The replica Rolex brought out a 50th anniversary edition of its legendary Sea-Dweller at the latest version of Baselworld, which complete with the famous red text. In spite of the anticipated scarcity of the new model, not all of the retro tweaks pleased diehard Rolex fans, for the original Double Red Sea-Dweller remains a holy grail. Now London’s prestigious Project X Designs has come out with their own tribute to the 1967 original with those purists in mind.
For all of its surface good looks, some would say the fake Rolex went a little too far modernizing the new 43mm Sea-Dweller, especially with the addition of a “Cyclops” date lens, which many think ruins the model’s streamlined appearance. 
The Project X version does not have the controversial cyclops lens, one indication that it is in fact made to closely resemble the earliest prototype Sea-Dwellers known variously as the “Single Red”, the “MK0”, “MK1” and “Patent Pending”. Project X’s piece is based on the ceramic bezel Sea-Dweller the reigning Sea-Dweller model prior to Rolex’s update. It is limited to just 67 examples in honor of the original debut year. Other clues as to its inspiration include the oversized word DATE in homage to the first time the fake Rolex dive watch had featured this complication; the vintage patinated style of 5 minute markers; and visible lug holes on the case sides.
The case back features the words ‘OYSTER GAS ESCAPE VALVE’ & ‘PATENT PENDING’ in the style, font and position of the original vintage ‘Single Red’ Sea-Dweller finished with a black enamel bezel, and the special limited edition number for each watch is written in the following format: ‘1.67’ It’s not the first time Project X has produced a “heritage” edition of a legendary Rolex model, and the blacked-out replica watches have been spotted on the wrists of Kanye West and Daniel Craig,. As a matter of fact, it anticipated another smashing replica Rolex design, the new cerachrome Daytona, with a limited edition version that incorporated some of the famous “Paul Newman” attributes to boot.
