The Beatles and Their Watches - Part XI: Yellow Submarine

When it comes to marrying the Beatles with anything kitschy, chances are it is going to involve a yellow submarine.  Yellow submarines are ubiquitous even 57 years after the song “Yellow Submarine” appeared on the Beatles’ 1966 album Revolver.  But it was the 1968 animated film (which is still a groovy treat for anyone’s eyes and a great way to introduce children to Beatles music) that catapulted the yellow submersible into the collective consciousness.

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In 1968 a company named Sheffield Watch Inc. manufactured (in very limited quantities) an officially licensed Yellow Submarine watch that presented on a thick yellow leather strap.  The watch had a “gold lustre” casing and a yellow dial with the four cartoon Beatles (rather poor imitations of the Heinz Edelmann illustrations) and their underwater transport featured in the top half of the dial next to a script “Sheffield”.  The bottom half contains the words “Beatles Yellow Submarine” and under that the word “LOVE”.   Hey!  It was a groovy time, man.  The numerals 12, 3, 6 and 9 are separated by black dots where the other numerals might otherwise appear.

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A bashed up version of the Sheffield watch that looks its age might fetch $500 USD or so.  A mint one might fetch between $2,000 and $5,000 USD!

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A somewhat cheaper fix for your Yellow Submarine fixation (assuming you have an Apple Watch) would be to purchase a Yellow Submarine Smartwach Band (online they’re about $40) and tinker with your watch’s dial settings.  These are made by Moby Fox, and are officially licensed.  Moby Fox doesn’t stop at Yellow Submarine, mind you.  They also do at least an Abbey Road and a Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band band too!

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Not officially licensed, but featuring a yellow submarine, is the Swatch “Yellow Sub” model number SDL101.  It has quartz movement and can help you reach 3 bars of depth.

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Acme Studio sold an officially licensed Yellow Submarine watch that appears to have a rotating crystal that features a yellow submarine being chased by a smiling whale.  Popping in blue on a yellow rubber strap (a rubber band, perhaps?), these can be found online for between $200 and $300. 

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A company called Puckator offers a silicone Yellow Submarine LED digital watch in at least four Yellow Submarine designs.  Featuring time, date and seconds functions, these little gems will set you back only £6 or so! 

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I found this Japanese Yellow Submarine watch online, but as I don’t read Japanese I can’t tell you anything about it, other than that it comes in this cool tin. 

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I have no idea who made this Yellow Submarine watch! But, you know. You can probably find one if you want to.

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By far and away my favourite Yellow Submarine watch, however, is the Bamford Watch Department’s Rolex Datejust which features a yellow submarine at the end of the seconds hand and a tasteful "All You Need Is Love" under the Bamford branding. Released in 2016 and  featuring a scratch-resistant military-grade titanium coating, the Bamford Yellow Submarine was available in black or grey and came with a vacuum formed yellow submarine shell. 

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Officially sanctioned by Apple Corps Ltd. (but very probably not by Rolex), the Bamford Yellow Submarine limited edition was priced only on request.  I have no idea how many were made, but that black one is my all time grail.  If I ever get that watch, I stop collecting.  Unless and until Rolex comes out with a Yellow Submariner.

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And the band begins to play …

Wm Shakespeare

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part I: The Pateks

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part II: The Accurists

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part III: Cartier & Breitling

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part IV: Ringo Starr

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part V: The Apple Watch

The Beatles and Their Watches – Part VI: Sir Paul’s Casio

The Beatles and Their Watches – Part VII: The Pocket Watches

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part VIII: Raymond Weil

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part IX: Joey Ramone's Apple Watch

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part X: Jimmie Nicol's Watch

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part XI: Yellow Submarine

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part XII: John Lennon's STOLEN Patek Found! (Updated)

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Fantastic series you've written here :)

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wow, as a Beatles nerd and watch enthusiast that Bamford just shot up on my list of probably unattainable grail watches. I've never heard of it before.

great post, thanks for a new thing to obsess about!

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PresentDayPrimitive

wow, as a Beatles nerd and watch enthusiast that Bamford just shot up on my list of probably unattainable grail watches. I've never heard of it before.

great post, thanks for a new thing to obsess about!

You have excellent taste, @PresentDayPrimitive! That said, I am an absolute idiot for having drawn this watch to your attention ... there can't be many out there and now at least two of us (see what I did there?) are wanting it!

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Shakespeare

You have excellent taste, @PresentDayPrimitive! That said, I am an absolute idiot for having drawn this watch to your attention ... there can't be many out there and now at least two of us (see what I did there?) are wanting it!

I just did a quick search, even if I found one I'm not going to be able to afford it. I'll keep up the hunt and if I find one I'll let you know.

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PresentDayPrimitive

I just did a quick search, even if I found one I'm not going to be able to afford it. I'll keep up the hunt and if I find one I'll let you know.

I've never been able to find a price for it, let alone one for sale!

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complication

Fantastic series you've written here :)

Thanks very much, @complication! I honestly thought there would be three, maybe four posts. And then I kept digging!

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Shakespeare

I've never been able to find a price for it, let alone one for sale!

looks like when they dropped they were around $26k. Can only imagine what the collector market would be now. you have rabid rolex fans and equally rabid beatles collectors that would love something like that.

Yeah, thats a watch I'm pretty sure I'll never own, but I can dream.

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These write ups are fantastic!! We need more of this. Thank you. I honestly think that you should turn this into a book, possible an e-book, and it would sell!

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ckim4watches

These write ups are fantastic!! We need more of this. Thank you. I honestly think that you should turn this into a book, possible an e-book, and it would sell!

Thanks very much @ckim4watches! They have been fun to research and write. I honestly thought there would only be three or four and then it turns out that there is a lot more. I grabbed all of the images (except for one) off the internet, so I would imagine that there would be a lot of copyright issues with regards to the images. The text is my own, gleaned from being a Beatlemaniac for 50 years. I can't even believe I've been alive that long!

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Shakespeare

Thanks very much @ckim4watches! They have been fun to research and write. I honestly thought there would only be three or four and then it turns out that there is a lot more. I grabbed all of the images (except for one) off the internet, so I would imagine that there would be a lot of copyright issues with regards to the images. The text is my own, gleaned from being a Beatlemaniac for 50 years. I can't even believe I've been alive that long!

Love beetles! I sing their songs at karaoke 😅🎤

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ckim4watches

Love beetles! I sing their songs at karaoke 😅🎤

I'm sure the world around you is grateful!

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That Bamford Rolex is a right honorable holy grail watch. I hope you get one!