Rolex Releases New Submariners, ‘Hulk’ Prices Soar
Every Action…
In case you’ve been living under a rock (or without WiFi) over the past week, ‘it’ happened. Rolex made some changes to their iconic Submariner line of watches. The Geneva manufacturer has been posting ‘teaser’ ads for months, and the word on the street was that new releases and design changes were imminent.
‘The Crown’ haven’t made any major revisions to their flagship sports watch since 2010 and 2012, so enthusiasts were expecting big things.
Two big things happened. You can now buy a new black-dialed steel Sub with a green bezel, and a white gold Submariner can be (theoretically) purchased with a black dial and blue ceramic bezel. The whole Submariner line wears a new 41-millimeter case, and the standard Oyster bracelet also gained a few millimeters in thickness to match.
The new lugs are narrower and appear to be slightly longer, making the watch less ‘squat’ in appearance and slightly more elegant. The return of the green bezel is a sort of update on the 2003 50th Anniversary Sub aka the ‘Kermit.’ The blue-bezeled offering in white gold echoes the 2014 release of the ‘Pepsi’ ceramic red and blue GMT, which was also only originally available in precious metals.
Speaking of precious metals, the classic two-tone and all-gold Subs are still available. There’s the standard two-tone with a black dial and bezel, and also a two-tone with blue dial and bezel. Just as in the past, you can also get the same styles in full yellow gold.
The inside of the new Submariners is also upgraded; behind the 904L steel caseback beats either a Rolex caliber 3230 (dateless) or 3525 (with date complication.) This movement has 70 hours of power reserve, twice the amount of the system living in the old Subs. The new werk is also very anti-magnetic, as it packs a blue Parachrom hairspring and a nickel-phosphorus escapement.
This being a story primarily about new Rolex steel sports watches, the main takeaway concerns their lack of availability to average consumers. Crowds formed outside Rolex flagship stores in major cities on release day, not unlike what happens when Apple releases a new iPhone or Supreme does their now-infamous Thursday morning drops of new goods.
Just like with Hypebeast-style sneaker releases, a lot of the people lining up are looking to resell for a profit. But unlike a new iPhone release, when Rolex updates their product line the ‘outdated’ stuff usually increases in value. Last month (in theory) you could have bought an all-green Rolex sub for a little under 10 grand in U.S. currency from an authorized dealer.
As the advertising from Rolex concerning the new releases increased, and the ‘leaks’ of the new models started making their way around the Internet…watch fans noticed something was missing. The aforementioned all-green Submariner colorway known to collectors as ‘the Hulk’ was conspicuously absent from all sales materials and new 2020 catalogs.
In effect, the new black dial and green bezel 41mm Sub would replace the all-green 40mm ‘Hulk.’
At the time, the ‘Hulk’ already carried a premium on the resale market of a few grand just due to limited availability. As the talk increased of the watch getting discontinued, prices on the secondary market for pre-owned all-green versions also started to rise.
And they rose a lot. About a month or so ago, the price of a used ‘Hulk’ Sub climbed to around $15k on the secondary market. Again, this is a watch that in theory you could buy from a shop for a little under 10 grand; that is, if you had a good relationship with the dealer or otherwise knew someone on the inside.
As release day of the new pieces grew closer (and rumors of the Hulk’s demise grew stronger) the gray-market prices went up even more. On release day, used ‘Hulks’ for sale online by third parties went up to $19k. At minimum. Some guys are asking over $20k.
Not a bad profit margin if you’re a seller, especially if you paid retail price.
But as any modern Rollie fan will tell you, this is part of the game with modern Rolex. Not unlike buying Yeezys or limited-release Air Jordans, most Rolex stores only get a handful of Subs to sell each year. Those of course usually go to VIPs, big spenders, or friends and family.
There’s even stories of certain retailers holding boxes and papers of these watches in the shop for a year or so to try and discourage flipping! Of course, there’s also stories of people randomly walking into shops and picking up a prized Rolex model simply by asking for it.
Time will tell if the new Submariner designs catch on with collectors, and if they will be made in the same limited numbers as their earlier brethren. We think the new color options look nice if modern Rollie is your bag, and the new lugs do look a bit more svelte.
We’d try it on or do a review, but we can’t get our hands on any at the moment. So enjoy the press pics and good vibes!
