Customized timeless classic for the fans of special Rolex watches.
The Swiss watchmaker Artisans de Genève specializes in customizing luxury brand watches. Their latest creation, a Rolex featuring a moon-phase display, is interesting for a number of reasons. First, let’s stop at who ordered the watch. The source watch, Rolex Submariner Date 116610, belonged to Captain Paul Watson, the famous radical environmental activist.
He was one of the founding members of Greenpeace (even though he was excommunicated seven years after the organization was founded) and co-created the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The latter society is famous (or rather infamous) for its operations, which include, among other things, attacks on whaleboats to protect marine wildlife. In 2000, he was named one of Time Magazine’s Top 20 Environmental Heroes of the 20th Century.
Second, the changes the model underwent are quite unique. Unlike most customization projects which often involve only external features, such as change of colors or materials, here, the entire original movement was reworked. A new module was added to the 3135 caliber to indicate moon phases.
For Artisans de Genève, this was the first project involving structural upgrade. Naturally, the appearance of the watch changed too. Now, aventurine is the dominant design element in the piece. Its unusual surface resembles a night sky. The choice is intended to evoke the fight the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society wages.
The steel Rolex ref.116610 now boasts an aventurine dial, a bezel insert and a white gold oscillating weight. The dial also received a moon-phase display: the watchmakers placed under the dial a sphere with two manually engraved depictions of Moon against a dark blue background, using the Grand Feu Enamel technique.
The disc is moved by a large round lever, a new part of the 3135 movement. This COSC-certified caliber is used in the Submariner Date and Rolex Deepsea pieces. The movement with a bi-directional Perpetual oscillating weight also features a Parachrom hairspring resistant against magnetic fields.