Reference:16613
Submariner -> 16613
The 16613 is the two-tone Submariner of the caliber 3135 era, in production from 1988 to 2009 under a single reference number. Twenty years under one number is long for a sport Rolex. Over that run the watch absorbed every meaningful Submariner upgrade of the period — tritium giving way to Luminova and then Super-Luminova on the dial, hollow end links giving way to solid, and a plain inner rehaut giving way to the engraved ROLEX ROLEX band — before the Cerachrom 116613 replaced it. The blue-dial 16613LB, known to collectors as the Bluesy, is the configuration most buyers mean when they say "two-tone Sub."
Core facts
| detail | value |
|---|---|
| reference | 16613 (LN = black, LB = blue) |
| family | Submariner Date |
| production | about 1988 to 2009 (~20 years) |
| movement | caliber 3135 (date, quick-set, 28800 bph) |
| case | 40mm, Rolesor (steel + 18k yellow gold) |
| crystal | sapphire with Cyclops |
| water resistance | 300m |
| bezel | 18k gold with aluminum insert (blue or black) |
| lume | tritium (early), Luminova (~1998), Super-Luminova (late) |
| bracelet | 93153 → 93253 (SEL transition, see bracelet section) |
| rehaut | plain (early), engraved ROLEX ROLEX (~2005 onward) |
| successor | 116613 |
Where it sits in the line
The 16613 is the Rolesor member of the 3135-era Submariner Date trio. Rolesor is Rolex's term for its steel-and-gold construction, with gold in every visible wear surface. The steel 16610 carried the widest market and ran 23 years; the 16613 carried the two-tone configuration with an 18k yellow-gold bezel, gold center links, and a gold crown and crown tube on a steel case; the full-gold 16618 was the maximum-material version of the same architecture. All three share the 40mm case and the caliber 3135 movement.
The 16613 replaced the shorter-lived 16803, which had run from roughly 1984 to 1988 on the earlier caliber 3035. The substantive change at the generational boundary was the movement itself: the 3135 brought Microstella regulation and the higher frequency that Rolex would carry forward for the next three decades.
Twenty years: what the production length means
A twenty-year run under one reference number is long for a sport Rolex, and in practice it means the 16613 spans two distinct eras in the same catalog entry. Early production, 1988 to roughly 1998, carries tritium lume, the 93153 bracelet with hollow end links, a plain rehaut, and matte-finish components. Late production, roughly 2005 to 2009, carries Super-Luminova, the 93253 bracelet with solid end links, the engraved rehaut, and an overall finish much closer in character to the Cerachrom 116613 that followed.
Early and late 16613 examples do not look the same on the wrist. A tritium 16613 on a hollow-link 93153 reads as a transitional late-vintage piece. A late Super-Luminova example with engraved rehaut reads as a modern pre-ceramic Submariner. Buyers who treat the reference number as a single object often conflate the two, and the price spreads within the reference reflect that.
Production outline
Early production (~1988–1998)
Early watches have tritium lume (marked T SWISS T or T<25), the 93153 bracelet with hollow end links and Fliplock clasp, and a plain inner rehaut. These are the tritium-era 16613 examples, and they sit visually closest to the outgoing 16803 generation.
Mid production (~1998–2005)
The dial lume transitioned from tritium to Luminova around 1998 and then to Super-Luminova within a year or two. The bracelet transitioned from 93153 to 93253 with solid end links around 2000. The exact changeover dates are not pinned to specific serial bands in the current evidence.
Late production (~2005–2009)
Late watches gained an engraved inner rehaut, with repeating ROLEX ROLEX text and the serial number at the 6 o'clock position. The feature appeared somewhere between 2005 and 2008 depending on source. Late 16613 examples sit closer in finish and detail to the 116613 than to the early tritium watches that opened the production run.
Movement notes
Caliber 3135 throughout the run. Quick-set date, 28,800 vph, Microstella regulation. Rolex used the same movement in the steel 16610, the full-gold 16618, the Datejust, and many other references from the late 1980s onward — one of the most reliable and best-documented calibers in the modern catalog.
Dial map
Blue dial (LB / Bluesy)
The blue sunburst dial with gold applied markers and gold hands is the defining 16613 configuration, and the one collectors call the Bluesy. The blue shifts across a wide range — deep navy in low light, bright cornflower in direct sun — and photographs rarely capture the full sweep. Later-production dials show a more pronounced sunburst, with sharper radial brushing than the flatter blue of early examples. Tritium plots sit on early dials; Luminova and then Super-Luminova replace them as production moves forward.
The LB is the more popular and higher-priced variant in the secondary market by a wide margin.
Rolex Forum collectors have documented a tropical purple phenomenon on blue 16613 dials. After decades of UV exposure and chemical aging, the pigment oxidizes to a distinctly purple or plum hue. The shift is progressive and irreversible, and it appears either across the full face or in uneven patches depending on how the watch was worn and stored. An even, attractive tropical purple dial commands a premium, consistent with the broader market for tropical vintage Rolex dials.
Black dial (LN)
The black dial with gold applied markers is the 16613LN. More understated than the Bluesy, and typically trades at a slight discount to the blue in the secondary market.
Serti dial — the highest-value variant
The Serti dial is the highest-value 16613 configuration. Rolex set diamonds into the hour marker positions in place of the standard luminous plots, and the name comes from the French sertissage (gem-setting). These are factory dials, not aftermarket conversions, and a clean factory Serti carries a substantial premium over an aftermarket gem-set dial that looks similar at a glance. Scrutiny on any Serti example is warranted — the gap between factory and aftermarket value makes the category a long-running site for fraud.
Sultan dial — factory champagne gem-set
The Sultan dial is a factory-original gem-set configuration in the Serti family — champagne base with diamond hour markers and sapphire accents (typically two baguette sapphires plus a triangular sapphire at twelve). The naming follows the collector convention adopted across the wider specialist trade: silver-base gem-set is "Serti", champagne-base gem-set is "Sultan". The name has nothing to do with the Sultanate of Oman or the Khanjar emblem; that is a separate provenance line covered in Special branches below. Sultan dials are scarcer than silver Serti examples and command premiums when papers and serial fall inside a coherent run.
Nipple dial
The earliest 16613 examples carry nipple dials — gold applied markers with a raised boss at the center — a detail carried over from the preceding 16803 and 16808 generation. Nipple dials appear only on the first years of production and are a collector identification point for pre-1990s watches.
Case, bezel, crystal, and crown
The case is 40mm stainless steel with 18k gold crown guards and a gold Triplock crown, rated to 300m. The crystal is sapphire with a Cyclops magnifier over the date. The bezel is 18k gold carrying a unidirectional 60-minute graduated aluminum insert in blue (LB) or black (LN). Aluminum inserts scratch and fade with use — a known patina pathway on older examples, and a condition factor that matters at the market level.
The inner rehaut is plain on early and mid-production watches. Late examples, from around 2005, carry the engraved ROLEX ROLEX band that would become a signature of the ceramic-era Submariner.
Hallmarks on the gold components follow Rolex's standard precious-metal marking of the period. Earlier watches carry the Helvetia bust with "G" Geneva assay mark on the mid-case and bracelet components. After 1995, the St. Bernard dog Barry mark replaced the older Helvetia system.
Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes
Along with lume type, the bracelet is one of the two primary authenticity checkpoints on a 16613. Getting it right is how a buyer places a given watch within the 20-year production run.
Early bracelet: 93153 (hollow end links)
The 93153 is a two-tone Oyster bracelet with steel outer links and 18k gold center links, fitted with hollow end links and a Fliplock diver's extension clasp. It covers early production through about 2000. A 16613 on a 93153 with a tritium dial sits firmly in the pre-millennium collector tier.
Gold-through clasp transition
During the A-serial range (roughly 1999 to winter 2000), Rolex introduced the "gold-through" clasp, in which the gold extends through the full clasp body rather than sitting only on the exterior surfaces. Early A-serial 16613 examples lack the gold-through clasp; late A-serial examples have it; all P-serial and later watches are expected to carry it. The detail is a useful dating check on examples that sit near the transition.
Later bracelet: 93253 (solid end links — SEL)
The 93253 brought solid end links — SEL, in collector shorthand — to the two-tone Submariner. Solid end links close the gap between bracelet and case more tightly than the older hollow type and give the watch a more substantial feel on the wrist. The transition landed around 2000, parallel to the SEL rollout on the steel 16610 and the gold 16618. Rolex had introduced solid end links on the Sea-Dweller first, then spread them across the Submariner family.
The 93153-to-93253 transition is a key authenticity checkpoint. A late-production 16613 on a post-2000 serial should be on a 93253; a 93153 on a late-serial watch usually points to a bracelet swap or a mismatched example.
Clasp date codes follow the standard Rolex scheme of the period. 1976 = A through 1988 = M, 1989 = N, through 2000 = AB, 2001 = DE, up to 2010 = RS. An S stamp indicates a service replacement clasp. The code dates the bracelet, not the watch head.
Special branches
Panama Canal limited edition
Seventy-five two-tone steel and yellow-gold 16613s were produced in 1999 to commemorate the December 1999 transfer of the Panama Canal from the United States to the Republic of Panama, retailed exclusively by Mercurio Joyero in Panama City. The dial carries a gilt Panama Canal emblem above six o'clock with the inscription "Panama Canal — Canal de Panamá"; the caseback is engraved with the limited-edition number around its periphery. A parallel run of seventy-five steel examples uses the same dial layout and circulates as the 16610 Panama Canal. Sotheby's Watches Online March 2020 lot 4 (c.1999, A946579, numbered 57/75, estimate CHF 25,000–40,000) is the strongest documented two-tone example.
The 20-year run carries four documented branches beyond the standard blue and black configurations.
The factory Serti gem-set dial (silver base, diamond markers, sapphire indices) is the established gem-set configuration. The Sultan dial (champagne base, same gem-set architecture) is the rarer factory sibling.
A Tiffany & Co. retailer-signed 16613 is documented at Sotheby's London (Fine Watches Including Masterworks of Time, 14 April 2021, lot 8, c.1991, serial X723491, black dial, signed case, dial, and movement). The lot text notes Tiffany 16613 examples are rare and that the consigning party was the original purchaser with the signature also present on the original guarantee. Cartier-signed and Bucherer-signed dial examples are not documented for 16613 — the New York Cartier-retailing window had largely closed by 1988, and Bucherer 16613s typically circulate as non-double-signed certified pre-owned inventory.
A Khanjar 16613 is documented as a caseback engraving rather than as a dial signature. By the late 1990s the Sultanate of Oman commissions had moved off the dial and onto the caseback, fulfilled through Khimji Ramdas, the Omani retailer. Bukowskis lot 1023 (c.1998, serial U365470, Khanjar caseback engraving, Khimji Ramdas warranty card, Khanjar-stamped outer box; 140,000 SEK against 130,000–180,000 estimate) anchors the caseback-Khanjar 16613 in the late-1990s. ItalianWatchSpotter places the dial-to-caseback shift at the start of the 2000s. Khanjar dial 16613 examples are not documented; treat any claimed example as misidentified.
A Panama Canal limited edition (75 pieces, c.1999) was retailed by Mercurio Joyero in Panama to commemorate the December 1999 transfer of canal sovereignty. Black dial with a gilt Panama Canal emblem at six o'clock and "Panama Canal — Canal de Panamá" inscription. Sotheby's Watches Online March 2020 lot 4 (c.1999, A946579, numbered 57/75, estimate CHF 25,000–40,000) is the strongest documented example.
Historical market and auction record
The 16613 is a common sight at auction and in dealer inventories. The blue Bluesy (LB) is the more popular and higher-priced variant; the black (LN) trades at a discount. Within the reference, the market sorts the run into early tritium watches on hollow-link 93153 bracelets, mid-run Luminova examples, late Super-Luminova examples with engraved rehaut and solid-link 93253 bracelets, factory Serti gem-set dials as the top value tier, the collector-documented Sultan variant as a premium category, and first-year nipple-dial examples as a dedicated sub-market.
The successor 116613LB retails at $18,900 USD under current Rolex pricing. The aluminum-insert 16613 trades at a substantial discount to that figure, but early tritium watches and the special-dial variants follow their own premium logic that does not track the retail reference.
Auction record
Documented major-house lots that catalogue the 16613 across its 21-year run, both LB and LN configurations and the gem-set and limited-edition branches. Configuration-specific lots also appear on the 16613LB and 16613LN articles.
| Date | House / sale | Lot | Configuration | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-09 | Sotheby's Important Watches (n09952, New York) | 10 | c.1997, silvered sunburst Serti, diamond and sapphire-set indexes, blue aluminium insert, case U190178 | est. USD 7,000–9,000 |
| 2020-03-26 | Sotheby's Watches Online | 4 | c.1999, Panama Canal limited edition no. 57/75, black dial with gilt canal emblem, case A946579 | est. CHF 25,000–40,000 |
| 2020-07-24 | Sotheby's Watches Weekly (London) | 702 | c.2004, blue dial, case F605993, full set with guarantee, booklets, presentation case | est. GBP 5,000–7,000 |
| 2020-08-04 | Sotheby's Watches Weekly (New York) | 1056 | c.1991, black dial, early tritium production, case N221047 | est. USD 8,000–12,000 |
| 2021-04-14 | Sotheby's Fine Watches Including Masterworks of Time (London) | 8 | c.1991, Tiffany & Co. retailer signature on case, dial, and movement; black dial; case X723491; original purchaser provenance | est. GBP 12,000–18,000 |
| 2021-04-29 | Sotheby's Fine Watches (Hong Kong) | 9233 | c.2000, blue dial, case K972831, on two-tone Oyster | est. HKD 65,000–95,000 |
| 2021-06-15 | Sotheby's June Watches (n10845, New York) | 9 | c.1990, champagne Sultan factory gem-set dial with diamond and sapphire-set indexes, case E524471, original presentation box and hang tags | est. USD 10,000–15,000 |
| 2024-06-11 | Sotheby's Fine Watches | 315 | c.2008, late 16613T blue dial, case Z798795, movement 31654377, full set with December 2008 guarantee | est. USD 8,000–16,000 |
Sources
- Tom Mulraney, "History of the Rolex Submariner - Part 2, The 55XX References and 1680 Date", Monochrome, 2020-08-19
- Stephen Pulvirent, "Reference Points: Understanding The Rolex Submariner", Hodinkee, 2019-07-18
- Stephen Pulvirent, "The Rolex Submariner: A Complete Collector's Guide", Sotheby's, 2025-03-07
- The Vintage Rolex Field Manual — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
- Submariner — Nicholas Foulkes, Rolex, 2024
- Rich Fordon, "Five Things I Learned From The First Ever Rolex-Authorized Submariner Book", Hodinkee, 2024-09-25
- "Bob's Watches two-tone Submariner history", Bob's Watches
- "Gray & Sons Submariner Date history", Gray & Sons
- "Rolex Submariner Reference Guide", Professional Watches