Rolex early Submariner ref. 6204 twin build project

[matzemedia]

Engraving

The ref 6204 has some really nice engravings. At the inner side of the caseback there you can find the crown and the print "GENEVA SWISS PATENTED 6204" and between the horns is "BREVET +" in big letters. “BREVET” is the French word for “patent”. The plus sign (+) stands for Switzerland, or more precisely for the Swiss Patent Office, which used to use this marking. “BREVET +” therefore means “Swiss patent applied for / registered”.

I used the 9V etching method. Therefore, I printed the design on a fluid film with a laser printer and transferred the toner to the case(back). With a 9 V battery and salt water, I etched the design at the metal. After 2–5 minutes it looks great, and I just use some sandpaper to get a nice finish. If you are more interested in the etching method, read this thread

 

[matzemedia]

The dial (or better say dials)

It is the supreme discipline in the construction of a watch. The dial of a watch is the first thing that catches your eye when you look at it. Rolex has sold different dials for the Ref. 6204. All have the same black dial with gold lettering. As far as I know, this is a galvanic process in which the dial is blackened and the gold of the lettering is the color of the brass of the dial itself.

During the early stages of the joint project, @manodeoro sent me a design for the dial of a SUB-AQUA. It is very reduced, a few letters with serifs and chapter ring. Simple and beautiful. Without question, @m took on this task for both of us.

Here are a few pictures of the dial. As far as I know, @manodeoro works with a sophisticated method of decail printing. The lacquer used was a nitro lacquer, which was common at the time. The nitro lacquer takes some of the brightness out of the dial.

 

[matzemedia]

Second Submariner dial

At the time, I was just starting to work on creating gilt dials myself and had experimented with various methods over time. So I decided to give it a try as well. My method is based on the galvanic process. If you want to find out more, you can read more here How to make gilt dial.

The original dial of the Ref. 6204 is slightly curved at the edge. So it is not completely flat. Unfortunately, @manodeoro and I only discovered this at a late stage of the project. This radius was pressed into the blank by a device. I decided on the 6204 dial with the inscription “Submariner”.

As I won't go into the method explicitly here in the article, here are a few pictures of the process:

 

[matzemedia]

Hands
And oh yes: these are the hands of the ref. 6204; Rolex did not yet have Mercedes hands on the first Submariner. The minute and second hands are 13mm long and therefore long enough to be flush with the chapter ring. We used the Hands from rafflestime.

 

[matzemedia]

Thanks @geoffdragon and all the user users. I have just received my 1000th like at RWI!

 

[Motorhead13]

Ahh, I’ve been working on one too. Went a slightly different route. Started with a Raffle’s 5513 case - which actually has the right size dial opening. No need to change the rehaut and the spring bar holes are a little further in! Plannining to use a 630 movement that I have ( hopefully I can find a balance for it!). Ive also have an original bezel - which I’m sure you know is a lot thinner than the big crown/ gmt bezels are. Got a bubble back case back that threads into the Raffles case, just need to re stamp the numbers…

 

[matzemedia]

@Motorhead13: Very nice to see there are other people to go different ways. I wish I also had access to your gen parts.

 

[matzemedia]

Movement
The original movement Rolex used in the reference 6204 was the A260. This is an automatic movement with a beat rate of 18,000 beats per hour.
I started this project with a PT5000 (a clone of the ETA 2824-2). It's a good-quality movement at a reasonable price. It worked great — but then @manodeoro told me about an early ETA movement that's closer to the A260: the ETA 2451.

So I began searching for this movement and eventually found it in an old Dugena watch on eBay. The movement wasn’t working properly, so I cleaned and oiled it. It’s a nicely made movement, though the small screws are mostly incompatible with anything I’ve seen before.

 

[matzemedia]

The crown
Rolex used a 5mm crown for the first Submariner. At the top of the crown, there is a Rolex coronet and a "+" symbol. This crown size is quite small for that case.

I found a matching crown at Athaya’s shop and placed an order back in February. Unfortunately, the first shipment got lost — but today, I finally received the replacement.

Many thanks to Adrian from Athaya for kindly sending it a second time!

 

[matzemedia]

Insert and bezel
The 6204 Submariner has a very thin bezel. It is mounted using a small wire — similar to what you find on cheap watch cases today. I described this in a few earlier posts. The bezel is thinner than the one from the eBay case, so I tried to remove some material using the lathe. It wasn’t much, and it’s still a bit higher than the original.



The insert is a standard black one with white numerals. The only distinctive feature is the number "1". Newer Submariner models use just a vertical line ("l") for the "1". I searched for a long time until I finally found one through @hungaryrolex in the second-hand section on RWI. That was back in January 2024 — as you can see, this has been a long-running project.

Pearl Dot Pips / lume dip
For the pearl dot (pip), I tried a different approach. I used 2K glue and colored it by mixing in grated crayon. The glue dries within about 5 minutes and retains the shape of a proper pearl dot. You should give it a try!

 

[matzemedia]

The final result
It's time to share some images of the twin build. Here is my final result. I hope that one day I can share a photo alongside @manodeoro’s version.


In the end, it was a long journey, and once again, I learned a lot of new techniques. The fact that all genuine parts are extremely expensive and aftermarket parts are rare makes this watch a challenging build. The reference 6202 may not be the most beautiful Submariner, but it’s definitely a very collectible watch.


I hope you enjoyed the story of our twin build — and maybe it will inspire you to create your own Submariner.







Here a shot side by side of a Ref 6836 Big Crown



And here a picture of the Submariner history: From left to right:
Ref 6204, Ref 6838 Big Crown, Early Ref. 5513 (gilt dial), Ref. 1680, Ref.16610LV (Kermet), Submariner heritage

 

[freebalkany]

The final result
It's time to share some images of the twin build. Here is my final result. I hope that one day I can share a photo alongside @manodeoro’s version.


In the end, it was a long journey, and once again, I learned a lot of new techniques. The fact that all genuine parts are extremely expensive and aftermarket parts are rare makes this watch a challenging build. The reference 6202 may not be the most beautiful Submariner, but it’s definitely a very collectible watch.


I hope you enjoyed the story of our twin build — and maybe it will inspire you to create your own Submariner.







Here a shot side by side of a Ref 6836 Big Crown



And here a picture of the Submariner history: From left to right:
Ref 6204, Ref 6838 Big Crown, Early Ref. 5513 (gilt dial), Ref. 1680, Ref.16610LV (Kermet), Submariner heritage

Impressive work, well done.
I serviced a couple of ETA 24XX, I found them to be very reliable movements, much better than their modern counterparts

 

[369mafia]

Great results for your efforts. it looks great!!

Why did you go with such a dark lume pip compared to the lume on the dial?

 

[trash3939]

Excellent work!

I envy your technique.

 

[matzemedia]

Great results for your efforts. it looks great!!

Why did you go with such a dark lume pip compared to the lume on the dial?

Thanks for your words.

You are right. It is very dark and red. I found one a image of a old 6204 and tried to copy this - maybe not the best idea ;-)

Here the gen Submariner image:

 

[WatchN3RD]

Thanks for your words.

You are right. It is very dark and red. I found one a image of a old 6204 and tried to copy this - maybe not the best idea ;-)

Here the gen Submariner image:

Next time, aim for a more brownish yellow that is translucent... but I think it looks great as is. I'm envious of your machining ability, perseverance, and general craftsmanship. Really appreciate your sharing this bad ass build.