Why We Love the Rolex Submariner Date 1680 40mm 1974 with Box and Papers

In 1974, the printing on the Submariner Date dial was changing from red to white, which places this reference 1680 at the exact hinge point of the most closely studied transition in vintage Rolex dial history. A 1680 from this year is not just another vintage Submariner. It is a watch built in the final stretch of matte dials, tritium lume and acrylic crystals, before the sapphire era arrived and changed the character of the model for good. Add the original box and papers, and you have a complete time capsule from Geneva, half a century old.

The House That Wilsdorf Built

To understand the 1680, it helps to start with the company behind it. Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis founded Wilsdorf and Davis in London in 1905, registering the Rolex name in 1908 before the firm moved to Geneva in 1919. Wilsdorf's obsession was reliability on the wrist, and two inventions defined the brand. The Oyster case of 1926 gave the world its first commercially successful waterproof wristwatch case, famously proven when Mercedes Gleitze swam the English Channel wearing one in 1927. The Perpetual self-winding rotor followed in 1931. Together they laid the foundation for every tool watch Rolex would ever make.

The Submariner arrived in 1953 and was shown publicly at the Basel fair in 1954. The earliest references were rated to 100 metres, carried no date, and were aimed squarely at the new sport of scuba diving. For its first fourteen years, the Submariner remained a pure instrument: time, rotating bezel, nothing else.

Reference 1680: The First Submariner Date

That changed in 1967, when Rolex introduced the reference 1680, the first Submariner to carry a date. The date window at 3 o'clock, magnified by the Cyclops lens fitted to the acrylic crystal, was a quiet revolution. Purists debated it then and still do, but the market answered decisively. The Submariner Date became the definitive configuration of the model and remains so today.

The 1680 stayed in production from 1967 until around 1980, wearing a 40mm Oyster case rated to 200 metres, or 660 feet as the dial states, with a bidirectional friction bezel, Twinlock crown and matte black dial with painted tritium markers.

The Calibre 1575

Inside every 1680 beats the calibre 1575, a 26 jewel automatic movement running at 19,800 vibrations per hour. It brought an instantaneous date change at midnight via a cam and jewel system, and from around 1972 gained a hacking function that stops the seconds hand when the crown is pulled. There is no quickset date, so setting it means winding the hands through midnight, a small ritual that vintage owners come to enjoy. The 1575 has a deserved reputation as one of the most robust movements Rolex ever produced, which is why so many 1680s are still running strong fifty years on.

1974: The Transition Year

The earliest 1680 dials carried the word Submariner printed in red, and Rolex phased out that red script in the mid 1970s, replacing it with all white text. That makes 1974 one of the most interesting single years in the reference's run. Watches from this period sit right on the changeover, with the last of the red printed dials and the first of the white ones leaving the factory within months of each other. The white dial examples that followed, all tritium lumed with the feet first depth rating, carried the reference through to the end of production. A 1974 watch captures the Submariner Date at the precise moment its identity settled into the form the world knows today.

Box and Papers: The Complete Picture

Vintage Rolex watches were tools first. They were bought, worn hard, serviced when needed, and their boxes and guarantee papers were routinely discarded. Five decades later, a 1680 that still has its original box and punched papers is a rarity. The papers tie the watch to its original point of sale and date, while the box completes the presentation as it left the retailer in 1974. Beyond their charm, they anchor the watch's story. A full set turns a great vintage Submariner into a documented piece of history.

Final Thoughts

The reference 1680 is where the modern Submariner Date began, and a 1974 example sits at the most fascinating point in its thirteen year production run. It combines Wilsdorf's waterproof Oyster case, the workhorse calibre 1575, a matte tritium dial that has aged into warm cream tones, and the transitional character unique to its year. With original box and papers alongside, this is the Submariner Date as Rolex first imagined it, complete and intact after more than fifty years. That is why we love it.

Sources: Bob's Watches 1680 reference guide, Bob's Watches Red Submariner guide, Italian Watch Spotter on the 1680, Oracle of Time on the Red Sub

• Case in good vintage condition, hairlines visible. 
• Case previously polished but remains in good original condition 
• Bracelet in good condition, moderate stretch visible.

• Dial & hands very good condition