The Deepsea represents the pinnacle of Rolex’s technical achievements and is considered by many the greatest dive watch of all time - a timepiece designed to survive extreme depths. This special edition version was designed for James Cameron’s descent to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and the same model was worn by the filmmaker as he made the descent

This reference 116660, was discontinued in 2018 and therefore examples with factory stickers are becoming increasingly rare and highly collectible. Over time, as collectors or watch lovers want to wear watches and take the stickers off, the number of fully stickered models declines

Rolex professional watches are increasingly being seen as investments. However, unlike many of Rolex’s other professional models, the Deepsea has often been overlooked by collectors, particularly due to its size

To illustrate this point: on the secondary market this model is priced at around 20-50% more than its recommended retail price, compared with models such as the Rolex Daytona which is priced at 200-300% above its retail price. It’s possible that overlooked models like this will become increasingly in-demand and start trading at a higher price premium on the secondary market over time

Rolex have recently increased their recommended retail prices again for 2022, with new versions of the Deepsea going up in price by 10%. Historically, price increases for new watches has increased prices for discontinued models too