My first Rolex was an Explorer purchased about two years ago. Don’t get me wrong, the Explorer is a great watch: understated, comfortable, a great candidate for a “one watch collection” if you’re not able to spend a lot of money and choose to have only one great watch. But I suppose I was not completely satisfied and kept searching for watches. A year ago, I found a Rolex Submariner “no date” 114060 brand new, and I instantly fell in love. Flipped the Explorer for the Sub (adding some money) and never looked back. And that’s a good thing when you’re in the market for those fancy and expensive things.

The Rolex Submariner for me is maybe one of the more qualified candidates for the purpose of the “one watch collection”. Where the Explorer is subtle, the Sub says “here I am” but doing it in a non-aggressive way. It’s a Rolex and almost everyone who knows the brand is going to recognize it, but for most people it´s only a good-looking watch. If you want a thing that cries “I’m wealthy”, this Sub is not for you. You can wear it with almost any kind of clothing. With a tuxedo? Only if your name is Bond, James Bond.

The size is almost perfect for me. With an average wrist (16,5cm), 40mm is big enough but you can hide it well under the cuff of the shirt. The balanced black dial with white gold details and blue Chromalight markers (the advantage of the no date) means that it goes well with everything you want to pair it with. The Cerachrom bezel is gorgeous, offering beautiful reflections from deep black to grey and it is scratch resistant. The bracelet with the flip-lock Glidelock clasp (easily adjustable in mm) make the submariner probably the most comfortable watch that I ever wear. Period. Powered by the in-house 3130 caliber this watch keeps amazing time.

There are more elegant and sophisticated, rugged or technically superior watches out there but it´s difficult to find one that does everything as well as the Submariner.