Rolex Deepsea Challenge

The Rolex Deepsea Challenge

The Deepsea Challenge is the watch rated for the bottom of the ocean: 11,000 metres, a 50 mm titanium case 23 mm thick, and about 250 grams on the wrist. Rolex released it in November 2022 as the first Rolex made entirely of titanium, ten years after an experimental version rode outside James Cameron's submersible to the floor of the Mariana Trench.

Every Deepsea Challenge on Dialist is listed by a verified dealer and covered by buyer protection. It is a single reference, 126067, and sits alongside the 44 mm Deepsea collection it grew out of.

From the Trieste to the Challenger Deep

In 1960 Rolex strapped an experimental Deep Sea Special to the outside of the bathyscaphe Trieste for its descent to 10,916 metres. In 2012 it did the same with a 51 mm experimental Deepsea Challenge on Cameron's Deepsea Challenger. The 2022 production watch is the civilian version: slightly smaller, rated to 11,000 metres and tested at a quarter beyond that, with the Ringlock case architecture of the Deepsea, a helium valve and a Glidelock bracelet.

Titanium was the point. In steel the watch would have weighed far more than its 250 grams, and the Deepsea Challenge was Rolex's first use of its RLX titanium alloy for a whole case and bracelet, a year before the titanium Yacht-Master 42. It runs the calibre 3230, a no-date movement with 70 hours of reserve, because a date disc would have meant another aperture in a crystal 9.5 mm thick.

What to know before you buy

1. 01

   Size and weight

   50 mm across, 23 mm thick, about 61 mm lug to lug and roughly 250 grams. It is the largest watch in the Rolex catalogue and wears as such; the titanium keeps it lighter than a steel Deepsea.

2. 02

   Material

   RLX titanium, Rolex's grade-5 alloy, for the case, bezel and bracelet, with a satin finish. It marks differently from steel and polishes differently; ask for photographs of the bezel edges and clasp on any pre-owned piece.