Vintage Rolex Sea-Dweller 1665 Double Red

This watch is in overall great, honest condition. The case is in good condition with scratches, indentations and wear throughout. The bevels are still visible on the lugs. The text on the caseback is all visible and the caseback has some scratches and wear. The inside caseback is correctly stamped "1665", "1.72" and the last three digits of the case number. The bezel is in great condition with some scratches/ normal wear and has aged from black to a lovely dark grey, graphite color that can look bluish in some lights. The pip is a later replacement. The dial is in excellent condition with light patina and some light wear along the edge. The two lines of red text have remained vibrant. The lume on the dial has developed patina and aged to a lovely pale yellow color. The hands have developed patina and the lume in the hands has aged a bit stronger yellow than the lume on the dial, which is not uncommon. This watch has a folded Oyster 9315 bracelet with 11 links, 285 end links, and a divers' extension. The clasp is stamped "H" dating it to 1983 - the clasp is a later replacement. The bracelet is in overall great condition, showing normal wear/scratches with a bit of stretch between the links. 

Vintage Rolex Sea-Dweller ref 1665 (1973) in general are some of the rarest vintage Rolex sports models out there. Rolex introduced the celebrated model in 1967 and they still make it today. The Sea-Dweller was developed for use by professional deep-sea saturation divers, particularly with its inclusion of a "Helium Escape Valve" or "HEV" on the 9 o'clock side of the case to help the watch survive decompression from dry, pressurized environments. The earliest Sea-Dweller examples had red printing and are called "Single Red" because of the one line of red text about the 6 o'clock marker, while the "Double Red" (featured here) features the words "Sea-Dweller" and "Submariner 2000" in red text above the 6 o'clock marker. Rolex made the double red version until around 1978 and at that point they switched to all white text. Rolex continued to use all white text on the Sea-Dweller until 2017 when they re-introduced the 43mm 50th anniversary version with a single line of red text.

The example we have here today has the two lines of red text on the dial and is from circa 1973. It features a mark III dial and features a lovely faded bezel that originally was black and has turned to a gorgeous grey color that adds to the overall character. This DRSD has aged so nicely over the years from the nicely faded bezel to the creamy lume, this thing just sings in the light.