Rolex Smurf (Submariner 116619LB): History & Super Clone

The Rolex Smurf is the Submariner Date reference 116619LB: a 40mm Submariner cased in 18ct white gold with a sunburst blue dial and matching blue Cerachrom bezel. Launched at Baselworld 2008 and discontinued in 2020, it was the first Submariner Rolex ever made in white gold, and among the first fitted with a ceramic bezel.

Why is it called the Smurf?

The name comes from The Smurfs, the small blue cartoon characters created by Belgian artist Peyo in 1958. When the 116619LB appeared in 2008, its head-to-toe blue — dial and bezel in the same vivid shade — reminded collectors of the characters, and the nickname took hold on forums well before Instagram existed. Part of the joke was the watch’s quiet extravagance: at arm’s length the white-gold case reads as steel, yet the watch retailed at well over £20,000. Rolex never used the name; in the catalogue it was simply the Submariner Date 116619LB.

References

The Smurf sits at the head of the white-gold Submariner line, which continued with a black-dial successor until 2026.

Reference Years Key spec Status
116619LB “Smurf” 2008–2020 18ct white gold, blue dial and blue Cerachrom bezel, 40mm, cal. 3135 Discontinued
126619LB “Cookie Monster” 2020–2026 18ct white gold, blue bezel, black dial, 41mm, cal. 3235 Discontinued 2026

Across its twelve-year production run, the 116619LB remained the only blue-dial, white-gold Submariner Rolex has ever catalogued — its 2020 replacement switched to a black dial.

Super clone availability

GrandWatch Club stocks 2 versions of the Smurf, priced from £434 to £904. The £434 tier carries a Japanese automatic movement inside the blue-on-blue 116619LB configuration, while the £904 Swiss SuperClone tier uses a Swiss movement and tighter execution of the sunburst dial and ceramic bezel. Because the genuine article has been out of production since 2020 and trades strongly on the secondary market, the clone route is the only way to wear this colour scheme without paying five figures.