Rolex John Bull Submariner Reference 16800

The Rolex Submariner is one of the most renowned sports watches of all time. This reference 16800 features a 7.4M serial number dating to circa 1983. The case was hand finished / carved by the Bahamian official Rolex retailer John Bull by their master watchmaker Günter Miethe. This was a popular request by the Bahamian retailer throughout the 1980s. We understand this Submariner reference 16800 was Günter Miethe’s personal Submariner and is the only 16800 we have seen with the bark “John Bull” texture. It makes sense he wanted a nicer date model when the company was primarily selling the reference 5513 shortly after this, which was less expensive without the date. Our understanding is that Rolex gave their blessing to their official retailer John Bull to customize these watches for the local Bahamian market at the time.

The tritium luminous material on the hour markers and in the hands is a nice and attractive warm color.

To learn more about the Rolex Submariner, you can watch my ‘Reference Points: Understanding The Rolex Submariner’ video and read the corresponding article.

The watch comes with a box. It does not come with papers. We do not know the service history, but it is running well. It has recently passed a water resistance test of 3 bar.

SOLD ( SBUXYT2607)

SOLD