Hi everyone, haven't posted here for a while but I've been updating my collection!
I collected one of my grails the other week. It was supposed to be a 30th birthday present to myself but I wanted to avoid a potential price increase.
It's a brand new Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea (DSSD). Now I know this is a marmite watch, some love it and others loathe it, but I love this watch. For a very long time I've been into watches and only during the last couple of years have I been in a fortunate position to build up a great collection. I've steered clear of Rolex watches before as I found them too conservative for my taste and my brother has a Rolex Submariner date which I found too small and just couldn't love the bracelet. It's also a competitive thing, I had to have a better model than him! But ever since Rolex launched the DSSD in 2008 I instantly fell in love with it.
Just to clarify, I'm not a brand whore, more of an inverse badge snob. My last car was a diesel Skoda hot hatch and I loved the way people hated the brand, as the car was fantastic and it would genuinely surprise them how good it was. Perhaps this is why I've avoided a Rolex for so long. But one thing I love is technology and engineering. From my teenage years when I was into mountain biking, I loved reading up on the latest full suspension technology and the way components were being made stronger and lighter. This love of technology extended into computers (I've water cooled my computer!) and cars (my nephew can now explain the differences between FWD, RWD, 4WD and AWD!). Hence my love for the DSSD. As a watch, it's totally over engineered, uneccesary, huge, expensive and not very practical, but so are some of our dream cars. Look at Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, Zonda's etc.
As I had the opportunity to compare the watch against a 6-8 year old Sub I thought photos would do more than words ever could:
Rolex DSSD
Rolex Submariner Date
Some comparison shots:
As you can see, the DSSD dwarf's the Submariner from all angles but the major difference is the thickness of the case. Many people complain about the writing inside the DSSD, but while it's on your wrist you don't really notice it. It's actually great when your bored and you take a closer look at the dial and the second hand sweeping away that you see the engravings on the inside. The lack of a cyclops on the crystal of the DSSD makes it look much tidier too.
Another major difference is the glide-lock mechanism. As far as I'm aware, Rolex have started introducing this new bracelet design in their newer models and IMO it was long overdue.
The old Submariner had micro adjustment in it's clasp and the diver's extention was released by pressing a link in and pulling the extension out:
The DSSD has micro adjustment in the clasp, however instead of messing with a springbar you just flip open the clasp and slide the bracelet extention in or out. This is great if your wrists expand and contract a lot during the day as you can alter the bracelet at your leisure. The diver's extention is also easier to use as you just unclip it and fold it out:
(clasp open)
(bracelet extended to the maximum)
(diver's extention unfolded)
I also took comparison shots of the Rolex DSSD against my Omega Seamaster PO Chrono:
As you can see, they are both large watches. However what makes the Rolex special is that the Omega has a depth rating of around 600 metres, whereas the Rolex is rated to 3,900 metres. Thats over six times the depth of the Omega, yet the case isn't that much larger. One thing that is is obvious is that the Omega has a much clearer crystal due to the internal and external AR coating. The Rolex is always full of reflections which takes some getting used to.
Finally a shot of the collection:
It would be nice to have a white dialled Rolex Daytona next (also a grail!) but if I wait a couple of decades they might update it as they have with the Submariner. 40mm just isn't large enough any more
Login
Register
FAQ
