I have been actively collecting Vintage Rolex Sport model watches for over 20 years. During that time, I have owned well over 1,000 Vintage Rolex timepieces, most of which now belong to other collectors around the world. About 10 years ago, I felt my experience had obliged me to write an article documenting the Rolex reference 1680 'Red' Submariner to help fellow aficionados and collectors. At the time, there was a lot of misinformation that hampered this model and my goal was to help eliminate the erroneous data. The article I wrote was my small contribution to the Vintage Rolex watch community that helped dispel many of the myths and brought about a better understanding of this reference. After another decade of collecting experience and traveling the globe in the quest for Vintage Rolex Sport watches, I feel confident that I can make a similar contribution to the understanding of the highly collectible Rolex "Small Crown" Submariner.

This article is primarily based on my own observations and anecdotal evidence gathered over the years. Since it is doubtful that any one person's collecting experience can garner the knowledge needed to document this genre properly or completely, I enlisted the help of several respected dealers and collectors who filled in some gaps and confirmed some assumptions. I would like to thank them for their respective contributions. I also will continue to welcome input from other sources to update this compendium.

Feel free to contact me directly with your suggestions and any additional relevant information.

mark@webstorm.com
@sportrolexes on Instagram