Rolex Starbucks (Submariner 126610LV): History & Super Clone

The Rolex Starbucks is the Submariner Date reference 126610LV: a 41mm Oystersteel diver with a green Cerachrom bezel over a gloss black dial, introduced in September 2020 and still in the current catalogue. It replaced the all-green Hulk (116610LV) and revived the green-bezel, black-dial pairing first seen on the 2003 Kermit (16610LV). Inside is the calibre 3235 with a 70-hour power reserve.

Why is it called the Starbucks?

The nickname surfaced within days of the watch’s online launch on 1 September 2020. Forum posters and Instagram accounts pointed out that a green bezel ringing a black dial mirrors the green-and-black colour scheme of the Starbucks coffee logo, and the name stuck almost immediately. You will also hear the watch called the Cermit — a contraction of “ceramic Kermit” — because it repeats the original Kermit’s colour split with a Cerachrom rather than aluminium insert. Rolex, as ever, endorses none of this; officially the watch is simply the Submariner Date 126610LV.

References

The Starbucks is the third watch in a short green-bezel lineage that began with the Submariner’s 50th anniversary in 2003.

Reference Years Key spec Status
16610LV “Kermit” 2003–2010 Green aluminium bezel, black dial, 40mm, cal. 3135 Discontinued
116610LV “Hulk” 2010–2020 Green Cerachrom bezel, green sunburst dial, 40mm Discontinued
126610LV “Starbucks” 2020–present Green Cerachrom bezel, black dial, 41mm, cal. 3235 In production

Rolex has issued exactly three green-bezel Submariners in more than two decades — the Kermit, the Hulk and the Starbucks — a new green reference appearing only once every seven to ten years.

Super clone availability

GrandWatch Club currently stocks 2 versions of the Starbucks, priced from £434 to £904. The entry tier is built on a Japanese automatic movement and covers the essentials — 41mm case proportions, green ceramic bezel insert and gloss black dial — while the £904 Swiss SuperClone tier fits a Swiss movement that reproduces the calibre 3235’s smooth wind and hand feel, with closer bezel colour matching and finishing. Both follow the genuine 126610LV configuration on an Oyster bracelet.