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This is an edition of the newsletter Box + Papers, Cam Wolf’s weekly deep dive into the world of watches. Sign up here.
Rolex’s new book on the Submariner reminded me of a version of the iconic dive watch known as the “Bart Simpson.” The ’60s-era variation gets its anachronistic moniker from a tiny detail on its dial: the spikes on the Rolex coronet logo (you know, the lil’ crown) are slightly stubbier than usual, resulting in a vague resemblance to the Simpsons character. That’s all it takes to make this already desirable Submariner even more collectible and rare.
The fact that quirky design details have the ability to multiply a Rolex’s value might be my absolute favorite thing about Crown collecting. Imagine a roomful of grown men losing their minds over a watch because its logo kinda-sorta looks like the head of a cartoon character—that’s pretty much the vibe at your local watch club! There are infinite examples of little details boosting value, but I have a very soft spot for variations of the coronet because it’s the only place where design really comes into play—the Big Crown on a Submariner or the fact that a watch has four lines of text aren’t nearly as fun traits to examine as a crown that looks like Bart Simpson or an amphibian’s foot.
These minute differences in Rolex’s logo are so important because everything about the manufacturer’s watches is typically so standardized. Founder Hans Wilsodrf didn’t establish the Rolex logo until 1925, 20 years after the brand was founded. It’s gone through few dramatic changes in the nearly 100 years since, but there are some key dates to call out. For 40 years, starting in 1925, the Rolex coronet came in gold. Thatchanged in 1965, when the crown went with a bronze or slightly duller gold hue. In 2002, the bright gold crown returned. In between, plenty of idiosyncratic versions of the coronet have appeared, and parsing out these tiny differences are one way of ascribing not just what era a watch is from but also its value.
I’ve ranked my favorite versions of the coronet below. (While many of these already have established nicknames, I gave ones to the ones that remained unchristened. Those are marked with an asterisk.) Special thanks to Eric Wind of Wind Vintage, @T_Swiss_T, and Paul Altieri at Bob’s Watches for their help.
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