Welcome to Jaztime.com. Today we’re gonna be comparing the Rolex Submariner 116610, on the left, versus the Rolex Air King 116900 on the right. We’re gonna compare the case, the bezel, the dial, the bracelet, the clasp, the movement, and then talk about a couple special features. So let’s dive right in.
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Comparison Transcript: Rolex Submariner vs. 2016 Air-King
Welcome to Jaztime.com. Today we’re gonna be comparing the Rolex Submariner 116610, on the left, versus the Rolex Air King 116900 on the right. We’re gonna compare the case, the bezel, the dial, the bracelet, the clasp, the movement, and then talk about a couple special features. So let’s dive right in.
Review of the different case sizes:
The case, you’ll notice on the Submariner, is 40 millimeter and that’s the distance between my thumb and my index finger. And you’ll also notice that on the Air King 116900, that the case is also 40 millimeter from my thumb to index finger. Now you’ll look at these side by side and you’ll ask yourself are they really 40 millimeter both? Yes, in fact they are. I measured it using one of our measuring tools and they in fact are. Now why do they look different in size? Which one looks bigger?
Most people will say the Submariner looks bigger and that’s because of what are called the lugs. Now these lugs right here that my thumb is pointing, my finger is pointing to on the Air King are thinner than the lugs on the Submariner. That’s what accounts for the difference in size. So even though the distance, the diameter is the same, 40 millimeter, you’ll have the lugs that make it look beefier on the Submariner versus the Air King. As well as this bezel sort of protrudes on the Submariner making it look wider. But in fact it’s the same diameter.
Comparing the black Dial of the Submariner and Air-King
Now moving on to the dial on the Rolex Submariner, you’ll have what’s called the maxi dial and the maxi dial allows for luminous markers at the hour, at the hours, hour markers. Those luminous, they light up at night time so that you can read the time. Now on the Air King, you would think that these white numbers five, 10, 20, 25, 35, you would think that they light up, but in fact they don’t light up. They are non-luminous.
The only thing that is luminous on this watch is the 12 o’clock and the hour and the minute hand. I’m gonna try to illustrate that to you now. And you see that? So it’s the minute hand, the hour hand, and the 12 o’clock. But interestingly the three, six, nine are not luminous and neither is the five, 10, 20, 25, et cetera. Now on the Explorer 214270, it’s actually three, six, nine that are luminous. But here it isn’t, for whatever reason. So in terms of readability at night time that one goes to the Submariner. Okay?
Difference between the Rolex Bracelets of the two Models
So now we’re moving on to the bracelet. Now at first glance you guys will probably look at this bracelet and think, you know what, these are the same bracelets. And you’d be pretty close. In terms of the bracelet, the distance, the size of the bracelet, if you look at them next to each other, they’re the same. And you’ll notice that they have the same polish. The polish on the AirKing has a satin finish. Okay? And the polish on the SubMariner also has a satin finish. And when I mean satin, I mean it’s not high polished so it has this dull look to it. And that’s probably keeping with its sports style look. Now what is a high polish look like? Well this is a high polish. Okay? Now we’re gonna move on to the buckle.
Buckle of the Submariner vs the Clasp of the 2016 Air-King
The buckle here is where you see some differences. Now on the right, this is the Explorer, this is the Air King, excuse me, and it has what’s called the folding oyster clasp. Okay I’m gonna go ahead and open it. It’s called a folding because it folds like this and it has an oyster clasp as you can see. Now the one on your left is the Submariner buckle which is a bit more robust. It’s also much bigger. And the reason it’s bigger is because it’s a sports watch and the idea is that you’ll be wearing this when you’re diving or whatever kind of sport activity you’re doing and you don’t want it to come undone. So it has this extra feature called the oyster safety clasp. You unbuckle it up top first, like I just did, and then you release the buckle. Okay?
Let’s compare the buckles again side by side. Folding oyster clasp, safety clasp on the left, and folding oyster clasp on the right. You notice that the buckle themselves are the same except the one, the Submariner comes with the extra safety. Whereas the Air King on the right does not. The buckle itself is also a bit smaller on the Air King. You’ll notice this distance versus this. And why do you think that is? Well that’s because the Submariner has a little bit more of adjustability in terms of length. And how much adjustability? Well you can pull out like this and you can push in.
Let’s say you had to wear a wetsuit and you had to put it over your wetsuit, then you can adjust the length of it on the fly. Now the Air King also has that option, but the Air King has only five millimeters of play. So you can only go like this. Option one, and option two. And that gives five millimeters of distance. Not a whole lot, but they’re not assuming that you’re going to be wearing this thing while your diving. And so you’ll either need to be, you’ll either be hot or cold, in which case you’ll have an adjustable right here for hot and cold.
Comparing the Movements
Now let’s move on to the movement. Now as you can see the Submariner, which I’m holding, has a solid case back. It also has a solid case back on the Air King. So we can’t actually see the movement, but the Submariner here has a 31, 35 Rolex movement. It’s precise to two plus, minus two seconds a day. And the Air King here has a 31, 31 movement. It’s also plus, minus two seconds a day. And both of them are superlative chronometers meaning they are very well tested. Okay, so moving on. We’ve said we’d talk about the case, the dial, the bracelet, and the clasp.
Comparing the Bezel of the Submariner and Air-King
And now we’re gonna talk about the bezel. Now looking at these side by side, that’s probably one of the most obvious things is the bezel. Now on your right, the Air King, has a smooth, stainless steel bezel. And the one on the left, the Submariner, has what’s called the ceramic bezel. Now what they changed this to a ceramic bezel from the old aluminum days because the ceramic doesn’t fade. Okay?
And with this Submariner you can also tell elapsed time by putting this pearloid at the minute hand, like this. And once you’ve done that, as time passes, let’s say 15 minutes goes by, what’ll happen is the minute hand will move from this position to here and it will end up looking something like this for example. So you look down at the bezel and you read the time off the bezel, that means 15 minutes. Now it’s unidirectional so that you always have too much air not too little. If you were to use this for diving, it doesn’t go the other direction. So that’s one of the cool features about this watch is that it has a ceramic bezel that’s unidirectional.
Whereas the Air King has a stainless steel dome bezel. And I should say that one of the good things about having a dome bezel is that it’s also smaller, fits underneath a cuff if you’re wearing a suit, easier, and it doesn’t get dinged as easily, and if it does, it’s easier to polish out. On the Submariner to your left, if you ding this bezel it’s very expensive, typically it’ll just chip or it’ll just crack altogether. So if you do damage it, it’s really bad news. Whereas the Air King, if you dent it or scratch it, you can still polish out in most cases.
Special features of the two Rolex watches
Now moving on to some special features, as I told you at the beginning, is the date. Now on the Submariner, you can have a date function. Most of us often forget what the date is and you can change that with a quick set on this Submariner. Especially when you’re traveling, a lot of times you forget what date it is. Now on the Air King, there is no date function. It’s a very simple watch, it just tells the time. It tells it very well, but it just tells the time. Okay? So now I’m going to wear them side by side. See now this one’s too big for me. What I’ll do is adjust the clasp in the back. And with one simple click, I can make the watch fit. Now that’s the Submariner on my wrist. And let’s compare that to the Air King which is an even easier click. And those are the two watches side by side.
Which Rolex is the right for you?
Now which do you prefer? Well that depends on what you’re going to be using it for. Are you gonna be using it for diving and sports type stuff? If that’s the case, you’ll probably wanna go with this watch.
Now are you really interested in flying and aviation and a simpler watch with just simple chronometer that just tells the time and also at a slightly cheaper price point? And also a 2016 newer style watch, that probably not as many people have? It’s not as iconic as a Submariner, but just as cool? Well that might be this watch, the Air King. So look at them side by side again.
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