Collectors almost never say "two-tone Submariner Date with the blue dial and blue bezel." They say Bluesy. If you have been searching the nickname and getting half answers, here is the whole thing in one place.
What a Bluesy actually is
A Bluesy is a Rolex Submariner Date in Rolesor — Rolex's term for steel and yellow gold together — with a blue dial and a blue bezel. Steel case and outer bracelet links, yellow gold centre links, bezel and crown.
The two references you will run into:
- 16613 — the five-digit generation, made from the late 1980s into the mid 2000s. Aluminium bezel insert, hollow end links on the earlier ones, tritium then luminova depending on year.
- 116613LB — the ceramic generation from 2009 onward. Cerachrom bezel, solid end links, the heavier Glidelock-era bracelet. The LB is for lunette bleue, blue bezel.
There is also a black-dial two-tone, the 116613LN, which people call the Bluesy's sibling but never call a Bluesy.
Why people want one
The Bluesy occupies a strange, specific space. A steel Submariner is a tool watch. A solid gold one is jewellery. The two-tone lands between them, and blue makes it read warmer than it has any right to.
It photographs badly and wears beautifully, which is why so many people dismiss it online and then buy one after trying it on. If you have only seen it in listing photos, that is not the watch.
What to check on a pre-owned example
The gold centre links. This is the single most important thing and almost nobody checks it. Gold is soft. On a bracelet worn daily for twenty years, the centre links stretch and the bracelet develops side-to-side play. Hold the clasp and let the bracelet hang — if it ripples or sags like a chain, it has stretch. That is not a polish-out problem, it is a replacement-links problem, and it is expensive.
Bezel insert condition on the 16613. Aluminium fades and dents. A faded insert can be desirable or can just look tired depending on how evenly it went. Ceramic on the 116613LB does not fade, but it can chip on an edge impact.
Over-polishing. Look at the case flanks and the lug edges. Submariner lugs should have crisp chamfers. If the lugs look melted and rounded, the case has been through a machine too many times. This kills value permanently.
The gold itself. Two-tone cases get polished more aggressively than steel because people want the gold to shine. Check the gold bezel and crown for thinning detail in the fluting or knurling.
Papers and the date. On the 116613LB, the year matters to a resale buyer more than it should. Full set with card and original bracelet is a different conversation than watch-only.
What moves the price
Generation first — ceramic sits well above the five-digit. Then bracelet condition, because the stretch problem above is real money to fix. Then completeness, then case sharpness. Dial variants on the 16613 matter to specialists and almost nobody else.
I would rather sell you a clean watch-only example than a full-set one with a tired bracelet, and I will tell you which one you are looking at.
Buying one
I do not always have a Bluesy in the case, and I will not pretend otherwise. If you want one, tell me the reference and the condition you are after and I will find it, put it through the same bench standard as everything else here, and show you exactly what arrived before you commit to anything.
If you have one to sell, send me the details — including honest bracelet condition, because I am going to check it anyway and it is better for both of us if the number I give you holds.
You can also just look at what is in the case right now.