Rolex Submariner 14060M

Rolex did not announce the 14060M as a redesign so much as a continuation with a new engine. The reference is defined first by its movement handoff: the cal. 3130 replaces the earlier cal. 3000 used in the ref. 14060, and brings the modern 31xx layout that collectors often summarize by what you would see on the bench, a full balance bridge rather than the earlier balance cock, plus a larger balance wheel and a Breguet overcoil.

From there, the reference’s most consequential changes are written on the dial. Early 14060M watches keep the spare two-line text, with only “SUBMARINER” and “1000ft = 300m” above 6 o’clock. Later, around 2007, the dial gains the familiar chronometer block, adding “Superlative Chronometer” and “Officially Certified” as two additional lines. The reason for the change is clear in the result, the watch becomes COSC-certified and is now labeled as such, but Rolex did not publish a dated cutoff and the overlap period is part of what makes real watches worth reading carefully.

A separate, later change happens not on the dial face but inside the bezel opening. Late examples adopt an engraved rehaut with repeating ROLEX text and a serial at 6 o’clock, a trait generally placed in the late 2000s for this reference. That timing matters because it means rehaut engraving does not define the “four-line” era by itself: early four-line watches exist with smooth rehauts, and the engraved rehaut belongs to the final iteration.

One small episode in the run captures the whole character of the 14060M: the short-lived “LGF” print anomaly, where the “F” in “1000ft” grows an unusually long bar. It is a microscopic detail, confined to the early four-line period around 2007–2008, but it has become a recognizable tell because it is both visible and time-bound.

Taken together, those shifts show how the 14060M sits between two ideas of the Submariner. It is built in the classic five-digit architecture of drilled lugs, stamped-clasp Oyster bracelet, and aluminum insert, yet it ends with the modern cues that Rolex would soon make standard. The reference is not a single static object across its run. It is a stable platform that gradually accumulates identifiers, which is why careful descriptions of dial text, rehaut style, and typography are more than pedantry for this model.

The 14060M makes the most sense when framed by its nearest neighbors: the ref. 14060 that it updates mechanically, the ref. 114060 that replaces its aluminum-bezel, drilled-lug formula with a ceramic-era case, and the contemporary ref. 16610 that shows what Rolex considered standard in the same period, a date display and chronometer dial text.

The 14060M is straightforward to recognize and easy to misunderstand. Its biggest value traps come from parts that can be swapped during service, or during resale, without changing the reference on the paperwork: dials, hands, and bezel inserts can all be replaced, and over-polishing can soften the very case lines that make the five-digit Submariner look sharp.

Because the reference’s defining traits do not all change at once, a believable watch is one whose dial text, rehaut style, and overall wear pattern make sense together. A four-line dial on a watch that is otherwise presented as an earlier configuration deserves a closer look, and any claimed LGF dial should be confirmed by the typography itself rather than by description.

Most buyers end up choosing between two personalities that are both “correct” for the reference. The two-line 14060M delivers the cleanest dial of the modern sapphire era, while the later four-line watches add chronometer text and, at the end, the engraved rehaut that previews the ceramic generation. Either way, the ownership experience is the same core appeal: a time-only Submariner with 300 m water resistance and the cal. 3130, in the classic 40 mm class case that remains slim compared with what follows.