Newest Replica Rolex Submariner with Possible Sealab Provenance

Imagine if you stumbled upon a vintage replica Omega Speedmaster with “Gemini 7” engraved on the caseback during your late-night eBay surfing. You might stop and doubt, “so what?” The gilt four-line dial printing, lovely patina, and riveted bracelet would make it a nice find for any collector. But this may not be any ordinary vintage Sub. On the caseback is engraved, “SEALAB-13”, which possibly ties this iconic diving cheap watch to one of the most popular, and ambitious, of man’s early attempts to live at the bottom of the ocean.
While most public attention in the mid-to-late-1960s was given to the dueling American and Soviet space programs, the US Navy was putting men into an equally difficult and alien circumstance, under the guise of the “Man in the Sea” SEALAB program. At the same time astronauts were fighting for control of the high ground of the heavens, the Navy saw the ocean floor as the next frontier. The only way to truly gain a foothold below the waves was to enable humans to live there for extended periods, with ambitions of colonies and workplaces, and of course for defense purposes. After all, this was during the height of the Cold War. But living underwater, at even relatively shallow depths, is fraught with complication and danger.
.SEALAB II had hot showers and refrigeration, and former Mercury astronaut turned aquanaut, Scott Carpenter, remained submerged for a record 30 days. Flush with the success of this second mission, SEALAB III, launched in February of 1969, was to be the most ambitious of all, at a depth of 610 feet with a slew of planned experiments.
For those of us interested in watches, particularly dive watches, SEALAB has become a legend for its role in the development of arguably the most purpose-built watch ever made—the Rolex Sea-Dweller. Chief Warrant Officer, Robert A. Barth, the only aquanaut to take part in all three SEALAB missions, famously approached a fake Rolex rep at a trade show, complaining about the fact that the crystal of his Rolex Submariner was popping off during the divers’ long decompression cycles. The answer, of course, was a helium release valve, which could evacuate the built-up helium inside the watch. But the Sea-Dweller wouldn’t be developed until SEALAB III, so for the first two missions, most of the divers wore Submariners. 
Different from the British Royal Navy, the US Navy did not issue watches to its divers, nor had manufacturing specifications for the cheap replica watches its divers chose to wear. But they did catalog and mark all equipment used for SEALAB, including the dive watches. According to Bob Barth, during an interview I conducted with him back in 2012, most divers prefer the cheap Rolex, “because they seemed a little more rugged than the rest.” So it is extremely possible that this Rolex watch, with a serial number that indicates a 1959 manufacture date, was the property of one of the aquanauts, support divers, or surface crew of one of the early SEALAB missions. The “SEALAB-13” marking on the back may show that this watch did actually see bottom time with the Man in the Sea program, though the seller provides no evidence to support or contradict this.  
It is worth noting that the fake watch’s movement is not original, but a replacement replica Rolex caliber 1560. But while collectors place much value on originality, working divers had different priorities—top functioning equipment—so one often sees watches used by professionals, with swapped movements, re-lubed dials, and other service upgrades.