Sea Dwellers

[faz]

Originally Posted by HogwldFLTR

When I was first looking at Rolex dive watches the Sea Dweller caught my eye. By spec it was deeper rated than the Subs. The lack of cyclops was attractive to my eye. As far as pricing it was close to the price of the Sub Dates on the used market. This past year the introduction of the 43mm seems to have spiked interest in the model.

I personally still like the old DNA without the added cyclops but that is a matter of personal taste. Does the new 43mm really make this dive watch as more desirable? Certainly there was a rush to buy the 50th anniversary model. To me the older ones always seem to have taken a bigger hit than there Submariner cousins. If this is true will this trend change? I really like the 4K; is it now obsoleted by the 43mm? What do you think?

Here is my newbie take:

SD43 is a beautiful watch, tried it on at AD (already spoken for) and liked it overall. But it felt big, compared to the GMT/SUB that I am used to.

SD4k, If I walked into an AD and saw SD4k and SubC, I would not pay the added premium for it. It wouldn't buy me anything over SubC: extra dept, lack of cyclops, wouldn't persuade me to put up with extra thickness and heavier watch. These are types of things that attract a WIS who can detect and appreciate those details, but not general buyers (which I fell or still fall under.)

Even today, given my little extra knowledge of Rolexes and knowing SD4k discontinued, I wouldn't spend any money on it for the same reasons I stated above. Unless the demand from WIS for outgoing SD4K is so much that can push its prices higher and higher, I don't see its 'popularity' changing among non-WIS masses.

SD43 is attracting a lot of big watch buyers who find the massive DSSD just too big/thick. I think that trend will continue and don't see the demand for it coming down anytime soon. General public looking for larger size Rolex can justify the price difference now between SD43 and SubC, vs. in the past (SD4k or 5 digit) when its size was identical to SubC.