Check out the Rolex.com website for a great update to its presentation on the Rolex Submariner.

“James Bond” is all-but-acknowledged as a Rolex affiliation.

A fresh new page titled “The Submariner: The Diver’s Watch,” further expounds on this headline with the note, “The Oyster Perpetual Submariner is the ultimate reference chosen by professionals with a taste for style and the deep.” Three navigation bars appear below a beautiful image of the current 116610LN Sub Date just introduced at Baselworld 2010. Introduction. The Models. The Stories.

It’s The Stories that caught my attention here. I’ve highlighted this on in the image toping this James Bond watch blog post. The second item for this on Rolex.com reads, “The Origins: A Perfect Partner on Land or in the Sea.” Then this: “We invented the Submariner to work perfectly at 660 feet under the sea. It seems to work pretty well at any level. Rolex 1965 Advertising.”

This is the same headline that appears above the image on a magazine ad that’s been on my mind for, well, more years than I care to admit. How close will Rolex go to promoting its connection to the James Bond films without actually saying “007″? Is there any other reasonable interpretation for the copy that follows from the complete, original version of that advertisement?

The Rolex Submariner is a salty watch. It’s the official watch for divers of the Royal Navy. That beefed-up Oyster case resists pressure down to 660 feet. You’ll find it in the cockpits of most ocean racers as hard-driving skippers beat down to Bermuda, Hobart and the Fastnet Rock. How come it’s seen so much where the wettest thing around is a dry Martini? Who knows. Maybe its because the black dial goes so well with a black tie. Ask her. Maybe she knows.

With a first-of-its-kind exhibition of James Bond Watches just opened, more questions than answers about the next Eon Productions Bond film, and Daniel Craig evidencing a clear preference for the Rolex brand, the timing of this content is most curious.

Maybe we should be asking more questions, too.