Some watches are built for a job. The Submariner was built for diving, and Rolex says many of its specifications were taken into account when ISO 6425, the standard for divers' watches, was drawn up8. Ref. 124060 is its simplest current form: 41 mm of Oystersteel, a black ceramic bezel, a black dial, and nothing at three o'clock1,4.
What follows is what changed in 2020, what it costs, what the market charges on top, and which details the authentication guides check.
Seventy years of the same tool
The Submariner arrived in 19533,6,25. By Rolex's account it was the brand's first divers' wristwatch and was waterproof to 100 metres at launch; a year later Rolex guaranteed 200 metres6. The Triplock crown, with three sealed zones, followed in 1970 and spread through the range from the early 1970s8. Rolex says the Submariner Date reached 300 metres in 1979 and the Submariner without a date in 19896.
The modern no-date line starts with ref. 14060 around 1990, with calibre 300025,26. In 1999 calibre 3130 replaced it, and the reference became 14060M26,27. From 2007 the 14060M was a chronometer, which is why later dials carry four lines of text at six o'clock instead of two26,27.
Ceramic came next. Gold Submariner Dates had a Cerachrom bezel insert from 2008, the steel Submariner Date from 201022,25, and Rolex's own timeline puts it on the Submariner two years after that8. That was ref. 114060, shown at Baselworld in 2012 with the heavier «Super Case», broader lugs and crown guards, larger Chromalight markers and the Glidelock clasp5,25. It ran until the 124060 replaced it in 20202,7.
Through all of it the case stayed at 40 mm. Bob's Watches dates that diameter to 1959, the year of ref. 551222,25, and Monochrome simply calls it «several decades»2. The 2020 Submariner was the first to go beyond it5,22.
What changed in 2020
Monochrome published the new Submariner on 1 September 20202. Rolex did not update one model at a time, as it usually had, but renewed the entire Submariner range at once2,5,22.
On the 124060 the diameter went from 40 to 41 mm2,8. The lugs became slimmer and more tapered, which retired the Super Case look of the 1140602,4,5. The lug width grew from 20 to 21 mm, and the bracelet grew with it2,5,7. On the wrist the net effect is small. Monochrome found the new watch slightly more compact than the old one, despite the extra millimetre2.
The dial was barely touched, and our sources do not agree on how much. Monochrome found the hands slightly reworked and the markers as large as before, the «Maxi» layout retained; aBlogtoWatch saw slightly smaller hour markers2,4.
The real news is inside. Calibre 3230 replaced the 31302,4,7. It runs at 28,800 vibrations an hour with Rolex's Chronergy escapement, made of nickel-phosphorus, which Rolex says is resistant to strong magnetic fields2,6. It holds about 70 hours of power reserve, against about 48 for the 31301,7,26. In practice: take it off on Friday evening and it is still running on Monday morning.
Rolex rates it as a Superlative Chronometer, to within two seconds a day either way after casing1,5. The blue Parachrom hairspring and Paraflex shock absorbers are listed on Rolex's page1; the hairspring was already in the 11406025.
On the wrist, and the date question
The bracelet is an Oyster with three-piece solid links and an Oysterlock clasp1,4. The Glidelock in the clasp has ten notches of about 2 mm, so the bracelet can be lengthened by about 20 mm without tools, enough, Rolex says, to wear the watch over a diving suit up to 3 mm thick2,6.
WatchGuys measures the 124060 at about 47.6 mm from lug to lug, slightly shorter than the 114060's 48 mm7. Thickness is quoted between 12 and 12.5 mm; Rolex does not print a figure (see «Where the sources disagree»).
Its sister is the Submariner Date, ref. 126610LN. Both share the 41 mm case, but the Date uses calibre 3235 and has a Cyclops lens over the date6,7. On 16 October 2026 Rolex's US price for the 126610LN was USD 11,350, against USD 10,050 for the 124060. The date costs USD 1,300, or 12.9 per cent more1,23. Which one suits you is a question of whether you look at the date, not of status.
What it costs
On 16 October 2026 Rolex's recommended price for the 124060 was USD 10,050 in the US before tax, GBP 8,450 in the UK and EUR 9,750 in Germany, both including VAT1,9,10. About a year earlier it was USD 9,500 on 29 October 2025, GBP 8,100 on 12 October 2025 and EUR 9,450 on 12 September 202511,12,13. That is a rise of 5.8, 4.3 and 3.2 per cent over those slightly different spans. The 2025 sterling figure comes from the page data of Rolex's international English site, which gave the price in pounds, and the 2025 euro figure from the page data of its German-language site, which did not name a country.
At launch in 2020 the 124060 cost USD 8,1004,22. Monochrome gave CHF 7,700, CHF 200 more than the 1140602. From USD 8,100 to USD 10,050 is a rise of 24.1 per cent in six years. A list price is not a return.
The second-hand market
Second-hand, we can only measure asking prices. The median asking price on the first page of Chrono24's 124060 listings was USD 12,770 in July 2024, USD 12,236 in January 2025, USD 12,811 in July 2025 and USD 13,795 in August 202614,15,16,17. The medians are our own calculation from 59 to 61 priced listings per page.
Which of the two rose faster depends on where you start, so we show both. Rolex's US price was USD 9,100 both in October 2023 and in August 2024, and USD 10,050 both in May and in October 2026, so we set those against the Chrono24 points from July 2024 and August 20261,18,21,28. From July 2024 to August 2026 the median rose 8.0 per cent and the list price 10.4 per cent. The first half-year decides it: from July 2024 to January 2025 the median fell 4.2 per cent while the list price rose 1.1 per cent. From January 2025 to August 2026 the median rose 12.7 per cent and the list price 9.2 per cent, and from July 2025 the figures are 7.7 and 5.8 per cent1,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,28. Since 2025 the asking price has outpaced the list price; measured from July 2024 it has not.
The gap to list has stayed wide, but it has not grown steadily. The median asked 40.3 per cent over Rolex's US price in July 2024, 33.0 per cent in January 2025, 34.9 per cent in July 2025 and 37.3 per cent in August 202614,15,16,17,18,19,20,21. Asking prices are not sale prices, and the first page mixes new and used watches.
Buying one second-hand
Rolex's position is simple: buy from the jewellers it appoints, who, it says, guarantee authenticity29. Buy anywhere else, and the checks above are the minimum, not a guarantee. Look for the crown in the crystal, the serial on the rehaut, the pip, the bezel clicks and the sweep of the seconds hand. Then have a watchmaker you trust open it.
WatchGuys suggests looking at the lug tops under magnification: soft, rounded edges where brushed meets polished mean the case has been polished, which affects resale value7. It also says complete sets with box and papers hold their value best7.
We found no production figure for the 124060, and none of our sources gives one for any single Submariner reference. Bloomberg reported in 2024 that nearly 4 million Submariner and Sea-Dweller watches were made between 1953 and 2020, citing the book «Submariner: The Watch that Unlocked the Deep», and called it the first production data Rolex had ever released24. For the whole company, Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult estimate Rolex's 2025 volume at about 1.1 to 1.15 million watches, as Revolution and Monochrome report it30,31. Monochrome notes that those figures were not provided by the brands31.
The dubious part
The no-date Submariner is for the man who finds a date window untidy. He will tell you it is about symmetry. Then he will ask you what day it is.