How long will the Submariner Anniversary be produced?

[vincenz]

When I first enquired about these last year I was told production was going to stop when the milgauss was produced. I really do want one but i'm a bit hard up at the moment.
I looked at one yday (at £3280) and the jeweller said they were under the impression production of them wasnt going to end anytime soon.

Anyone know otherwise?
TIA

Pic for illustration/eye candy

[Dr JonboyG]

I though they stopped making those a couple of years ago?

[Dominic H]

Nope, Rolex have never confirmed the 'life' or production length of the 16610LV, it is part of the current 2008 range. Ever since it was launched 5 years ago there has been speculation as to its' deletion.
Hope this helps.

Edited by Dominic H on Thursday 24th July 15:29

[vincenz]

Thanks mate, you have PM

[Vesuvius 996]

vincenz said:

Thanks mate, you have PM

Mines for sale. 18 months old. Still under warranty.

[RT]

Technically it's no longer the anniversary model - they stopped making that a while ago. What they sell now is a green bezel on a maxidialled and big-handed standard sub.

If you do some research you'll see there have been several bezel and dial designs for this watch. The wide "o" in Rolex being one such thing that denotes a 'real' anniversary model.

Thay'll probably make the LV for a long time - they only made a short run of genuine anniversary models though.

Watch tha market as the dials differentiate the prices....

[cyberface]

RT said:

Technically it's no longer the anniversary model - they stopped making that a while ago. What they sell now is a green bezel on a maxidialled and big-handed standard sub.

If you do some research you'll see there have been several bezel and dial designs for this watch. The wide "o" in Rolex being one such thing that denotes a 'real' anniversary model.

Thay'll probably make the LV for a long time - they only made a short run of genuine anniversary models though.

Watch tha market as the dials differentiate the prices....

Dials are easily swappable - unless Rolex only made a fixed number of genuine anniversary dials and then chucked out the template...

I'd have thought that would limit the price discrepancy between the 'genuine' and regular Rolex series production models - unless there's some 'secret signature' à la Breguet on the dial, exact replica dials are easily produced and swapped on genuine series production models.

Rolex themselves will swap a bezel or dial for you if you fancy a change won't they? I had a black dial Explorer 2, my business partner liked it but wanted white, but could only find a black one for sale at RRP in an AD, so he bought it, and the guys in Bond St swapped the dial over for him so he could have a white one.

Most of the time I just don't understand what the hell Rolex are doing. They make a 'special Anniversary' edition Sub - the City boys who like watches bid them up above market value to try to be first to own one, the trade hold them back so they can sell above RRP even though it's meant to be prohibited, then Rolex continue making them, no limited numbers.

Then they make multiple variations on the dial and bezel for the same watch, making it easy for someone who doesn't know every variation in detail to get it wrong and think it's a fake when it's genuine. Which makes the genuine watch less desirable to the average bloke who wants a real Rolex and doesn't want anyone thinking he's wearing a counterfeit.

I'm not so fond of this one so I haven't spent much time with one - my cousin had one for a short while when they first came out as a fashion item (I think he tried to turn it for a profit, not sure if he succeeded or not) but if the only way you can tell it's a 'genuine anniversary' model is to check the size of the 'O' on the dial or match up the serial numbers, then why would it fetch a higher asking price?

It's not as if it was a genuinely limited edition - they made hundreds, maybe thousands, didn't they? And I presume this will equally be the case with the green-glass GV Milgauss.

As you can tell I didn't read Marketing at university. I'm genuinely puzzled. Perhaps it's because it's late and I ought to get some kip.

[RT]

Some of what you say is quite right - but the fact remains that the oval O models and early (04) watches fetch a premium. The initial anniversary models came with booklets and an accompanying CD - 'anniversary' pack.

Rolex dials evolve rather than change back and forth - so they probably did make the oval o as a secret signature as you say.

Collectors will always pay a premium for rarer items - even if they are hard to distinguish. I have an 04 'original' oval O LV which is probably worth several hundred more than my 2007 LV which has a round O and a later bezel - odd but true!