What Makes the Rolex Single Red Sea-Dweller So popular?

Of all Rolex watches, the Rolex Single Red Sea Wave is the rarest and most valuable – by a wide margin. However, in all the discussions about the different “red text” Rolex replica watches, the rarity of the Single Red Sea Wave (and the details that make the watch so special) sometimes gets overlooked or buried among other seemingly insignificant but ever so important vintage Rolex details.
As a quick reminder – or for those completely unfamiliar with this holy grail of vintage Rolex collecting – here’s a brief overview of exactly what makes the Rolex Single Red Sea-Aqua so special and why collectors are willing to pay insane prices for them whenever they manage to show up at auction.
The extremely rare “single red” Sea-Dweller ref. 1665 was an early prototype of the collection, featuring the red ea-Dweller logo. Other features of the Single Red include a 27-jewel 1575 Perpetual movement, a matte black dial, a 40 mm Oyster case with an arched acrylic crystal, a 60-minute diver’s bezel, all stainless steel construction, and a three-link Oyster bracelet. Of course, it also has a date mechanism at 3 o’clock, indicated in a larger font on the dial next to the words “Oyster Perpetual.” At the time, it was not common for dive watches to include a calendar display on this dial, so it made sense for copy Rolex to draw attention to this detail with a larger font, as it was one of the first dive watches designed for multi-day stays under the surface.
One thing that makes the “Double Red” and “Single Red” Sea-Dwellers different from other Sea-Dweller models is that they both bear the names “Submariner” and “Sea-Dweller.” Although only the name “Sea-Dweller” appears in red text on the dial of the Single Red Sea-Dweller, the difference in the dial is not just a matter of the color of the text.
In addition to the difference in depth rating values and the extra line of text, the order of the units in the depth rating itself has been changed, making the few Single Red Sea-Dwellers the only “meter first” Sea-Dwellers watches produced by replica Rolex. Instead of “Submariner 2000” as the Double Red Sea-Dweller’s second line of text (printed in white) reads, “Submariner 500 M – 1650 FT” because its production predates the final design of the reference 1665 Sea-Dweller, which would have benefited from a higher depth rating.