October 2024
Oyster Perpetual Submariner: The Watch That Unlocked the Deep by Nicholas Foulkes is a comprehensive look at one of Rolex’s most iconic timepieces. This book, published in collaboration with Wallpaper and officially sanctioned by Rolex, this is a first by them. Showing previously withheld information on production numbers, this was my main reason for purchasing the book (£100) and I was hoping to read stories I hadn’t heard before through Rolex collecting communities.
The book presents well with a nice satin binding and has visually striking photography that captures the essence of the Submariner. Mr Foulkes brings his expertise in writing history and does share fascinating anecdotes about the people who tested the Submariner, clearly using the Rolex archives for this. There have been some negative comments about him on this book. I have known him for many years and he’s an excellent historian and writer, but he’s not a Rolex expert and doesn’t claim to be as some people have quoted.
The essential models, from the early Explorer-based origins of the Submariner to the more recent ceramic models get featured and you get a sense of the timeline of the model and how much testing was done back in the day by various individuals and institutions. Towards the end of the book is a pictorial database of all the Submariner models and the Rolex released production numbers alongside them. Myself and the collectors I’ve spoken to have found the lack of detail a little disappointing, for example some noted factual inaccuracies and omissions, like the misidentification of certain vintage details and a lack of information on key figures. This does detract from its credibility as a comprehensive reference guide, yet others will say it’s not trying to be that, but I feel with Rolex authorising it, the book had a golden opportunity and missed out slightly.
I personally found some sections in the book like a glossy advert for Rolex, the stuff you read in the boutiques whilst you are being told you can’t buy a steel Submariner. It felt almost like those pages were to fill a certain quota. I feel there’s so much that could have been included, more stories, more history either by the Rolex archives themselves or the Rolex community could have been involved. I don’t know anyone who has assisted in this book and there’s many whom would have gladly helped.
Despite the above I think it’s still a good book for fans of Rolex, however for those who love the ‘details’ like me, they will find the online watch community a more complete source of information. I believe this is just the beginning of publications by Rolex and Mr Foulkes, so lets hope for more in depth details with the Daytona, Explorer, GMT-Master books when they are published.
