general production. Nonetheless, the Mark 4 is still very rare, especially in this condition, and highly sought after by luxury watch collectors.
The red print on the Double Red Sea Dweller Mark 4 is apparent but not extremely heavy. There is no fading of the red on our Mark 4, as you see often on a lot of vintage Double Red Sea Dwellers. When looking at the dial through a magnifying glass, the writing appears to be made of many tiny dots. The font on the top line (SEA-DWELLER) is bigger than the writing below (Submariner 2000). Lastly, the dial has cream-color yellow markers and hands, and the hour hand has the classic Mercedes Benz style hand.
Some of you who are more familiar with the Double Red Sea Dweller may be asking, but what about the Mark 5-7 versions. Well, those were replacement dials that Rolex would later introduce.
Double Red Sea Dweller Rolex Patent CASEBACK
As is everything on our Double Red Sea Dweller, the caseback is original and completely unblemished. It has the classic deep engraving of “Rolex Patent” and “Gas Escape Valve” on it. The font has a historic look to it. The caseback is, in fact, domed as well, and it comes to a soft point at its middle.
It says something when a watches caseback gets a lot of recognition and is a point of discussion by collectors, and this is one of them. The caseback is as epochal as the watch itself.
Rolex 1665 MOVEMENT
Behind the caseback, and inside the case, the Rolex Sea-Dweller 1665 holds the well known 26-jewel automatic 1570 caliber movement. It is chronometer-certified and is a non quick set, which runs at 19,800 BPH. To control the movement, you use the familiar trip-lock crown. As you’d expect, it has been running beautifully since day one.
Oyster Bracelet
The watch sits on a crisp Oyster steel 93150 bracelet. It uses 580 end links with a flip lock and wetsuit extension.
Rolex 1665 DRSD – RARITY
Although it isn’t impossible to find a Double Red Sea Dweller, it is quite difficult to find a completely original and great condition Double Red Sea Dweller for sale. The 1665 Double Red Sea Dweller featured in this article is exactly that, perfect and original. The particular DRSD in this feature has last through the years in almost perfect condition. This is thanks to it being left in its Original box throughout its life.
Why is the Double Red Sea Dweller so valuable?
The history behind the Double Red Sea Dweller is what really makes this watch so special and valuable.
Firstly, let’s make note that the 1665 DRSD was the watch that COMEX diver Jacques Verpeaux wore during his remarkable dive to 501 meters below sea level in October 1977.
It may not seem like such a feat now, but at the time, this kind of dive was far on top for technological innovation and exploration. The divers were some of the bravest people in the world. Taking risks far beyond what we see in current times, and they did it to advance humanity. Rolex, as a powerful household name and inventive brand, took part and were big supporters of these momentous events. The creation of the incredible Sea Dweller Submariner 2000 was the watch that these divers wore to keep track of time on these extremely prolonged dives. This is what makes the Double Red Sea Dweller so valuable…the history. And, collectors of Rolexes appreciate this history more than many non-Rolex enthusiasts could imagine. A Double Red Sea Dweller Mark I in perfect condition could likely sell for a million dollars.
In terms of a DRSD’s condition, for any of the variations, to receive maximum value, it needs to be in excellent condition with original parts. Thankfully, our Double Red Sea Dweller Mark IV has both of those crucial factors checked off. This is the ultimate Double Red Sea Dweller Mark IV.
Double Red Sea Dweller for sale (Mark 4 dial variation) with Original Box and Papers.
We are currently listing our Double Red Sea Dweller for sale as part of our Vintage Rolex Private Collection. The watch is completely original and is in excellent condition, which makes it extremely rare. We also have the original box and papers to go with it. If this DRSD is of interest to you, please inquire below. We look forward to hearing from you.