While all Rolex Submariner 6536 watches originally featured gold-plated “gold-plated” hour and minute hands, the hands of the 6536 have undergone a surprising change. Additionally, when Rolex created the Submariner 6536, the model’s signature “Mercedes” hands have replaced the original “pencil” style. However, it wasn’t until the production of the Type 6536 that its Mercedes-style hour hand took on the look we know today.
Similar to earlier red depth dials, some of the earliest examples of the Submariner 6536/8 and Submariner 6536-1 featured a “long neck” hour hand with a significantly longer section connecting the “Mercedes” logo to the bottom. Hands (similar to the Mercedes hour hand style on the old Submariner 6200). Additionally, when Rolex updated the case for the reference 6536-1, the mute and seconds hands were slightly increased to better accommodate the slightly different dial diameters.
Finally, throughout the production of the Submariner 6536, the second hand itself has undergone some minor updates. In addition to the ever-shrinking size of the luminous area, the finish of the hands has also changed. Some of the earliest examples have white seconds hands, while those produced near the end of the Submariner 6536’s production cycle will be gold-plated to match the rest of the hands.
Like the dials and hands, there are several variations of the bezel inserts fitted to Rolex Submariner watches. While they are both made of black anodized aluminium and feature a 60-minute graduation, you can find with or without a separate minute marker for the first 15 minutes, as well as with or without the famous inverted red triangle at the zero marker.
The earliest versions originally came with an all-black “No-Hash” bezel insert, largely following the design of the original Submariner bezel, with no separate minute markers for the first 15 minutes. From here, red triangles are added to the zero mark, although a single hash of the first 15 minutes is not added to the bezel’s scale until near the end of the reference 6536’s production cycle. With that in mind, not all of these later hash marks have an inverted red triangle on the bezel, and you sometimes come across vintage fake Rolex Submariner 6536 bezels that don’t have the red triangle.