Picked up this 1993 Sea Dweller 16600. I was drawn to the slender smaller case appearance , and the lighter bracelet relative to current models. This 40 gram weight savings really makes a difference at the end of the day where it never feels unwelcome. I even like the older lighter clasp. Only downside so far is lack of lume as the tritium phosphor is petering out and barely visible at night. I am really liking this.

 

I love these as well as the 16660. I currently wear a 14060 on a regular basis, but wonder if the extra heft of the sea dweller would become uncomfortable as a daily.

 

Much underrated and a nice catch! Enjoy and wear in the best of health!!

 

When these get sent back for servicing, does Rolex replace the old hands and markers with tritium, or do they “update” to superluminova?

 

My experience was that they swapped to super luminova. Happened on my 16710 in 2007. Sad!

 

I'd be quite nervous of sending a tritium lume watch back to Rolex for this very reason - I've read horror stories in the past of irreplaceable old dials being swopped out without consent....hopefully it's just a rumour with no basis in reality..

 

I actually would consider that if they send the originals back to me. There is no patina right now and in a dark box the hands and original dial will darken faster. In the mean time I can see at night.

 

My experience with Rolex service is they don't send replaced parts back....I had my 16600 serviced a couple of years ago, they replaced the bezel but I certainly didn't get back the original....

 

Good to know. I will ask if when they call after inspection.

 

My advice is always try to keep the watch as original as possible, there is value in aged tritium lume, even though it can affect the functionality of the watch - I have a 1016 Explorer with a gilt underline dial - if that got serviced by Rolex, and they replaced the dial - I'd be looking at maybe, I don't know, 5-10k devalue on the watch? And of course I'd get charged for the privilege....to be honest I just wouldn't send it to them!

 

I remember the Rolex center in 5th avenue in New York gave the option to leave dial and hands etc untouched on a 5512. This was about 6 years ago

 

It's asking the question in the first place that slightly freaks me out - like asking an Aston Martin DB5 owner whether they want to trade in their original wheels for a pair of brand new bbs alloys! It just wouldn't happen - and it shouldn't be an issue with Rolex either.

 

I agree. You'd think they would be the first ones with awareness of the vintage / original value of their pieces.

 

Except that isn’t how they think. There are thousands of posts across the various message forums where Rolex service centers have replaced hands, dials, bezels, and crowns and not returned the originals. Their goal is to make the watch look like new. They don’t have the same appreciation for faded bezel inserts and pumpkin colored hands. I’ll speak from personal experience that my 16713 GMT-II came back with luminova service hands but on the original tritium dial. They will also polish the watch and there is a 70% chance they’ll polish it even when you ask them not to. Part of this is because you don’t know the actual person(s) working on the watch. It may be an assembly line system and your requests are scribbled on a post-it note somewhere at the AD

 

I did mail mine directly to Dallas with the form completed as to what I wanted, and my contact formation. From the instructions, the next step is supposed to be a contact with their inspections findings, and then they request authorization to do the work. We will see how this goes.
If given a choice, I am still on the fence about the dial/hand swap if I can get originals back. As I will likely wear this daily and not sell it, the functional lume will be appreciated. If I change my mind, I could put the tritium pieces back on or include them at the time of sale.

 

If you do decide to let Rolex swap the dial/hands, please post an update as to whether you get the original(s) back as requested!

 

Someone will chime in with the voice of certainty, but in the meantime, it is my understanding Rolex policy is to never return replaced parts because they don't want any of them turning up on a franken watch sometime in the future.

They didn't return parts when my Sub was serviced by them the first time. At the time I had no awareness of the importance of patina. All I knew was when it came back, it looked like a new watch (new bezel). The second time I had it serviced, I specifically told them not to replace anything for cosmetic reasons and not to polish it. They did what I asked, even though they recommended another bezel replacement due to scuffing (which I can barely).

 

Yes my advice would be - if you want a functional 16600 - sell the tritium model and buy a luminova model - I would think an original tritium 16600 is worth slightly more?

 

Out of curiosity, did you buy this as watch only or with box/papers?

 

I had a bezel changed and they did give me the old one. Actually they offered to charge 45 for the new bezel or 75 if I was keeping the old one. (or something like that, can't remember the exact $ but for sure was under 100.