ROLEX SUBMARINER “JAMES BOND” REF. 6538, CIRCA 1958 Three body tonneau Oyster stainless steel case, n. 426387, concave lugs, black bidirectional revolving bezel with red triangle and 60 minutes graduation, screw back stamped 6538 and IV.1958, 8mm Twinlock “Brevet” crown. Not original strap and buckle.
Black dial with slight craquelé effect, signed, "200 m = 660 ft Submariner”, gilt writings and silver depth indication, lower Swiss indication, luminescent circular, rectangular and triangular indexes, minute division on one rail. Luminescent skeletonized hands, centered seconds with Lollipop hand.
Self-Winding movement signed "Montres Rolex S.A.”, rhodium-plated caliber 1030, n. N675538, 25 jewels, butterfly rotor, lever escapement, monometallic balance with screws adjusted for temperature and five positions, Breguet hairspring, KIF Flector shock-absorber.
Diameter Ø: 38 mm 
Note: working.

Successor of the 6200 reference, the first to guarantee water resistance up to 200 metres in depth, the Rolex Submariner 6538 differentiated itself through its use of the new 1030 caliber, which allowed for the adoption of a flatter case back. In spite of this the case retained a considerable thickness, as well as the iconic 8 millimetre Brevet crown, a characteristic for which this reference was later nicknamed "Big Crown".
In just the five years following 1955 when it was produced, the 6538 was characterized by the different graphical variants of the dial, such as gilt or silver lettering, the depth in red and the rare dial with Arabic 3-6-9 numerals for indexes known as the "Explorer dial".
It was a Rolex Submariner 6538 that accompanied Sean Connery’s 007 in several films (License to Kill, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger), transmitting an image of charm, action and fascination to the world of collecting, so much so that this reference was given the nickname "James Bond".
The watch included in this auction possesses all the details that the attentive collector could desire: the perfectly preserved glossy black dial with marvellous patina, the lettering of the depth scale and of the model in two colours (silver and gold), the 6 index of a more intense luminescent material, the original insert with red triangle and fifteen minute graduation, and the original Brevet crown.