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Rolex Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA Review by David Bialecki
27/01/2010DISCLAIMER: This review is published with permission from the original author © Copyright 2009 David Bialecki. All Rights Reserved. With pertinence to the contents of this review only: All text and photographs are subject to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of David Bialecki, unless otherwise stated. These materials may not be reproduced, distributed, modified or reposted to other websites without the express written permission of David Bialecki.
Well, I read a lot of reviews before purchasing this watch. I looked at a lot of pictures, on here and on Timezone. I never got a chance to see the watch in person before I bought it, as my local dealers would sell out of it as soon as they got it, at full retail no less. ( there are a lot of dumb rich people in Boca Raton ). Anyway, I got a deal off of Timezone that was too good to pass up, and I figured I could flip it if I didn’t like it.
Most of the reviews I read were from owners who had just gotten it, or rotate it occasionally into their daily wear watch. Me, well this is my everyday watch. A little bit of my watch history first. I have owned a Sea Dweller, a Sub, and two Explorer II’s. When I switched to Panerai ( Thanks USN! ), I couldn’t go back to Rolex. They just felt too small. And, to me, they looked stupid on me. Now, when I saw other people, my friends and such, they looked normal wearing it. But on me, for some psychological reason they looked too small. So I stuck with my PAM, sold all my Rolex’s and never looked back. Until I heard about this watch.
Now I’ve been wearing it a month, and feel I can be fair about it. There aren’t too many reviews out there that give a months opinion on it, and not many pics of one with scratches on it. So, I figured I’d throw one out there. My initial thoughts were to leave the plastic on it, wear it for a couple days, and if the common negative points that I read about on the different forums made themselves present, I’d sell it and move on. I ended up taking the plastic off the second day. I know I’ll keep this watch forever.:hurra:
First off, and it’s been said on here before but I’ll repeat it. The writing on the ring that EVERYONE complains about it is a mute point to me. I don’t notice it, and people that have asked to check it out never say anything about it either. For some reason it shows in pics, but in person it’s just not a big deal. The inside ring that says ROLEX ROLEX ROLEX ROLEX all the way around is almost impossible to see. I have to tilt the watch at an angle in the right light to even see it. I couldn’t even get it to show up in a pic, as I tried to show the serial number. ( It’s a V series ).
The other complaint that you read about is how tall, or thick it is. Yes, it’s taller than the other Rolex’s, but it’s very close to my PAM, if not the same. And, after wearing it for a day I don’t notice it. Now, other people who try it on always mention the height, but they’re only wearing it for a few minutes and handing it back to me. I believe most people would forget about it after a day or too. Again, going back to the regular Rolex’s in size, all of a sudden they seem like some slim designer watches.
One complaint that I’ll agree with is the size of the bracelet where it meets the case. They should have went wider on it. It really shows when the watch is off. It looks disproportionate. However, wearing the watch, the size of the case causes the bracelet to hang a little bit more vertical off the sides and when viewing the watch from the top down, I don’t notice it, and it looks normal. And, since that’s how I’m always looking at the watch, it doesn’t bug me at all. But, it bears mentioning that there is some merit to that complaint.
My wrist is 6.75″, which is pretty small I guess. I had to remove the diving extension to make it fit right. The glide lock adjustment makes this thing awesome. I’m sure I’m not the only one, but my wrist swells and shrinks during the days. In less than 20 seconds, I can loosen it or tighten it up and it’s good to go. I like to wear it loose anyways, as you’ll notice in the pics. Just enough so it doesn’t rotate on my wrist, but if I shake my wrist I can slide it back onto my arm about 1/2 an inch if I’m lifting the stretcher at work, or bending my wrist a lot, so there is no discomfort or pressure on the watch.
Something that I really love, and don’t read a lot about is the domed crystal. When I’m driving, for some reason it always catches my eye. The bezel ( amazing looking, more on that later ) is sloped up towards the crystal and the surfaces just form this smooth profile that looks so nice when viewed from a distance. Not sure if that sounds all that interesting, but it’s pretty cool, at least to me.
The dial is nice with big indices, and the hands are pretty fat compared to other watches. It all compliments the ” BIG ” theme that I guess the watch is going for. Some people mention how nice the flat finish is, but I don’t notice it. I guess if I compared it next to a gloss one, I’d see it. But it’s not a big deal to me. It just looks nice, that’s all I care about.
The bezel. I love it. I love the minute indices, and the heritage of them. I love the gloss of the ceramic, and the sheen of the platinum. I read about the broken bezel story, and I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get there if it happens to me. Doubt it will. As much as I love the looks of the bezel, my biggest complaint with the watch has to do with the operation of the bezel. There are 120 clicks going around the horn. Well, for some reason it seems like I’m always brushing the watch up against something, usually myself, and knocking the bezel a single click. I know, I know. So what, right? Well, it drives me crazy when I look down and the triangle thing at the top is 1/2 a minute to the left of center. It seems like it’s always there, and I’m always correcting it, turning it all the way around to top dead center. A minor distraction to most sane people, but a bugger to me. And, I’m probably the least anal, most laid back person you’d ever meet. I make it positive by telling myself at least I have a reason to play with the smooth, precision click bezel when I’m not timing something.
The clasp is the other amazing thing on this watch. Look at the work that went into it. Enough said. Well, not really enough. Look at how smooth the glide lock fits into the clasp piece. When I show it off, people always mention how you can’t tell there is a separate piece. Which brings up another point. Never in so little time have I gotten so many inquiries about the watch I’m wearing. 99% of the time the inquirer is wearing a Rolex also. The responses are always positive, at least to my face anyways. I’m still waiting for someone to mention the ” obnoxious” writing that is sooooo noticeable. ;o)
The lume is sweet looking in blue. It’s not as bright as I remember my Sub being, but it looks cool as all get out in blue, and it lasts a decent amount of time. It really looks great when I come inside the station after getting back from a call, and it’s super charged in the dim florescent station living room. I don’t need the lume at that time, but it really looks good. At 4am when our station alarm goes off for some knucklehead with a toothache, it’s plenty bright enough, which is all I need.
Yes, I SCUBA dive. I dive a lot. I’m on my Fire Dept’s dive team, and we practice a lot. This watch has already been in some of the dirtiest canals in Florida. Dirty enough that I have to get shots, and pour copious amounts of peroxide in my ears when I come out. No, I’ll never go past 120 feet.
In conclusion, I love it. It keeps time like you’d expect a Rolex to. I don’t notice the weight. I’ll pass it on to my son while I’m taking my last breaths on this planet.
Thanks for your time reading this, and I hope I’ve convinced a couple small wristed folk who were worried about the writing and thickness that their concerns are not needed. After a day of wearing it, you’ll rip the plastic off, and never stop smiling every time you look at it.
David Bialecki is a Professional Firefighter/Paramedic and has been working for the Pompano Beach Fire Rescue for 10 years. He is on the Special Operations team, including their High Angle Rope Rescue and Dive Rescue team, where they practice every week in different black water conditions. He is also an avid SCUBA diver, and does a lot of wreck diving. Commenting on how he treats his watches, “I believe in using my watches as tools, and not safe queens, no matter what they cost. :)”.