Rare Rolex Submariner "Peaks of Blue-Water Performance" - Championship Surfing (c. 1978)
Approximately 8.5 x 11 inches.
Rolex has always known where it belonged: the cockpit, the summit, the deep. Here it planted its flag somewhere stranger and more beautiful — the barrel of a North Shore wave. As Official Timepiece of International Professional Surfing, the crown melded man and wave in the pent-up energy of the Pipeline and the break at Off The Wall, then floated a Submariner-Date exactly where the surfboard should be. The watch shown is the coveted "Red" Submariner ref. 1680 — that single line of red text is the detail collectors chase for a lifetime. Pressure-proof to 660 feet, priced at $660: a wink only Rolex could get away with.
This is an authentic vintage print advertisement — not a reproduction — preserved and archival-housed exactly as it ran.
An odd couple that made perfect sense, and one of the hardest Rolex ads in existence to find. Pure blue-water grail, of its time.
What you see is what you get; the ad in the photo is the exact one that'll come to you. Listed sizes are close, but treat them as ballpark, not gospel.
Not feeling it? Send it back within 30 days in the same shape it arrived and we'll refund you in full. No drama.
Go with custom framing and we'll reach out to design something that does the piece justice. We have examples from our own offices and from current clients to give you inspiration.
Every unframed ad rides safe: acid free sleeve, stiff backerboard behind it, another board up front, all tucked into a rigid photo mailer and sent USPS with 3-day tracking. It'll get to you the way it left us.