4 min read · 2026-10-12
Submariner Date or No-Date: what the date window actually changes
One position on the dial separates the two Submariner designs. What the date aperture and its magnifier change, what stays identical, and how to state which one you want.
The two designs differ at three o’clock and nowhere else visible. The date version carries a date aperture under a magnifying lens built into the crystal; the no-date version carries a rectangular hour marker in the same position. The case, the sixty-minute bezel scale, the hand arrangement and the bracelet design are common to both, so this is a decision about how you want the dial to read rather than a decision about the watch as a whole.
| What you are deciding | Date reference (126610LN-0001) | No-date reference (124060-0001) |
|---|---|---|
| Three o’clock | Date aperture, magnified | Rectangular hour marker |
| Crystal | Raised magnifying lens over the aperture | No magnifier |
| Dial information | Time and date | Time only |
| Marker ring | Interrupted once, at the aperture | Unbroken all the way round |
| Visual weight | Shifts towards the right-hand side | Even all the way round |
| Photograph that settles it | Dial straight on, to check numeral centring inside the aperture | Dial straight on, to check marker and print alignment |
| Reference to quote | 126610LN-0001 | 124060-0001 |
The short answer: one position changes
Start with the marker ring and count the exceptions. A no-date Submariner runs a triangle at twelve, rectangles at three, six and nine, and round markers everywhere else, with nothing interrupting the sequence. The date version replaces the rectangle at three with an aperture. Everything else on the dial, the case and the bezel is the same design.
That is worth stating plainly because the two references are often compared as if they were different watches. They are the same watch with one position resolved differently, and the consequences of that choice are confined to the dial and the crystal. If you have already decided on a Submariner — the case size, the bezel scale, the bracelet pattern — then this is the remaining question, and it is answerable without knowing anything about availability or price.
What the aperture replaces, and what stays in the ring
A rectangular marker occupies a defined width on the dial; a date aperture occupies a window with edges and a numeral inside it. Visually the difference is not just that one shows a number. The marker is a repeated shape that belongs to a set, and the aperture is a one-off opening, so the ring loses one member of its pattern at exactly the point where the eye stops when it checks the right-hand side of the watch.
What stays in the ring matters just as much: the triangle at twelve, the rectangles at six and nine, the round markers between them, and the minute track running inside the whole sequence. The date version therefore keeps the grammar of the no-date dial and changes one word. Buyers who like the repetition choose the no-date; buyers who want the date on the dial accept the interruption, and the design is built so that interruption reads as deliberate rather than as a gap.
The magnifier is a lens, not a bigger date
The magnifying lens is set into the crystal, above the aperture, so the numeral you see is enlarged by a lens rather than printed larger. That distinction explains almost everything the lens does. It is a three-dimensional element standing proud of an otherwise flat crystal, so it participates in reflections: from an angle it catches light along one edge, and from straight on it sits as a small dome over the dial.
It also changes how the date should be photographed and judged. A straight-on frame is the only one in which the numeral’s position inside the aperture can be assessed honestly — whether it sits centred, and whether the aperture edges are even. An oblique frame is useful for a different question: how much the lens protrudes, and how visible it is from the side. Neither frame asserts anything about how a date mechanism works; that belongs to the movement in a specific watch and is confirmed rather than assumed.
Balance: what a second display does to a dial
A dial with one display spreads evenly. A dial with two has to decide where the second one goes, and this design puts it at three o’clock, which is the position the eye reaches when scanning from twelve. The consequence is a slight shift in visual weight to the right-hand side, softened by two things: the applied marker surrounds, which keep a reflective element at every other position, and the polished hands, which cross the dial and pull attention back to the centre.
Whether that balance appeals to you is a matter of taste, not of specification, but it is visible in a photograph if you look for it. Cover the right-hand third of each dial and compare what remains: even ring against even ring. Then uncover it and ask which version you would rather read every day. That comparison is more useful than any list of features, because the two watches share almost all of the list.
What does not change between the two references
Everything that makes the watch a Submariner rather than a Submariner variant stays the same. The case design and the model’s published diameter are shared. The bezel is graduated through sixty minutes with the triangle at zero and the first quarter divided more finely than the rest, and the reading method — triangle against the minute hand, gap equals elapsed time — is identical on both. The hands are the same three shapes on the same dial layout.
The pictured configurations also share a three-link bracelet with broad centre links. What differs is only the specification of an individual watch — the movement inside it, its measured weight and dimensions, and any rating or test evidence — and those differ between individual watches, not between these two designs. That is why they are asked about per watch, in writing, whatever page you started from.
How to state the choice in one message
The mistake buyers make here is asking about “the Submariner” without saying which display they want, then receiving an answer about the other one. State the reference, and state the display in words as well: “no-date” or “with the date”. Both, in the first line, costs you nothing and removes the ambiguity permanently.
Then add what a photograph can settle: ask for a dial frame straight on in daylight, a three-quarter frame of the case and bezel, a frame of the bracelet closed with the clasp shut, and the case back. If you are choosing between the two references, ask for the same frames of both, so you are comparing like with like rather than comparing your memory of one against a photograph of the other. Include your destination country in the same message so shipping and price come back together with the answers.
Common questions
Is the case the same on both references?
Does the no-date version lack anything besides the calendar?
Can the date be read without the lens?
Which version is easier to judge from photographs?
Which reference should I quote?
Put it into practice
Open any watch in the 13-watch collection and the inquiry message is already written with the model, the reference and the open specification questions for that watch.
Pages mentioned in this guide
- Watch the Submariner series
- Submariner Date, 41 mm, black dial
- Submariner No-Date, 41 mm
- Daytona or Submariner: choosing between a chronograph and a dive watch
- The photographs to ask for before you pay
- How to read a watch listing without being misled
- What you can check before you pay
- Every watch page carries a pre-written inquiry
Other buying guides
How to read a watch listing without being misled
A practical guide to model references, measurements, materials and the questions to ask when comparing watches.
The photographs to ask for before you pay for a watch
Six frames that answer more than a long description: daylight dial, bezel straight on, bracelet closed, clasp, case back and a short video of the moving parts.
Daytona or Submariner: choosing between a chronograph and a dive watch
Compare the two designs by display layout, what the bezel is for and how busy the dial looks — without relying on claims a listing cannot support.
Three-link or five-link: choosing a bracelet by pattern, not by promise
How an Oyster-style three-link bracelet and a Jubilee-style five-link bracelet differ in link pattern, articulation and the way they pair with a dial.
How to read a 24-hour GMT bezel
The graduation under the arrow-tipped hand is the hour on a 24-hour scale. How to read it, why the bezel is split into two colours, and how it differs from a dive bezel.