Watercolour of a steel Rolex Submariner Date 116610LN with a black dial and a black ceramic bezel on an Oyster bracelet
Illustration: our own watercolour, after a photograph of a ref. 16610 by FrankWilliams (public domain), painted as the 116610LN with its ceramic bezel and broader case.

Rolex · Ref. 116610ln · catalogued from 27 sources

Submariner Date

The 116610LN has a clasp you can lengthen without tools, so it fits over a wetsuit. It is mostly lengthened after lunch.

The Rolex Submariner Date ref. 116610LN is the steel Submariner Date with a black dial and a black ceramic bezel that Rolex made from 2010 to 20202,3,4. It has a 40 mm Oyster case, a Cerachrom bezel insert with platinum-coated numerals, water resistance to 300 metres and calibre 3135 with about 48 hours of power reserve1,6. It replaced the 16610 in 20104,10 and was itself replaced by the 41 mm 126610LN in September 20202,4,5. Rolex no longer sells it new. The last US list price we can find is USD 8,950 in January 2020, from a dealer's price table and from Bob's Watches11,12. On 9 September 2026 the median asking price on the first page of Chrono24's 116610LN listings was USD 12,380; asking prices are not sale prices13.

The 40 mm 'Super Case' Submariner Date: ceramic bezel, broad lugs, Glidelock clasp and calibre 31351,4,10.

Discontinued in 2020, so pre-owned only. Chrono24 asking prices have barely moved: down about 1.6 per cent over the last twelve months we can see, up about 3.3 per cent over two years13,14,15.

Buy it if you want the ceramic Submariner in 40 mm and can live with 48 hours of reserve. Its successor runs for about 705,6.

The particulars

Reference
116610LN, Oyster Perpetual Submariner Date. LN stands for lunette noire, black bezel1,2,3
Case
Oyster, 40 mm, monobloc middle case, screw-down case back and winding crown1,4
Thickness
About 13 mm according to Wikipedia; Rolex's pages give no figure, and a Monochrome reply to a reader puts the generation at about 12 mm3,5
Material
904L steel, which Rolex's later pages call Oystersteel1,6
Bezel
Unidirectional, 60-minute graduated, black Cerachrom ceramic insert with numerals and graduations coated in platinum1,4,6
Crystal
Sapphire, with a Cyclops lens over the date1,4
Winding crown
Screw-down, Triplock triple waterproofness system1,6
Water resistance
300 metres (1,000 feet)1,4
Movement
Calibre 3135, Manufacture Rolex, self-winding1,7
Frequency
28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz), 31 jewels8,9
Hairspring
Blue Parachrom1,4
Power reserve
About 48 hours2,6
Precision
−2/+2 seconds a day after casing, Superlative Chronometer, on Rolex's 2020 page; a Swiss chronometer tested by COSC on its 2013 page1,6
Dial
Black, with Chromalight hour markers and hands that glow blue1,4
Bracelet
Oyster, flat three-piece solid links1,4; 20 mm between the lugs, the width the 2020 successor widened to 21 mm3,5
Clasp
Oysterlock folding safety clasp with the Glidelock extension: about 20 mm in steps of about 2 mm, no tools1,3,4,5
Produced
2010 to 20202,3,4

Is it genuine?

Rolex's own advice. Asked how to spot a fake, Rolex's FAQ gives no tips. It says to buy only from its own appointed jewellers, which it says guarantee the authenticity of every part22. The 116610LN is no longer sold new, so the checks below are the minimum for a pre-owned one. They catch crude fakes. Bob's Watches warns that today's best counterfeits often pass several of the traditional tests, including the Cyclops and the rehaut engraving, so no list like this proves a watch genuine23.

The bezel. Black ceramic, with the numerals and graduations coated in platinum1,6. The material, the colour and the numeral font must match the reference; counterfeiters often get ceramic colours slightly wrong24. An aluminium insert belongs to the 16610 before it7,10.

The glow. Rolex fitted Chromalight, which it describes as a blue glow1,4. Bob's Watches calls the 16610's lume green and the 116610's bluish-green10, so a plainly green glow on a watch sold as a 116610LN deserves a question.

The Cyclops lens. Rolex's own 2013 page for this reference gives the magnification as 2.5 times1. The date should nearly fill the lens; a small date under the lens is a classic counterfeit flaw23,25.

The crown in the crystal. A tiny Rolex crown is laser-etched into the sapphire at six o'clock, barely visible without a loupe. Rolex began doing this in the early 2000s, so a 116610LN should have one3,23,24.

The rehaut. 'ROLEX' is engraved around the inner ring between dial and crystal, with the serial number at six o'clock. Wikipedia dates it on the Submariner to late 2008, Bob's Watches to the mid-2000s; both predate the 116610LN3,23.

The seconds hand. It sweeps in small steps, roughly eight a second. A hand that ticks once a second means a quartz movement23, which a 116610LN does not have1.

The case back. Solid steel, screwed down, with no display window1,23.

The winding crown. It screws down and carries the Triplock system1. The marks below the coronet on the crown encode the metal and the water resistance, and counterfeiters often get them wrong24.

Bracelet and clasp. Solid links and an Oysterlock clasp with Glidelock, which should extend in small steps without tools1,4. A fold-over clasp with a safety catch and no Glidelock is the 16610's arrangement7,10.

Some new generations change everything inside and nothing you can see. The 116610LN did the opposite: the same 40 mm and the same calibre as the 16610 before it, and something new nearly everywhere you look. To an untrained eye they are the same watch; side by side, the newer one looks a size larger7,10.

It was made from 2010 to 2020, and it is no longer sold new2,3,4. WatchGuys calls it one of the most widely traded Rolex watches on the pre-owned market2.

Ten years in the middle of the family

The Submariner itself dates from 1953. Rolex's 2013 page for this reference called it the first watch water-resistant to 100 metres1; Rolex's Submariner page in 2026 says, more narrowly, the brand's first divers' wristwatch waterproof to 100 metres19. Other sources dispute the wider claim (see below). The date arrived with ref. 1680 in the late 1960s3. Its direct steel predecessor is the 16610, made from about 1988 until 20103,10; the exact start year is disputed (see below).

The changes that define the 116610LN did not start with it. In 2008 Rolex presented gold Submariner Dates with a heavier case, broader lugs and crown guards, a Cerachrom ceramic bezel and the Glidelock clasp1,3. The steel version followed at the Basel fair in 2010 as ref. 1166103, replacing the 166104,10. Collectors call this case the 'Super Case'3,4.

Two steel versions shared it. The 116610LN has a black dial and bezel; the 116610LV, introduced alongside it, has a green dial and a green bezel and is mechanically the same watch2,3,4. The letters stand for lunette noire and lunette verte, black and green bezel2,3.

In September 2020 Rolex replaced the whole Submariner Date generation with 41 mm references. The 126610LN replaced the 116610LN2,5.

What changed in 2010

Start with the bezel. The 16610 had an aluminium insert; the 116610LN has Cerachrom, Rolex's ceramic, with numerals and graduations coated in platinum1,7,10. Rolex says the material is virtually scratchproof and keeps its colour in sunlight and in chlorinated or sea water1. Bob's Watches adds that the old bezel ran on a single click-spring and the new one on four, so it rotates more consistently10.

Then the case. The diameter stayed at 40 mm, but the lugs and crown guards became much broader: nearly twice as wide according to Bob's Watches, and crown guards twice the size according to SwissWatchExpo, so the watch looks bigger on the wrist than the number suggests7,10. The dial followed. The 'Maxi dial' has larger hour markers and broader hands4,7, filled with Chromalight, which Rolex says glows blue for up to eight hours1.

The bracelet changed the most in daily use. It has solid links and an Oysterlock clasp with Glidelock, which lengthens the bracelet in steps of about 2 mm, up to about 20 mm, without tools1,3,4. Rolex designed it to go over a diving suit; Bob's Watches and SwissWatchExpo point out that it is just as useful when a wrist swells during the day or on a warm day1,4,7.

Inside, very little moved. The 116610LN uses calibre 3135, the same calibre as the 166101,7: 28,800 vibrations an hour, 31 jewels and about 48 hours of power reserve6,8,9. Rolex's page for the reference lists a blue Parachrom hairspring, which Rolex says is insensitive to magnetic fields and more resistant to shocks1. Whether it was the 116610 that brought Parachrom to the 3135 is disputed (see below).

Rolex's 2013 page calls the watch a Swiss chronometer tested by COSC1. Rolex redefined its Superlative Chronometer standard in 201520, and its May 2020 page for the 116610LN lists −2/+2 seconds a day after casing6.

What the 126610LN changed

The successor arrived on 1 September 20205. It is 41 mm, with slimmer, more tapered lugs, more angled crown guards and a lug width of 21 mm instead of 203,5. It uses calibre 3235 with about 70 hours of power reserve2,5.

Everything else a buyer looks at stayed: black dial, black Cerachrom bezel, 300 metres, Triplock and Glidelock2,5. Monochrome put the steel 126610LN's launch price at EUR 8,6505. So the choice between the two is not between an old watch and a new one. It is between the Super Case with a two-day reserve and a slimmer case with a three-day one.

What it costs

The archived copies of Rolex's own 116610LN page that we found carry no price1,6. Our list prices therefore come from two dealers. A US price table, which its author says began as a handout from a Rolex retailer in 2005, shows the steel Submariner Date at USD 7,375 in September 2010, USD 8,550 in June 2012, USD 8,500 in April 2014 and April 2018, and USD 8,950 in January 202011. Bob's Watches gives USD 8,550 as the retail price while the watch was in production4 and USD 8,950 after the 2020 increase12.

That is a rise of about 21.4 per cent over the decade and about 5.3 per cent in the January 2020 increase, from USD 8,500 to USD 8,950 (4.7 per cent against Bob's USD 8,550). The table does not name a reference per date, so reading the 2010 to 2020 columns as the 116610LN is ours.

Pre-owned, we can measure asking prices. The median asking price on the first page of Chrono24's 116610LN listings was USD 11,979 in October 2024, USD 11,991 in April 2025, USD 12,583 in September 2025 and USD 12,380 in September 202613,14,15,21. The two windows disagree slightly: down about 1.6 per cent over the last twelve months, up about 3.3 per cent over the two years. Read it as flat. Asking prices are not sale prices, and the first page mixes boxed sets, watches only, a few modified watches and the odd listing of another reference; leaving those out moves no median by more than about USD 100 and leaves the picture flat.

One dealer publishes what it actually sold for. Bob's Watches reports a median sale price of USD 12,945 for the 116610LN from October 2025 to September 2026, and a quarterly median that rose from USD 11,445 in the first quarter of 2025 to USD 13,095 in the third quarter of 202616. That is about 14.4 per cent by our arithmetic; Bob's itself writes 'about 21%'. It is one dealer's sales, not the market.

Against its last list price, then, a pre-owned 116610LN asks about 38 per cent more than a new one cost in January 2020: USD 12,380 against USD 8,95011,12,13. A list price is not a return, and neither is an asking price.

Buying one pre-owned

Rolex's own advice is to buy from its own jewellers22. For a reference discontinued in 2020 that means buying pre-owned, with the checks above as the minimum.

Not every mix-up involves a fake. The 16610 and the green 116610LV share a great deal with the 116610LN. The generation shows in the lugs, the glow, the bezel and the clasp, and the colour shows the rest2,7,10.

Nobody outside Rolex knows how many 116610LNs were made. We found no Rolex production figure for any single reference, and the analyst estimates we found cover the whole brand17,18. Wikipedia says Rolex has disclosed about four million Submariners of all kinds from 1953 to 2020, but we could not trace that to Rolex itself3.

The dubious part

The 116610LN is rated to 300 metres and fitted with an extension for a diving suit. Its most demanding expedition is usually the gap between a shirt cuff and a steering wheel.

The steel Submariner Date, generation by generation
ReferenceYearsCalibreWhat changed
16610c. 1988–20103,7,1031357Aluminium bezel insert, 40 mm case, fold-over clasp without Glidelock7,10
116610LN2010–20202,3,431351Cerachrom bezel, broader lugs and crown guards, Maxi dial with blue Chromalight, Glidelock1,7,10
116610LV2010–20202,331352Same watch with a green dial and a green ceramic bezel2,4
126610LN2020–present5,163235541 mm, slimmer lugs, more angled crown guards, 21 mm lug width, about 70 hours of reserve2,5

The 16610's start year is disputed between 1987, 1988 and 1989; see «Where the sources disagree».

How to tell a 116610LN from a 16610
Detail16610116610LN
Bezel insertAluminium7,10Black Cerachrom ceramic, platinum-coated numerals1
Lugs and crown guardsSlimmer10Broader: nearly twice as wide according to Bob's Watches10; crown guards twice the size according to SwissWatchExpo7
Lume colourGreen10Blue (Chromalight); Bob's Watches says bluish-green1,10
ClaspFold-over with safety catch7Oysterlock with Glidelock1,7
Diameter40 mm7,1040 mm1

Both use calibre 31351,7.

US list price of the steel Submariner Date, 2010–2020
DateUS list priceSource
September 2010USD 7,37511Dealer price table
May 2011USD 8,00011Dealer price table
June 2012USD 8,55011Dealer price table; Bob's Watches gives the same figure as the in-production retail price4
April 2014USD 8,50011Dealer price table
April 2018USD 8,50011Dealer price table
January 2020USD 8,95011,12Dealer price table and Bob's Watches

Neither source is Rolex. The table (Minus4Plus6, archived November 2024) labels its row '1680/16610/116610N/126610LN', not one reference per date; reading 2010 to 2020 as the 116610LN is ours.

List price then, asking price now, US dollarsUS list price (dealer price table)Chrono24 median asking price (first page)
7,0008,0009,00010,00011,00012,00013,000Oct 2010Jan 2011Apr 2011Jul 2011Oct 2011Jan 2012Apr 2012Jul 2012Oct 2012Jan 2013Apr 2013Jul 2013Oct 2013Jan 2014Apr 2014Jul 2014Oct 2014Jan 2015Apr 2015Jul 2015Oct 2015Jan 2016Apr 2016Jul 2016Oct 2016Jan 2017Apr 2017Jul 2017Oct 2017Jan 2018Apr 2018Jul 2018Oct 2018Jan 2019Apr 2019Jul 2019Oct 2019Jan 2020Apr 2020Jul 2020Oct 2020Jan 2021Apr 2021Jul 2021Oct 2021Jan 2022Apr 2022Jul 2022Oct 2022Jan 2023Apr 2023Jul 2023Oct 2023Jan 2024Apr 2024Jul 2024Oct 2024Jan 2025Apr 2025Jul 2025Oct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026List 8,950Asking 12,380

List prices come from a dealer's table, dated by month and plotted on the first of the month. Asking prices are our median of the 60 listings on the first page of Chrono24's 116610LN page in archived copies (Internet Archive). Asking prices are not sale prices. The first page also holds a few modified watches and the odd listing of another reference; they are included. An archived copy dated February 2026 returned the September 2025 page and is not used.

The numbers behind the chart
SeriesObservedPrice
US list price (dealer price table)1 Sep 2010USD 7,37511
US list price (dealer price table)1 May 2011USD 8,00011
US list price (dealer price table)1 Jun 2012USD 8,55011
US list price (dealer price table)1 Apr 2014USD 8,50011
US list price (dealer price table)1 Apr 2018USD 8,50011
US list price (dealer price table)1 Jan 2020USD 8,95011,12
Chrono24 median asking price (first page)15 Oct 2024USD 11,97915
Chrono24 median asking price (first page)20 Apr 2025USD 11,99121
Chrono24 median asking price (first page)12 Sep 2025USD 12,58314
Chrono24 median asking price (first page)9 Sep 2026USD 12,38013

Questions people ask

Is the Rolex 116610LN still in production?
No. Rolex made it from 2010 to 2020 and replaced it with the 41 mm 126610LN in September 20203,4,5.
What year did the 116610LN come out?
2010. The steel model was presented at the Basel fair that year2,3,4.
What was the retail price of the 116610LN?
USD 7,375 in September 2010, USD 8,500 to 8,550 from 2012 until January 2020, and USD 8,950 after the January 2020 increase, according to a dealer price table. Bob's Watches gives USD 8,550 for the years in production and USD 8,950 after the increase. Neither is a Rolex source4,11,12.
What is a 116610LN worth now?
In September 2026 the median asking price on the first page of Chrono24's listings was USD 12,38013. Bob's Watches reports a median sale price of USD 12,945 from October 2025 to September 202616. Asking prices are not sale prices.
What is the difference between the 116610LN and the 126610LN?
The 126610LN is 41 mm with slimmer lugs and a 21 mm lug width, and it uses calibre 3235 with about 70 hours of reserve. The 116610LN is 40 mm with calibre 3135 and about 48 hours2,5,6.
What is the difference between the 16610 and the 116610LN?
The 116610LN has a ceramic bezel instead of aluminium, broader lugs and crown guards, a Maxi dial with blue lume and a Glidelock clasp. Both are 40 mm and use calibre 31351,7,10.
What does LN mean?
Lunette noire, French for black bezel. The green version is the 116610LV, for lunette verte2,3.
How many 116610LNs did Rolex make?
Nobody outside Rolex knows. We found no Rolex production figure for any single reference; the analyst estimates we found cover the whole brand17,18.

Should you buy one? If you want the ceramic Submariner in its broadest-shouldered form, yes. Just don't call it an investment until you've sold it.

The house rules · every fact sourced, every disagreement shown

Where the sources disagree

When the 16610 began. Wikipedia's text says 1987 and its own table 1988; Bob's Watches and SwissWatchExpo say 1989. We write c. 19883,7,10.

The first ceramic Submariner. WatchGuys calls the 116610LN the first Submariner, and the first Submariner Date, with a ceramic bezel. Wikipedia and Rolex's own 2013 page put Cerachrom on the Submariner in 2008, on gold models. Bob's Watches says the 116610LN was the first steel one, which fits both. We write that the steel version followed in 20101,2,3,4.

Who brought Parachrom to calibre 3135. Bob's Watches and SwissWatchExpo say the 116610 introduced the blue Parachrom hairspring to the 3135. Caliber Corner dates Parachrom in 3135s to about 2007/08 and Grail Watch to 2009, both before 2010. We say only that the 116610LN has one, which Rolex's page confirms1,7,8,9,10.

How far Glidelock extends. SwissWatchExpo says up to 5 mm. Bob's Watches says about 20 mm in steps of 2 mm, Wikipedia gives the same for the no-date 114060 of the same generation, and Monochrome for the successor. We use 20 mm3,4,5,7.

The retail price. Bob's Watches gives USD 8,550 as the in-production retail price. The dealer price table shows USD 8,550 in 2012 but USD 8,500 in 2014 and 2018, and USD 8,950 in January 2020, which Bob's also reports. We show every figure with its date4,11,12.

How much the sold price rose. Bob's Watches says its quarterly median rose 'about 21%' from USD 11,445 to USD 13,095. Those two figures give about 14.4 per cent. We use 14.416.

How much the Cyclops magnifies. Rolex's 2013 page for the 116610LN says 2.5 times, as do authentication guides. A field in the hidden data of Rolex's 2026 Datejust 41 pages says 1.7X. We use 2.5, Rolex's figure for this reference1,23,26.

Whether the Submariner was the first of its kind. Rolex's 2013 page for the 116610LN called the Submariner the first watch water-resistant to 100 metres1, and Bob's Watches calls it the first wristwatch in the world rated to 100 metres4. Rolex's Submariner page in 2026 says only that it was the brand's first divers' wristwatch waterproof to 100 metres19. Wikipedia points to Blancpain's Fifty Fathoms of 1953 and Omega's Marine of 19323,27. We give both of Rolex's wordings with their years and make no claim of our own.

Sources

  1. Rolex: Submariner Date 116610LN (rolex.com, archived 28 Apr 2013) (read 2026-10-16)
  2. WatchGuys: Rolex 116610LN (collection page and FAQ) (read 2026-10-16)
  3. Wikipedia: Rolex Submariner (read 2026-10-16)
  4. Bob's Watches: Rolex Submariner 116610LN: Watch Review & Complete Guide (read 2026-10-16)
  5. Monochrome Watches: Introducing - 2020 Rolex Submariner Date 41mm Collection (1 Sep 2020) (read 2026-10-16)
  6. Rolex: Submariner Date 116610LN (rolex.com, archived 20 May 2020) (read 2026-10-16)
  7. SwissWatchExpo: Rolex Submariner 16610 vs 116610 (read 2026-10-16)
  8. Caliber Corner: Rolex Caliber 3135 (read 2026-10-14)
  9. Grail Watch Reference: Rolex 3135 (read 2026-10-14)
  10. Bob's Watches: Rolex Submariner 116610 Vs Sub 16610 Review (read 2026-10-16)
  11. Minus4Plus6: Rolex Price Evolution (US retail price table) (read 2026-10-14)
  12. Bob's Watches: The Rolex Submariner Price History (dated 8 Jan 2020) (read 2026-10-16)
  13. Chrono24: Chrono24: Rolex 116610LN listings (archived 9 Sep 2026) (read 2026-10-16)
  14. Chrono24: Chrono24: Rolex 116610LN listings (archived 12 Sep 2025) (read 2026-10-16)
  15. Chrono24: Chrono24: Rolex 116610LN listings (archived 15 Oct 2024) (read 2026-10-16)
  16. Bob's Watches: How Much is a Rolex Submariner Watch: The Ultimate Price Guide (8 Oct 2026) (read 2026-10-16)
  17. Revolution: What we can learn from Morgan Stanley's Ninth Annual Swiss Watch Report (read 2026-10-14)
  18. Monochrome Watches: Industry News: Morgan Stanley's Top 50 Watch Brands for 2025 (read 2026-10-14)
  19. Rolex, via the Internet Archive: Rolex Submariner collection page (US), Wayback 2026-06-18 (read 2026-10-16)
  20. Rolex: Rolex History - 2013-2022 (read 2026-10-14)
  21. Chrono24: Chrono24: Rolex 116610LN listings (archived 20 Apr 2025) (read 2026-10-16)
  22. Rolex: Watch care and service – FAQ (read 2026-10-14)
  23. Bob's Watches: How to Spot a Fake Rolex: The Official Guide (read 2026-10-14)
  24. SwissWatchExpo: How to Spot a Fake Rolex (Updated 2026) (read 2026-10-14)
  25. 1stDibs: How to Spot a Fake Rolex: 13+ Expert Tips (read 2026-10-14)
  26. Rolex, via the Internet Archive: Rolex Datejust 41 m126334-0003 (US, Oyster, riflet hvidguldskant), Wayback 2026-10-11 (read 2026-10-14)
  27. Wikipedia: Rolex (read 2026-10-14)
Ref. 116610LV

Submariner Date, the green sibling

2010 to 2020. Green dial and green ceramic bezel.