Rolex Submariner No-Date 124060: The One That Needs No Introduction

The Rolex Submariner doesn't need this review. It's been in continuous production since 1953. It invented the dive watch category and then outgrew it — now it's shorthand for wanting a watch that works without needing to explain yourself about it. This is more a case for the specific reference than a defence of the model.

The ref. 124060 — the current no-date Submariner, introduced in 2020 — is the cleanest version of the argument.

If you've spent time with the older 40mm, the new 41mm case will read as larger but not dramatically so. Rolex enlarged the case, upgraded the bracelet, and did it carefully enough that you'd mostly notice the difference side-by-side rather than on the wrist in isolation. The Oystersteel finishing is what it always is: immaculate. Brushed flanks, polished edges, a black Cerachrom ceramic bezel that resists scratching in a way the old aluminium inserts never could.

The bezel and the dial are the same colour. That's the point. They're not identical — the bezel has a sheen the dial doesn't, and under changing light they read differently. It's a detail most people won't consciously notice and everyone's eye registers anyway.

The no-date dial is the reason this reference exists. Without the cyclops lens and the date aperture at three o'clock, the layout is symmetrical. Applied hour markers, Mercedes hands, luminescent coating — that's the entire composition. It looks resolved in a way the date dial, for all its utility, doesn't quite manage. Some people need the date. If you don't, this is the one.

The movement is the calibre 3230. Seventy-hour power reserve, Chronergy escapement, certified Superlative Chronometer to +/- 2 seconds per day. It runs correctly and you won't think about it, which is precisely what a movement in this class should do.

Water resistance is 300m. You'll almost certainly never use it. You should appreciate it anyway — it means the watch is built to a standard where showers, swimming, and the occasional careless moment are genuinely inconsequential.

At $9,100 MSRP the Submariner is fairly priced for what it is. What it costs on the secondary market — typically $13,000–17,000 depending on condition and timing — is a separate and frustrating reality. The watch earned its reputation. The market around it is its own problem.