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User talk:Admin

2026-05-30T07:58:45Z

Klaudiusz: Pending audit edit on Reference:116518 (proposal #31) needs review

== Pending audit edit: Reference:5513 ==
Pipeline proposal #17 is awaiting review on [[Reference:5513]] (revid 4905). [https://bezelbase.org/w/index.php?title=Reference:5513&diff=4905&oldid=4484 View diff] · [https://bezelbase.org/wiki/Special:PendingChanges Special:PendingChanges] [[User:Klaudiusz|Klaudiusz]] ([[User talk:Klaudiusz|talk]]) 14:41, 29 May 2026 (UTC)

== Pending audit edit: Reference:116710LN ==
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== Pending audit edit: Reference:16610 ==
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== Pending audit edit: Reference:16710 ==
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== Pending audit edit: Reference:114060 ==
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== Pending audit edit: Reference:114200 ==
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== Pending audit edit: Reference:114270 ==
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== Pending audit edit: Reference:116500LN ==
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== Pending audit edit: Reference:116505 ==
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== Pending audit edit: Reference:116506 ==
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== Pending audit edit: Reference:116508 ==
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== Pending audit edit: Reference:116515LN ==
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== Pending audit edit: Reference:116518 ==
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Reference:116518

2026-05-30T07:58:45Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #31 ref=116518 agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout,bar_raiser (FlaggedRevs pending review)

{{#seo:
|title=Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116518 — BezelBase
|description=Rolex Daytona 116518: yellow gold leather-strap Daytona, 2000–c.2015. 40mm 18k yellow gold case, engraved gold tachymeter bezel, caliber 4130, alligator on deployant clasp, dial branches across champagne, black, MOP, racing, and diamond variants.
|keywords=Rolex 116518, Daytona yellow gold, Cosmograph Daytona, caliber 4130, alligator strap, deployant clasp, MOP dial, racing dial
|type=article
}}

[[Reference:daytona|Daytona]] -> '''116518'''

The 116518 is the full yellow gold Daytona on a leather strap of the in-house cal 4130 generation — the strap-and-deployant counterpart to the bracelet-mounted [[Reference:116528|116528]] and the cal 4130 successor to the Zenith-era [[Reference:16518|16518]]. Produced from 2000 to roughly 2015, it carries the same 40mm 18k yellow gold case, the same engraved gold tachymetre bezel, and the same caliber 4130 movement that defines the rest of the in-house first-generation Daytona line. What makes it specific is the configuration: gold case on alligator with a yellow gold deployant clasp, no factory Oyster bracelet, and one of the broadest dial catalogues in the cal 4130 family.

The 116518 is also the reference most often confused with its post-2017 successor. Rolex retired the engraved-gold-bezel leather-strap Daytona around 2015 and replaced it in 2017 with the [[Reference:116518LN|116518LN]] — same case metal, but with a Cerachrom ceramic bezel and a black Oysterflex elastomer-and-titanium strap in place of leather. The two share five characters of reference number and almost nothing else mechanically beyond the cal 4130. This article covers the engraved-gold-bezel leather-strap reference only.

[[File:Ref 116518 hero.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Reference 116518 yellow gold Daytona on leather strap with white dial|Reference 116518 in 18k yellow gold with white dial on alligator strap, circa 2000. Sotheby's Watches Online 2020.]]

==Core facts==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| 116518
|-
| family
| Daytona (Cosmograph, automatic)
|-
| production
| 2000 to c. 2015
|-
| case
| 40mm, 18k yellow gold
|-
| crystal
| sapphire (flat)
|-
| bezel
| engraved 18k yellow gold tachymetre
|-
| crown
| Triplock, screw-down, gold
|-
| water resistance
| 100m / 330ft
|-
| movement
| Rolex cal 4130 (first in-house chronograph)
|-
| frequency
| 28,800 vph
|-
| jewels
| 44
|-
| power reserve
| 72 hours
|-
| chronometer
| COSC certified
|-
| strap
| alligator leather (factory original); 18k yellow gold deployant buckle
|-
| siblings
| 116520 (steel), 116523 (Rolesor), 116528 (yellow gold bracelet), 116519 (white gold leather)
|-
| predecessor
| 16518 (Zenith cal 4030, 1988–2000)
|-
| successor
| 116518LN (Cerachrom + Oysterflex, 2017)
|}

==Where it sits in the line==

The 116518 occupies the leather-strap full-gold slot in the cal 4130 launch lineup. Rolex announced five cal 4130 Daytona configurations at Baselworld 2000: the steel 116520 on Oyster, the Rolesor 116523 on Oyster, the yellow gold 116528 on Oyster, the yellow gold 116518 on leather, and the white gold 116519 on leather. The split is by case material plus bracelet-or-strap decision. The 116518 is the gold-case watch sold on alligator from the factory, with no standard Oyster bracelet option.

The predecessor is the [[Reference:16518|16518]], the Zenith-based cal 4030 yellow gold Daytona on leather that ran from 1988 to 2000. The 2000 transition brought the in-house movement, the 72-hour power reserve, and the modernised dial-printing programme; the case profile, the gold engraved bezel, and the leather-strap-with-deployant configuration carried over. The successor in the Rolex catalogue is the 116518LN, which arrived in 2017 with a Cerachrom monobloc black ceramic bezel and an Oysterflex strap. The 116518 is consequently the last engraved-gold-bezel yellow gold Daytona Rolex ever delivered on a leather strap.

==Production outline==

The 116518 ran for roughly fifteen years across the same case-serial chronology as the rest of the cal 4130 family. Pre-2010 production used the Rolex letter-prefix system shared across the catalogue; from mid-2010 onward case serials switched to the random eight-character alphanumeric format that has no public year mapping. See [[Reference:Serial-numbers]] for the full key.

There is no separate 116518 generation timeline: the reference tracks the 116528 production chronology in parallel, with the same lume transitions (Luminova at launch, Super-Luminova within the first few years, Chromalight on later production) and the same cal 4130 stability across the run. End of production lands around 2015 in the published literature, with the discontinuation closing out the engraved-gold-bezel leather configuration ahead of the 2017 116518LN announcement. The two-year gap between the two yellow gold leather Daytonas is the cleanest break Rolex made in the modern Daytona catalogue.

The 116518 does not host the APH-error dial that defines a portion of 116520 black and white dial production around 2009 to 2010. Phillips's Logan Baker frames the APH misprint as specific to the steel reference's dial-printing batch; the 116518 catalogue does not record it.

==Movement notes==

Cal 4130 sits inside every 116518 — the same movement that powers the 116520, 116523, 116519, and 116528. Vertical-clutch chronograph coupling, column-wheel switching, 72-hour power reserve, 44 jewels, 28,800 vph, COSC certification, Parachrom blue hairspring on later production. Hour and minute counters share a single side of the movement, and the mainspring can be replaced without uncasing.

Cal 4130 is Rolex's first wholly in-house chronograph movement. Thirty-seven years of bought-in chronograph bases — the Valjoux 72 family from 1963, the Zenith El Primero base from 1988 — ended when the 4130 launched in 2000 across the five-configuration cal 4130 Daytona family. The 116518 is the leather-strap point of entry into that transition.

The practical difference is not only the longer reserve. In use, the vertical clutch gives the chronograph seconds hand a clean start without the jump associated with lateral-clutch chronographs, and period hands-on reporting found the 4130-generation Daytona holding tight daily rates even with frequent chronograph use. That is why the 116518 should not be treated as merely a gold 16518 with a new reference number: the dial layout, register positions, and chronograph feel all belong to the 4130 architecture.

For the full caliber lineage and the 4030-to-4130 architecture comparison, see [[Reference:Movements#cal-4130]].

==Dial map==

The 116518 dial catalogue runs broader than the steel 116520's, with the gold case carrying decorative finishes the steel reference never offered. The standard configurations and the most-documented decorative variants follow.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Dial
! Period
! Distinguishing features
|-
| Champagne with gold markers
| 2000–2015
| Most common 116518 layout; gold-tone sub-dial rings; applied gold five-minute markers
|-
| Black with red Daytona script
| 2000–2015
| Black base with red "Daytona" above the 6 o'clock sub-register; applied gold markers
|-
| White "Panda" with gold markers
| 2000–2015
| White base, three sub-dials in contrasting tone, applied gold markers
|-
| Mother-of-pearl, white
| mid-to-late production
| White iridescent MOP base with applied gold or Roman markers
|-
| Mother-of-pearl, black
| mid-to-late production
| Dark iridescent MOP base with applied gold or Roman markers
|-
| Mother-of-pearl, Tahitian
| mid-to-late production
| Dark Tahitian MOP base with diamond hour markers on most documented examples
|-
| MOP with diamond markers
| mid-to-late production
| White, black, or Tahitian MOP base with applied factory diamond hour markers
|-
| Champagne with diamond markers
| mid-to-late production
| Champagne base with applied factory diamond hour markers; sub-registers gold-tone
|-
| Black with diamond markers
| mid-to-late production
| Black base with applied factory diamond hour markers
|-
| Roman numeral indices
| sub-variant
| Applied gold Roman numerals at hour positions; available on MOP and standard layouts
|-
| Pavé and pavé-with-coloured-stones
| late production
| Factory pavé with ruby or sapphire accents — case-by-case authentication required
|}

Karyn Orrico's "Vintage Rolex Daytona: The Gold Standard" piece (Sotheby's, 2024) catalogues white Panda and diamond-set hour-marker examples on the cal 4030 16518, and the same dial families carry forward to the 116518 with the in-house movement underneath. Forum and auction documentation of MOP-with-Roman-numeral 116518s is consistent enough across the production run to read as a regular catalogue option rather than a one-off. Pavé and gem-set layouts outside Sotheby's, Phillips, or Christie's lot text need case-by-case authentication; the late cal 4130 era saw both factory and aftermarket gem-setting on yellow gold Daytonas, and the line between them is not always documented in dealer catalogue copy.

==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==

The 116518 case is 40mm in 18k yellow gold — the same nominal dimension as the steel 116520, executed in solid gold rather than steel. Lugs and case flanks carry the same profile as the cal 4130 family standard, with crown guards integrated into the case and the 700-series Triplock screw-down crown at 3 o'clock. Water resistance is 100m / 330ft, identical to the steel reference. Case thickness on documented examples runs to roughly 12.4mm, marginally thicker than the steel 116520's measured profile because of the gold-forging tolerances Rolex used through the cal 4130 run.

The bezel is engraved 18k yellow gold with the tachymetre scale. No aluminium insert, no ceramic — Cerachrom did not arrive on the yellow gold leather Daytona until the 116518LN in 2017, so every 116518 wears the engraved gold bezel through its full production. The bezel font matches the wider cal 4130 family, with the tachymetre numerals running from 60 to 400 around the ring.

The crystal is flat sapphire with no Cyclops; the running-seconds sub-dial sits at 6 o'clock. The Triplock crown handles the 100m water rating. Screw-down chronograph pushers sit on either side of the crown, the same trade-off the rest of the 116520-generation carries for the case's water resistance — they have to be unscrewed before the chronograph can be started. Pusher-screw feel and travel match the steel 116520. Case finishing on the 116518 is mixed: polished bezel and case-flank treatment with brushed lug tops, with refinishing on heavily-polished examples a routine secondary-market issue that suppresses prices on otherwise good watches.

==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==

The 116518 is a leather-strap reference. Every documented original-equipment example shipped on alligator leather with an 18k yellow gold deployant buckle. No factory Oyster bracelet was offered for the 116518 — that configuration is the [[Reference:116528|116528]]. Aftermarket gold Oyster fitments do appear on individual 116518 cases at the dealer tier, generally pulled from a 116528 or a Day-Date 18238 and refitted to the 20mm 116518 lug spacing. These reconfigurations are not original delivery and trade as such on the secondary market.

The preceding 16518 used fixed gold end pieces between case and strap, a precious-metal Daytona detail the steel references never carried. The 116518 inherits the same originality burden: a correct watch head can sit on a replaced strap, end-link, or deployant, so each component has to be verified individually rather than assumed correct from the presence of leather alone.

The deployant buckle is 18k yellow gold throughout the run, in the standard Rolex deployant geometry of the period. Strap material was always alligator from Rolex, with black, brown, and burgundy as standard colours and other tones available through the catalogue. Strap is a wear item; owners typically replaced it multiple times across the watch's life, and a surviving 116518 with its original Rolex-stamped strap and the original deployant in untampered condition is the period-correct configuration. A later aftermarket strap with the original deployant is the more common surviving form, and a fully refurbished strap-and-deployant set with no original Rolex components is normal at the dealer tier.

Rubber-strap aftermarket fitments — Rubber-B and similar third-party sets — are common on owned-and-worn 116518s and do not affect originality on the watch head, only on the wearable kit. Some auction lots note the rubber alongside the original Rolex deployant; others present only the rubber.

For the wider Daytona bracelet and clasp reference chronology, see [[Reference:Bracelets]]. The 116518's leather-and-deployant configuration is documented inside David Boettcher's broader Daytona bracelet reference at vintagewatchstraps.com.

==Special branches==

===Tiffany & Co. and other double-signed dials===

Double-signed dials are a weakly documented area for the 116518. The better-published Tiffany Daytona material sits with earlier references, especially manual-wind and Zenith-era watches, so any six-digit 116518 double signature needs original-sale documentation or major-house cataloguing before it belongs in the reference taxonomy. The signature is applied on the dial below the 6 o'clock Cosmograph block, on the standard champagne or black layouts. Cartier-signed and Vacheron-signed examples on the cal 4130 yellow gold Daytona references are thinner on the ground than in the Zenith-era 16518 catalogue — by the 2000s, the double-signed Rolex phenomenon had narrowed considerably as retailer dial programmes ended at most of the historical partners. No 116518-specific double-signed lot anchors a market-grade record in the published literature comparable to Phillips's Van Cleef & Arpels "Le Roi Soleil" 16518 (Daytona Ultimatum, Geneva, 12 May 2018, Lot 18).

===Beach dial sub-branches===

The pastel mother-of-pearl "beach dial" family that runs on the cal 4030 16518 — pink MOP, salmon MOP, pale blue MOP — is documented as carrying forward into early 116518 production in some dealer and auction catalogue copy, though the cal 4130 layouts read as a narrower set than the Zenith-era variants. Per-dial production volume on the 116518 beach-dial sub-branch is not documented in the major-house literature, and individual examples need to be authenticated against period documentation rather than against a single canonical layout.

===Diamond, pavé, and gem-set layouts===

Diamond hour markers are the most widespread decorative layer on the 116518. Sotheby's "Gold Standard" piece (Orrico, 2024) catalogues diamond-set hour-marker yellow gold Daytonas across the cal 4030 and cal 4130 references, and the configuration runs as a regular cataloguing option on champagne, black, and MOP base dials. Pavé and pavé-with-coloured-stones (ruby, sapphire) variants exist on top of that base, generally on later production where the gem-set programme was running at higher volume. Documentation of which exact pavé layouts shipped from Rolex versus which were aftermarket gem-setting is uneven across the published literature; treat any pavé 116518 outside Sotheby's, Phillips, or Christie's lot documentation as needing case-by-case authentication.

==Auction record==

The 116518 has not produced a single headline lot in the way the 16518 produced the Phillips "Le Roi Soleil" Van Cleef & Arpels signed lot in 2018. Auction interest in the cal 4130 generation has concentrated on the steel 116520 (Patrizzi-eligible Zenith-era refs are the prior generation) and on the rarer dial variants of the gold cases. Standard champagne 116518s have anchored the floor of the cal 4130 yellow gold leather market through the 2010s and into the 2020s, with diamond-marker, MOP, and Tahitian MOP variants pulling the premium end. Public auction records on standard 116518 examples are thinner than on the steel 116520 because the gold leather configuration trades more often in the dealer market than at the major houses.

The 2017 introduction of the 116518LN and its rapid market acceleration through the late 2010s — the Cerachrom yellow gold Daytona on Oysterflex caught the same allocation-economy dynamics as the steel 116500LN — has dragged the 116518 along behind it. Used prices on the engraved-bezel reference firmed in the years after its discontinuation, with full-set examples carrying matching box, papers, and original Rolex strap commanding a clear premium over partial-set examples. The 116518 trades on material and configuration terms rather than on headline provenance, with the rarer dial variants (MOP, sodalite where documented, factory diamond markers, factory pavé with confirmed provenance) carrying the auction-grade price band.

==Sources==

* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/vintage-rolex-daytona-the-gold-standard Karyn Orrico, "Vintage Rolex Daytona: The Gold Standard", Sotheby's, 2024-12-17]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-rolex-daytona-zenith-a-sothebys-guide Karyn Orrico, "Rolex Daytona Zenith: The Essential Guide", Sotheby's, 2025-11-03]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-daytona-chronograph-1963-in-depth-review/ Erik Slaven, "In-Depth: The History of the Rolex Daytona, The Emblematic Racing Chronograph", Monochrome, 2024-12-20]
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a-vintage-watch-nerds-critical-dissection-of-the-rolex-daytona-past-to-present-part-33 Paul Boutros, "In-Depth: A Vintage Watch Nerd's Critical Dissection of the Rolex Daytona, Past to Present (Part 3/3)", Hodinkee, 2013-03]
* [https://revolutionwatch.com/a-movement-in-history-the-zenith-driven-rolex-daytona/ Ross Povey, "A Movement in History: The Zenith-driven Rolex Daytona", Revolution Watch, 2018-09-03]
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/new-rolex-daytona-2016-what-changed/ "New Rolex Daytona 2016 - What Changed", Fratello, 2016-01-01]
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/rolex-daytona-ref-116500ln-review Jack Forster, "A Week On The Wrist: The Rolex Daytona Ref. 116500LN", Hodinkee, 2020-01-01]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/rolex-daytona-116500ln-steel-cerachrom-black-bezel-live-photos-price/ Frank Geelen, "Rolex Daytona 116500LN in steel with Cerachrom black bezel Hands-On", Monochrome, 2016-03-17]
* [https://revolutionwatch.com/hard-to-thrill/ Revolution editorial, "Hard to Thrill", Revolution, 2017-06-20]
* [https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/ David Boettcher, "Vintage Watch Straps — Rolex bracelet and clasp reference", vintagewatchstraps.com, 2026-04-18]

[[Category:Daytona]]
[[Category:Working Draft]]

User talk:Admin

2026-05-30T07:58:44Z

Klaudiusz: Pending audit edit on Reference:116515LN (proposal #30) needs review

Reference:116515LN

2026-05-30T07:58:44Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #30 ref=116515LN agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout,bar_raiser (FlaggedRevs pending review)

{{#seo:
|title=Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116515LN — BezelBase
|description=Rolex Daytona 116515LN: the first ceramic-bezel Daytona, launched 2011 in Everose gold with black Cerachrom and leather strap; transitioned to Oysterflex in 2017. Caliber 4130, 40mm Everose case, dial branches across chocolate, black, ivory, sundust, and meteorite.
|keywords=Rolex 116515LN, Daytona Cerachrom, Daytona Everose, first ceramic Daytona, Oysterflex Daytona, caliber 4130, sundust dial, chocolate dial, meteorite dial
|type=article
}}

[[Reference:Daytona|Daytona]] -> '''116515LN'''

The 116515LN is the first Cerachrom-bezel Daytona in any case material. Rolex launched it at Baselworld 2011 in Everose gold on a leather strap with an Everose Oysterlock fold-over clasp — five years before the steel 116500LN brought ceramic to the entry-level Daytona. The black Cerachrom monobloc tachymeter bezel that defines every modern ceramic Daytona made its debut here, on the warm pink case Rolex had introduced three years earlier on the engraved-bezel 116505. The reference number unifies the production: the <code>LN</code> suffix (lunette noire — black bezel) marks the Cerachrom version against the engraved-Everose 116505 it ran alongside.

In 2017 Rolex moved the 116515LN from leather to Oysterflex without changing the reference number — making the 116515LN the first Daytona on Oysterflex, two years after the strap debuted on the Yacht-Master 116655 in 2015. Both strap eras share the same case, movement, and bezel; the watch is the same reference across thirteen continuous years of production, and the strap configuration is the practical generation marker. Caliber 4130 sits inside the entire run, the same first-in-house Rolex chronograph that has powered every modern Daytona since 2000.

[[File:Ref 116515LN hero.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Daytona 116515LN Everose with Cerachrom bezel|116515LN in Everose gold with black Cerachrom monobloc bezel and Oysterflex strap]]

==Core facts==

{| class="wikitable"
! detail !! value
|-
| reference || 116515LN
|-
| family || Daytona (Cosmograph, automatic)
|-
| production || 2011–2023
|-
| case || 40mm, 18k Everose gold
|-
| crystal || flat sapphire, no Cyclops
|-
| bezel || Cerachrom monobloc black ceramic, tachymeter; Everose-PVD-filled numerals
|-
| crown || Triplock screw-down, Everose gold
|-
| movement || Rolex caliber 4130, in-house, COSC
|-
| frequency || 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
|-
| power reserve || 72 hours
|-
| jewels || 44
|-
| water resistance || 100m / 330ft
|-
| strap (2011–2017) || black leather with 18k Everose Oysterlock fold-over clasp
|-
| strap (2017–present) || Oysterflex elastomer with titanium-nickel alloy core; 18k Everose Oysterlock clasp
|-
| siblings || 116518LN (yellow gold, Cerachrom, Oysterflex 2017), 116519LN (white gold, Cerachrom, Oysterflex 2017), 116505 (engraved-Everose bezel, Oyster bracelet)
|-
| successor || 126515LN (cal 4131, 2023)
|}

==Where it sits in the line==

The 116515LN is the gateway reference for the entire ceramic Daytona programme. When Rolex launched it at Baselworld 2011, the modern Daytona case had been running on metal-engraved tachymeter bezels since 2000 across steel, yellow gold, white gold, Rolesor, and Everose. Cerachrom — the scratch-resistant ceramic insert Rolex had been developing on Submariner and GMT bezels since the late 2000s — moved onto the Daytona for the first time on the Everose ref. The configuration is reading clearly: same 40mm case Rolex had cast in Everose since 2008, same cal 4130, same Oysterlock clasp architecture; new ceramic bezel; new strap.

The 2011 launch sat alongside two parallel ceramic-bezel gold Daytonas — the 116518LN in yellow gold and 116519LN in white gold, both also on leather straps with matching gold Oysterlock clasps. The 116515LN is the first to launch among the three in catalogue order and the lead reference of the ceramic Daytona generation. The five-year window before the steel 116500LN arrived in 2016 belonged to the gold ceramic refs alone.

The 2017 Oysterflex rollout reset the practical wearability profile. Rolex had introduced Oysterflex on the Yacht-Master 116655 in 2015 — a hypoallergenic elastomer overmoulded around a titanium-nickel alloy blade with a longitudinal cushion system inside the strap. The 2017 Baselworld release moved Oysterflex onto the 116515LN, 116518LN, and 116519LN simultaneously, replacing the leather configuration without changing the reference numbers. The Daytona is the second Rolex line to receive Oysterflex; the 116515LN is the first Daytona to wear it.

The 2023 [[Reference:126515LN|126515LN]] cal 4131 successor took over the ceramic-Everose Daytona slot at Watches & Wonders Geneva, alongside the parallel 126500LN steel transition. The 126515LN inherited the same Cerachrom-Everose-Oysterflex configuration and the same 40mm case footprint with a slightly thinner profile. The 116515LN is the discontinued cal 4130 generation of the ceramic-Everose Daytona; the 126515LN is the current cal 4131 generation.

==Production outline==

Production runs Baselworld 2011 to 2023 on a single reference number. The 2017 strap transition is the practical generation marker within the run, and the 2023 126515LN transition closes the cal. 4130 116515LN generation.

The 2011 launch configuration is the leather strap. Black alligator-leather strap with stitched edges and an 18k Everose Oysterlock fold-over clasp, the same clasp architecture Rolex used on the leather-strap 116519 white-gold Daytona. The leather configuration ran from launch through early 2017. WatchBase catalogues the suffix codes that map this period: -0004 chocolate / leather, -0009 sundust pink / leather, plus the standard ivory and black-dial leather variants. The leather era is roughly six years of production.

The 2017 Baselworld release moved the reference to Oysterflex without changing the reference number. Rolex described the change as the same Daytona on a sportier strap; the case, movement, dial, and bezel carry over. The Oysterflex era is the longer of the two, running 2017 through 2024 and counting at the time of writing.

Within the production run, dial-printing variations track the broader cal 4130 generation. The early-leather production carries the same dial print as the parallel 116505 from the same era; mid-production examples show subtle dial-text spacing shifts and the occasional kerning change that defines a portion of the modern Daytona generation. None of these is a Rolex-announced change, and none maps to a clean serial cutoff.

Meteorite, the slate-grey Gibeon-meteorite mineral dial Rolex had used on Day-Date and earlier Daytona references, joined the 116515LN catalogue in 2021 — late in the run, alongside the parallel meteorite rollout on the 116505, 116508, 116509, 116518LN, and 116519LN. The variant ran for two-plus production years before the cal 4131 transition reset the meteorite-dial programme on the 126515LN.

Every 116515LN carries a random-alphanumeric serial; the reference launched in 2011, after Rolex had moved the entire catalogue to random alphanumerics in mid-2010. Lume across the run is Chromalight blue, consistent with the modern cal 4130 generation.

==Movement notes==

Caliber 4130 sits inside every 116515LN — the same first-in-house Rolex chronograph that launched on the 116520 in 2000. Vertical-clutch chronograph coupling (no judder on engagement, no amplitude loss when the chronograph runs, no backlash on the seconds hand), column-wheel start-stop-reset switching, 72-hour power reserve, 44 jewels, 28,800 vph, COSC certification, blue Parachrom hairspring. Hour and minute counters share a single side of the movement; the mainspring can be replaced without uncasing.

The 4130 uses 201 components, a low count for an automatic integrated chronograph. The quoted 72-hour reserve is the no-chronograph figure; with the chronograph running continuously, the practical reserve drops to about 65 hours.

The 4130 in the 116515LN runs the modern Superlative Chronometer −2/+2 specification across the production range. Rolex tightened the spec from the older COSC −4/+6 to the Superlative −2/+2 during the 116515LN's life, and current production carries the tighter rating.

The 2023 cal 4131 successor is the same architecture with the Chronergy escapement Rolex had rolled across the three-hand Sport lines through the 2010s. The efficiency gain is measured in real-world precision rather than power reserve, which stays at roughly 72 hours. The 126515LN inherits the cal 4131; the 116515LN runs the cal 4130 to the end.

For the full caliber lineage and the architecture comparison with the predecessor cal 4030 Zenith-based chronograph, see [[Reference:Movements#cal-4130]].

==Dial map==

The 116515LN dial catalogue is built around the same Everose case treatment that the engraved-bezel 116505 carries, with the black Cerachrom bezel acting as a constant against the warm pink case across every variant. The dial branches below are the configurations documented in catalogue text across the 2011–present production span.

{| class="wikitable"
! Variant !! Period !! Distinguishing features
|-
| Chocolate || 2011–present || Warm dark-brown lacquer base; black sub-dial rings on the most-photographed chocolate-leather and chocolate-Oysterflex configurations; applied gold five-minute markers; reads as the signature 116515LN dial colour and the configuration most commonly used in Rolex's launch press imagery
|-
| Black || 2011–present || Black lacquer base with Everose-tone (pink) sub-dial rings; applied gold markers; red Daytona script above the six o'clock sub-register on standard production
|-
| Ivory || 2011–present || Off-white cream lacquer base with three sub-dials in the same ivory tone; applied gold markers; runs the entire production span and pairs naturally with the warm Everose case
|-
| Sundust (pink) || 2011–present || Soft pink-rose lacquer base; black or matching-tone sub-dials; reads as the "rose on rose" configuration that defines a portion of the production market and pairs with the Everose case more naturally than any other dial colour
|-
| Meteorite || 2021–2023 || Slate-grey Gibeon-meteorite mineral base showing the natural Widmanstätten crystal pattern; applied gold markers; short late-run 116515LN-0055 Oysterflex configuration within the final cal 4130 Daytona generation
|-
| Diamond-marker variants || 2011–present || Applied diamond hour markers on chocolate, black, ivory, sundust, or meteorite base; documented across the production run with no single sub-period anchor
|-
| Baguette-marker variants || 2011–present || Baguette-cut diamond markers replacing the standard applied gold markers; appears on chocolate, sundust, and ivory bases in catalogue text
|}

The mother-of-pearl dials documented on the 116519 white-gold Daytona did not formally enter the 116515LN catalogue. Catalogue overlap between the gold Daytonas of the 4130 generation is broad but not total, and the 116515LN's dial branches are the ones above.

==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==

The 116515LN case is 40mm in 18k Everose gold — the same nameplate dimension as the steel 116520, the yellow-gold 116528, and the engraved-Everose 116505. The case, lugs, screw-down pushers, and crown geometry carry over unchanged from the 116505 architecture; the only material difference between the 116505 and 116515LN cases is the bezel.

The bezel is the headline of the reference. Cerachrom is Rolex's proprietary scratch-resistant high-tech ceramic insert, sintered as a monobloc piece with the tachymeter scale recessed into the surface and filled with Everose-tone PVD on the 116515LN (rather than the platinum-PVD treatment that fills the steel 116500LN bezel). The black colourway gives the reference its <code>LN</code> suffix — lunette noire — and matches the colour-coding system Rolex applies across the modern catalogue (LN black, LV green, BLNR Pepsi-blue-black, BLRO Pepsi-red-blue). On the 116515LN the Cerachrom bezel reads as a near-permanent finish: scratch-resistant, fade-resistant, and unaffected by UV exposure that gradually softened the engraved-Everose bezel surface on the parallel 116505 when worn through years of sun.

The crystal is flat sapphire with no Cyclops; the running-seconds sub-dial sits at six o'clock; the Triplock crown handles 100m water resistance. Screw-down chronograph pushers sit on either side of the crown — they have to be unscrewed before the chronograph can be started, the cal 4130 generation's standing trade-off across every case material.

==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==

The 116515LN strap programme is the practical generation marker for the reference. Two configurations span the production run: leather (2011–2017) and Oysterflex (2017–present). The reference number is identical across both eras; auction catalogue text and dealer listings call out the strap as a year marker rather than a reference distinction.

===Leather strap (2011–2017)===

The launch configuration is a black calf-leather strap with stitched edges and an 18k Everose Oysterlock fold-over deployant clasp. The clasp blade carries the Rolex crown on the underside; the leather strap itself is interchangeable with Rolex's service stock and was sold separately as a service replacement during the leather era. WatchBase catalogues the leather-strap suffix codes through 2017, and the four core dial-on-leather configurations (chocolate, black, ivory, sundust) define the production market for the leather era.

===Oysterflex strap (2017–present)===

The 2017 Baselworld transition moved the 116515LN to Oysterflex, the patented elastomer-on-titanium-nickel-blade construction Rolex had introduced two years earlier on the Yacht-Master 116655. The Oysterflex strap is a high-performance black elastomer overmoulded around a flexible titanium-and-nickel alloy blade, with a longitudinal cushion system inside the strap that stabilises the watch on the wrist. The clasp stays Oysterlock — same 18k Everose deployant, same Rolex crown, same architecture as the leather era — and the strap attaches to the case via integrated lugs designed for the elastomer-blade construction.

Fit is the collector caveat on the 116515LN Oysterflex. The 116515LN generation uses fixed-length Oysterflex halves and the clasp's Easylink gives only about 5mm of quick adjustment, so the correct strap-letter pairing matters more than it does on a metal Oyster bracelet. The later 126515LN improves this with a Glidelock-style adjustment range; that makes the clasp one of the practical tells between the cal. 4130 and cal. 4131 Everose ceramic Daytonas.

The Oysterflex 116515LN is the first Daytona Rolex made on Oysterflex. The strap had been on the Yacht-Master 116655 (Everose, 2015) and the 116659SA (white gold with diamonds, 2015) before the Daytona received it; the 2017 release also moved Oysterflex onto the 116518LN yellow-gold and 116519LN white-gold ceramic Daytonas in parallel.

The 116515LN never adopted a metal Oyster bracelet variant. The reference's two strap configurations are leather and Oysterflex; the engraved-bezel 116505 carries the metal Oyster bracelet across its run as the parallel material option for buyers who wanted Everose-on-Everose.

==Special branches==

The 116515LN is itself the special branch of the cal 4130 Daytona generation — the first Cerachrom Daytona, the first Oysterflex Daytona, the lead reference of the modern ceramic Daytona programme. Within the run, the headline variants are dial-driven rather than artifact-driven.

The meteorite-dial 116515LN is the most-collected late-run variant. Rolex introduced meteorite dials across the cal 4130 generation gold Daytonas in 2021 — 116505, 116508, 116509, 116515LN, 116518LN, 116519LN — and the variant ran for the final two years of the cal 4130 production before the cal 4131 transition. The Gibeon-meteorite mineral base shows the natural Widmanstätten crystal pattern; no two examples are identical. The variant carries a documented secondary-market premium over the lacquer-dial 116515LN.

For the 116515LN specifically, the meteorite configuration is best tracked as 116515LN-0055: Everose case, black Cerachrom bezel, Oysterflex, cal. 4130, and a meteorite dial. That sub-reference is a short late-run branch, documented from 2021 to 2023, not a full-span dial option. It should be separated from earlier lacquer and diamond-marker configurations when reading a full set or catalogue record.

The chocolate-dial-on-leather configuration is the reference's launch-press configuration and the most-photographed of the leather-era variants. Catalogue text from 2011–2017 leans heavily on chocolate-on-leather as the reference's signature image; the 2017 Oysterflex transition shifted the press imagery toward black-on-Oysterflex and sundust-on-Oysterflex.

==Historical market and auction record==

The 116515LN trades primarily through dealer and private channels rather than at major auction. Sotheby's, Christie's, and Phillips have catalogued individual 116515LN lots across the production span; the meteorite-dial and chocolate-dial leather-era examples carry the strongest bids at the major houses. The reference does not host the headline single-artifact records that anchor the vintage Daytona market; collected-on-material-and-movement-terms is the working frame.

Specific lot results vary year to year and are best read in current auction catalogues rather than fixed in a static article. The 2023 cal 4131 transition reset the secondary market — with the 126515LN absorbing demand at retail and the 116515LN positioning as the last cal-4130 ceramic-Everose Daytona, prices on full-set 116515LN examples (especially leather-era and meteorite-dial) have firmed in the years following the successor launch.

==Sources==

* [https://www.rolex.com/watchmaking/features/materials/everose "Everose - Materials, Watchmaking Features", Rolex]
* [https://millenarywatches.com/what-is-rolex-everose-gold-a-complete-guide/ "What is Rolex Everose Gold? A Complete Guide", Millenary Watches]
* [https://millenarywatches.com/rolex-caliber-4130/ "Rolex Caliber 4130 Complete Guide", Millenary Watches]
* [https://calibercorner.com/rolex-caliber-4130/ "Rolex Caliber 4130 Watch Movement", CaliberCorner]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-daytona-chronograph-1963-in-depth-review/ Erik Slaven, "In-Depth: The History of the Rolex Daytona, The Emblematic Racing Chronograph", Monochrome, 2024-12-20]
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a-vintage-watch-nerds-critical-dissection-of-the-rolex-daytona-past-to-present-part-33 Paul Boutros, "In-Depth: A Vintage Watch Nerd's Critical Dissection of the Rolex Daytona, Past to Present (Part 3/3)", Hodinkee, 2013-03]
* [https://revolutionwatch.com/a-movement-in-history-the-zenith-driven-rolex-daytona/ Ross Povey, "A Movement in History: The Zenith-driven Rolex Daytona", Revolution Watch, 2018-09-03]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/vintage-rolex-daytona-the-gold-standard Karyn Orrico, "Vintage Rolex Daytona: The Gold Standard", Sotheby's, 2024-12-17]
* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* [https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/ David Boettcher, "Vintage Watch Straps — Rolex bracelet and clasp reference", vintagewatchstraps.com, 2026-04-18]
* [https://www.watchguys.com/pages/rolex-daytona-116515-oysterflex-rose-gold-review "Rolex Daytona 116515LN Review: Everose on Oysterflex Guide", WatchGuys]
* [https://watchbase.com/rolex/daytona/116515ln-0004 "Rolex 116515LN-0004: Cosmograph Daytona Everose / Cerachrom / Chocolate / Strap", WatchBase]
* [https://www.ablogtowatch.com/rolex-cosmograph-daytona-watches-gold-oysterflex-rubber-strap-ceramic-bezel/ "Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Watches In Gold With Oysterflex Rubber Strap & Ceramic Bezel Hands-On", aBlogToWatch]
* [https://www.prestigetime.com/blog/rolex-yachtmaster-rubber-oysterflex-bracelet.html "116655 FULL REVIEW - Rolex Yachtmaster 40mm 18k Rose Gold", PrestigeTime]
* [https://www.jaztime.com/rolex/daytona/meteorite "All Meteorite Dial - Rolex Daytona Chronograph Watches", Jaztime]

[[Category:Daytona]]
[[Category:Working Draft]]

User talk:Admin

2026-05-30T07:58:44Z

Klaudiusz: Pending audit edit on Reference:116508 (proposal #28) needs review

Reference:116508

2026-05-30T07:58:43Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #28 ref=116508 agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout,bar_raiser (FlaggedRevs pending review)

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|title=Rolex 116508 Daytona — Yellow Gold Oyster, Cal 4130, Green Sundust "John Mayer" Dial | BezelBase
|description=The 116508 is the full yellow gold cal 4130 Daytona on a yellow gold Oyster bracelet, 2016 to 2023. Engraved 18k yellow gold tachymetre bezel. Green sundust dial (the "John Mayer" 116508-0013), meteorite 116508-0015, and champagne / black / Panda / MOP variants documented.
|keywords=Rolex, 116508, Daytona, yellow gold, cal 4130, green sundust, John Mayer, meteorite, 116508-0013, 116508-0015
|image=Ref 116508 hero.webp
|image_alt=Rolex Daytona 116508 yellow gold green sundust dial
|type=article
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}}

[[Reference:daytona|Daytona]] -> '''116508'''

The 116508 is the full yellow gold cal 4130 Daytona on a yellow gold Oyster bracelet, with an engraved 18k yellow gold tachymetre bezel — the 2016 successor to the [[Reference:116528|116528]] and the second-to-last engraved-gold-bezel yellow gold Daytona Rolex produced before the line moved to Cerachrom. Same 40mm case profile as the rest of the cal 4130 family, same vertical-clutch column-wheel chronograph, same 72-hour power reserve, executed in 18k yellow gold from end-link to bezel. The difference from the 116528 is a refreshed dial programme — Rolex used the 116508 launch to introduce the green sundust dial that John Mayer would single out three years later in his 2019 Hodinkee Talking Watches appearance, and the meteorite dial that joined the catalogue in 2021.

The 116508 sits in the editorial scope on the same basis as the [[Reference:116500LN|116500LN]]: it is the gold-bracelet half of the cal 4130 generation, discontinued at the cal 4131 successor's launch, and now closed. Production ran from 2016 to 2023, when the cal 4131 126508 took its place in the yellow-gold Oyster Daytona slot with revised case, dial, clasp, and movement architecture while retaining an engraved precious-metal tachymetric bezel.

[[File:Ref 116508 hero.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Daytona 116508 yellow gold|Rolex Daytona 116508 — yellow gold Oyster with engraved gold tachymetre bezel, c.2018]]

==Core facts==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| 116508
|-
| family
| Daytona (Cosmograph, automatic)
|-
| production
| 2016 to 2023
|-
| case
| 40mm, 18k yellow gold
|-
| crystal
| sapphire (flat)
|-
| bezel
| engraved 18k yellow gold tachymetre
|-
| crown
| Triplock, screw-down, gold
|-
| water resistance
| 100m / 330ft
|-
| movement
| Rolex cal 4130
|-
| frequency
| 28,800 vph
|-
| jewels
| 44
|-
| power reserve
| 72 hours
|-
| chronometer
| COSC certified (Superlative Chronometer)
|-
| bracelet
| 18k yellow gold Oyster, SEL, Oysterlock with Easylink
|-
| siblings
| 116518 (yellow gold leather, 2000–2015), 116518LN (Cerachrom Oysterflex, 2017+), 116505 (Everose Oyster), 116515LN (Everose Cerachrom Oysterflex), 116509 (white gold Oyster), 116519LN (white gold Cerachrom Oysterflex)
|-
| predecessor
| 116528 (yellow gold Oyster, engraved gold bezel, 2000–2016)
|-
| successor
| 126508 (cal 4131, Cerachrom bezel, 2023+)
|}

==Where it sits in the line==

The 116508 replaces the 116528 in the yellow-gold-on-yellow-gold-Oyster slot of the cal 4130 generation. The change between the two is narrow on paper: same 40mm case, same engraved gold bezel, same cal 4130 movement, same Oyster bracelet architecture. What Rolex used the reference change for was a dial-programme refresh and a series of small specification updates — Chromalight lume across the run, an updated dial-printing programme that opened the door to the green sundust and meteorite layouts, and the Superlative Chronometer regulation specification on later examples. The watch reads as a continuation of the 116528 with a refreshed dial catalogue rather than a redesigned reference.

The 116508 sits inside a cal 4130 family that ran in parallel through 2016 to 2023: the steel 116500LN with Cerachrom from 2016, the engraved-bezel 116503 Rolesor that ran through 2017, the engraved-bezel 116508 in yellow gold and 116505 in Everose through 2023, and the Cerachrom-bezel precious-metal references (116515LN Everose, 116519LN white gold) on Oysterflex from 2017 onward. Rolex deliberately kept engraved-gold and Cerachrom in the catalogue alongside one another across the generation, with the strap and bezel choices working as configuration options rather than as successive eras. The 116508 is the engraved-gold yellow gold Oyster choice in that lineup.

The 2023 transition to the cal 4131 generation reset the catalogue. The 126508 took the 116508 slot with cal 4131, revised case proportions, updated dial furniture, and a reworked Oysterlock clasp. The 116508 became the last cal 4130 yellow-gold Oyster Daytona with an engraved gold bezel; the engraved precious-metal bezel itself continued into the cal 4131 generation.

==Production outline==

Production runs from 2016 to 2023. Pre-2010 serial mappings do not apply — the 116508 sits entirely inside the random alphanumeric serial era, with no public year-mapping for case serials. Rolex's standard case-stamping practice continued through the run: the random eight-character alphanumeric serial appears on the rehaut between the lugs and on the case underside, with no letter prefix and no year decode in the public domain. Production-window dating relies on dealer documents, original Garantie cards, and the Rolex code-card era which started in 2020.

The reference does not host the kind of layered internal map that defines vintage Daytona references. The cal 4130, the Chromalight lume, the engraved gold bezel, and the Oyster bracelet all held constant across the seven-year run. Dial-printing drift across the run is visible to forum collectors on close inspection but has not crossed the threshold from "photographed on some examples" to "documented Mark variant" — the same situation that applies to the 116500LN run. The 116508 reads as one production with the addition of catalogue dial options at specific points: the green sundust appearing at launch in 2016, the meteorite dial added around 2021.

End of production lands at the cal 4131 successor announcement at Watches & Wonders Geneva 2023, with the 126508 replacing the reference at that show. Allocated examples continued to reach retail into 2024 in some markets.

==Movement notes==

Cal 4130 sits inside every 116508 — the same movement that carried the 116520, 116523, 116528, 116519, and 116518 from 2000 onward. Vertical-clutch chronograph coupling, column-wheel switching, 72-hour power reserve, 44 jewels, 28,800 vph (4 Hz), Parachrom blue hairspring, COSC certification with the Superlative Chronometer regulation specification on later production. Hour and minute counters share a single side of the movement, the chronograph engages without judder on the second hand because of the vertical clutch, and the mainspring can be replaced without uncasing the watch.

The 116508 sits at the close of the cal 4130's twenty-three-year production run. The successor 126508 carries the cal 4131 with the Chronergy escapement Rolex rolled across the three-hand sport lines through the 2010s and earlier 2020s; the architectural change is internal-efficiency rather than power-reserve, and the 4131 keeps the column-wheel and vertical-clutch core that the 4130 introduced.

For the full caliber lineage and the 4030-to-4130-to-4131 architecture comparison, see [[Reference:Movements#cal-4130]].

The 116508 carries no hidden late-run caliber change; what matters is how mature the 4130 platform already was. Rolex designed the 4130 with a lower parts count than the Zenith-derived 4030, which left room for the larger barrel behind the automatic Daytona's roughly 72-hour reserve and made the movement easier to service. Movement condition on a 116508 is judged the same way as the rest of the 2000-2023 in-house Daytona family: service history, amplitude, reset behaviour and pusher feel rather than any reference-specific caliber variant.

==Dial map==

The 116508 dial catalogue is the most varied of the cal 4130 yellow gold Oyster Daytonas. Standard layouts carry across from the 116528 with refreshed printing and the Chromalight lume; two new variants — the green sundust and the meteorite — were introduced inside the 116508's run and define its place in the modern Daytona collector market.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Dial
! Reference suffix
! Period
! Distinguishing features
|-
| Champagne with gold markers
| 116508-0006
| 2016–2023
| Champagne base; gold-tone sub-dial rings; applied gold five-minute markers
|-
| Black with gold markers
| 116508-0004
| 2016–2023
| Black base; applied gold markers; red "Daytona" above the 6 o'clock sub-register
|-
| White ("Panda") with black sub-dials
| 116508-0001
| 2016–2023
| White base, three contrasting black sub-dials, applied gold markers
|-
| Green sundust with gold markers
| 116508-0013
| 2016–2023
| Sundust-finish green base, applied gold markers; the "John Mayer" dial after his 2019 Hodinkee Talking Watches feature
|-
| Black with green Arabic numerals
| 116508-0009
| 2016–2023
| Black base with green Arabic numerals at the hour positions
|-
| Black with diamond markers
| 116508-0008
| 2016–2023
| Black base with applied factory diamond hour markers
|-
| Mother-of-pearl, white
| 116508-0010 (variants)
| mid-to-late production
| White iridescent MOP base with applied gold or diamond markers
|-
| Mother-of-pearl, black
| 116508-0014 (variants)
| mid-to-late production
| Dark iridescent MOP base with applied gold or diamond markers
|-
| Meteorite with black sub-dials
| 116508-0015
| 2021–2023
| Solid Gibeon meteorite slice with reverse-panda black sub-dials and applied gold markers
|-
| Pavé and pavé-with-coloured-stones
| catalogue late production
| late production
| Factory pavé with ruby or sapphire accents — case-by-case authentication required
|}

The green sundust 116508-0013 is the variant that defines the reference's recent collector profile. Rolex introduced the configuration at the 2016 launch as the first time a corporate-Rolex-green dial had appeared on the Daytona. John Mayer highlighted it on Hodinkee's Talking Watches in 2019, and the secondary market for the variant accelerated sharply in the months after the episode aired — the green-dial 116508 has carried "John Mayer" as a collector nickname in the years since. Rolex's decision to discontinue the variant alongside the rest of the 116508 in 2023 closed the production window without warning at most authorised dealers.

The meteorite 116508-0015 entered the catalogue in 2021. The dial is cut from a slice of the Gibeon iron meteorite (Namibia, identified 1836), with the natural Widmanstätten pattern visible across the dial face and three black-finished sub-dials in a reverse-panda layout. Production ran for two catalogue years before the cal 4131 successor took over in 2023, making the configuration one of the shortest-run dial variants in the cal 4130 yellow gold lineage.

==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==

The 116508 case is 40mm in 18k yellow gold, with the same lug, case-flank, and crown-guard profile as the rest of the cal 4130 family. Case finishing is mixed — polished bezel, polished case sides, brushed lug tops — and lug-to-lug runs around 47mm consistent with the rest of the in-house Daytona generation. Water resistance is 100m / 330ft. Triplock crown at 3 o'clock, screw-down chronograph pushers at 2 and 4.

The bezel is engraved 18k yellow gold with the tachymetre scale. No Cerachrom: the 116508 is one of the configurations Rolex deliberately kept on the engraved-gold bezel through the cal 4130 generation, with the Cerachrom alternative living on the 116515LN Everose and 116519LN white gold sibling references. The engraved-gold tachymetre on the 116508 carries the same numerical layout as the 116528 it replaced, with the scale running from 60 to 400 around the ring.

The crystal is flat sapphire with no Cyclops. The chronograph pushers screw down to maintain the 100m water rating and have to be unscrewed before the chronograph can be operated, the same configuration the cal 4130 generation has used since the 116520 in 2000. Pusher-screw feel and travel match the rest of the family. Case-finishing routines at Rolex Service Center after 2016 have remained consistent with the 116528 era, with refinishing on heavily-polished examples a routine secondary-market issue that suppresses prices on otherwise good watches.

==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==

The 116508 ships on a full 18k yellow gold Oyster bracelet — same SEL Oyster construction as the steel 116500LN's 78490 and the Rolesor 116503's 78493, with centre and outer links machined in 18k yellow gold. End links are integral to the bracelet (SEL — solid end links) rather than separable stamped pieces. The bracelet tracks the same Easylink-equipped Oysterlock clasp architecture as the rest of the cal 4130 generation.

The clasp is the modern Oysterlock with the Easylink 5mm comfort extension — a lever-and-keeper inside the clasp body that gives a five-millimetre micro-adjustment without tools. The Daytona never adopted the Glidelock micro-extension that came to the Submariner-line clasps in 2010; Easylink is the only on-bracelet adjustment the 116508 ever offered. The clasp blade carries a date code in the random three-character alphanumeric format that has run across the Rolex Sport line since 2011, and on SEL bracelets the date code, part number, and Rolex crown are stamped into the underside of the end link itself rather than the clasp blade alone. See [[Reference:Bracelets]] for the full date-code key.

The 78498 designation appears in some auction catalogue and dealer documentation for the full yellow gold Oyster bracelet variant; documentation across published sources is uneven, and the bracelet is more often identified by material rather than by reference number on auction lots. David Boettcher's broader Daytona bracelet reference at vintagewatchstraps.com carries the configuration alongside the steel and Rolesor variants without breaking it out as a numbered branch.

==Special branches==

===The "John Mayer" green sundust===

The 116508-0013 green sundust dial is the reference's headline collector variant. Rolex introduced the configuration at the 2016 launch as the first appearance of corporate-Rolex-green on a Daytona dial; the choice was a departure from the broader cal 4130 colour palette of champagne, black, white, and MOP. Hodinkee's Talking Watches episode featuring John Mayer (2019) singled the watch out as an underappreciated current-production reference, and the secondary market re-rated the configuration in the months that followed. Authorised-dealer waitlists on the green-dial 116508 ran for years through the late 2010s and early 2020s, and completed private trades climbed steeply through the 2021–2022 luxury-watch peak before correcting alongside the rest of the modern-Daytona market in 2023.

The "John Mayer" nickname is collector usage rather than a Rolex designation, and Rolex has issued no commentary on the variant's place in its 2016 launch programme. The end-of-production cutover in 2023 closed the window without a successor: the cal 4131 126508 catalogue at launch did not carry the green sundust dial, leaving the 116508-0013 as the only Rolex-catalogue green Daytona of any era through that period.

===Meteorite 116508-0015===

The meteorite-dial variant was introduced in 2021 with a reverse-panda layout — meteorite base, three black-finished sub-dials, applied gold markers and hands. Production ran two catalogue years before the cal 4131 successor took over in 2023. The dial is cut from a slice of the Gibeon meteorite (Namibia, 1836), and individual examples differ in the visible Widmanstätten pattern. The variant entered the secondary market at a clear premium to the standard layouts and has held that position through the post-discontinuation period.

The 116508-0015 was part of a three-watch precious-metal Daytona meteorite group rather than a one-off yellow-gold experiment. Rolex paired meteorite with yellow gold 116508 and Everose 116505 on Oyster bracelets with engraved metal bezels, while the white-gold 116519LN used the Oysterflex/Cerachrom configuration. That matters because the 116508-0015 is the yellow-gold Oyster expression of the programme: full bracelet, gold bezel, black registers, and a natural-material dial that makes every correct example visually non-identical.

===Tiffany & Co. and other double-signed examples===

Retailer double-signing is not a documented 116508 branch in the published auction record. Treat any Tiffany- or retailer-signed 116508 dial as an authentication problem first, not as a catalogue variant, unless it is accompanied by unusually strong provenance and expert dial examination. Other retailer signatures are thinner on the ground than in the Zenith-era catalogue, and 116508-specific double-signed lots that anchor a market-grade record have not surfaced through 2025 in the published auction literature.

==Auction record==

The 116508 auction record is anchored by the green sundust 116508-0013 — the green-dial variant has appeared at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips at premium estimates throughout the 2019–2024 period, with the John Mayer effect and the post-2023 discontinuation both pushing pricing well above the engraved-gold floor for the configuration. The meteorite 116508-0015 has carried similarly premium pricing since the 2021 introduction, with the two-year production window and the natural-material dial both driving auction interest.

Standard champagne, black, and white-Panda 116508s anchor the floor of the cal 4130 yellow gold Oyster market, with full-set examples carrying matching box, papers, and Rolex code card commanding a clear premium over partial-set lots. The reference trades on configuration and provenance rather than on headline single-watch records — no 116508 lot has approached the kind of single-artifact result that defines Paul Newman's 6239 or the Unicorn 6265.

The 2023 transition to the 126508 has closed the engraved-gold-bezel yellow gold Oyster Daytona configuration permanently. Used prices on the 116508 have firmed across the post-discontinuation period, particularly on the green sundust and meteorite variants, with the broader cal 4130 yellow gold market now reading as a closed catalogue rather than a live production.

==Sources==

* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/vintage-rolex-daytona-the-gold-standard Karyn Orrico, "Vintage Rolex Daytona: The Gold Standard", Sotheby's, 2024-12-17]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-daytona-chronograph-1963-in-depth-review/ Erik Slaven, "In-Depth: The History of the Rolex Daytona, The Emblematic Racing Chronograph", Monochrome, 2024-12-20]
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a-vintage-watch-nerds-critical-dissection-of-the-rolex-daytona-past-to-present-part-33 Paul Boutros, "In-Depth: A Vintage Watch Nerd's Critical Dissection of the Rolex Daytona, Past to Present (Part 3/3)", Hodinkee, 2013-03]
* [https://revolutionwatch.com/a-movement-in-history-the-zenith-driven-rolex-daytona/ Ross Povey, "A Movement in History: The Zenith-driven Rolex Daytona", Revolution Watch, 2018-09-03]
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/new-rolex-daytona-2016-what-changed/ "New Rolex Daytona 2016 - What Changed", Fratello, 2016-01-01]
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/rolex-daytona-ref-116500ln-review Jack Forster, "A Week On The Wrist: The Rolex Daytona Ref. 116500LN", Hodinkee, 2020-01-01]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/rolex-daytona-116500ln-steel-cerachrom-black-bezel-live-photos-price/ Frank Geelen, "Rolex Daytona 116500LN in steel with Cerachrom black bezel Hands-On", Monochrome, 2016-03-17]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/market-analysis-continous-insane-rise-in-price-of-the-rolex-daytona-116500ln/ Brice Goulard, "Market Analysis: Continuous Rise in Price of the Rolex Daytona 116500LN", Monochrome, 2021-03-05]
* [https://revolutionwatch.com/hard-to-thrill/ Revolution editorial, "Hard to Thrill", Revolution, 2017-06-20]
* [https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/ David Boettcher, "Vintage Watch Straps — Rolex bracelet and clasp reference", vintagewatchstraps.com, 2026-04-18]

[[Category:Daytona]]
[[Category:Working Draft]]

User talk:Admin

2026-05-30T07:58:43Z

Klaudiusz: Pending audit edit on Reference:116506 (proposal #27) needs review

Reference:116506

2026-05-30T07:58:43Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #27 ref=116506 agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout,bar_raiser (FlaggedRevs pending review)

{{#seo:
|title=Rolex 116506 Daytona — Platinum 50th Anniversary, Ice Blue Dial, Chestnut Cerachrom | BezelBase
|description=The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116506 — the first platinum Daytona, launched at Baselworld 2013 for the model's 50th anniversary. 950 platinum case and bracelet, ice-blue dial, chestnut brown Cerachrom monobloc bezel, caliber 4130. Standard, baguette-diamond, and Arabic-numeral sub-variants.
|keywords=Rolex, 116506, Daytona, Cosmograph, platinum, 50th anniversary, ice blue, chestnut Cerachrom, caliber 4130, reference guide
|image=Ref 116506 hero.webp
|image_alt=116506 platinum Daytona ice blue dial chestnut bezel
|type=article
|og_type=article
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
}}

[[Reference:daytona|Daytona]] -> '''116506'''

The 116506 is the first platinum Cosmograph Daytona. Rolex unveiled it at Baselworld 2013 to mark the Daytona's fiftieth anniversary, and it ran from that launch through to its discontinuation in March 2023, when the 126506 took over with caliber 4131 and a sapphire caseback. The case and bracelet are 950 platinum. The dial is the ice-blue lacquer Rolex reserves for its platinum references. The bezel is a chestnut brown Cerachrom monobloc with a tachymeter scale deposited in platinum by PVD. Within the Daytona line it followed the Everose-gold 116515LN, which brought Cerachrom to the Cosmograph in 2011; the 116506 made the ceramic bezel part of the platinum anniversary configuration. The movement is caliber 4130.

What Rolex did at the fiftieth anniversary was the opposite of what most of the watch press expected. JX Su's Baselworld 2013 launch coverage at SJX records the question that defined the Basel hall that week — what is going on with the blue-and-brown colour scheme — and Robert-Jan Broer's Fratello piece from the same week frames the choice as Rolex declining to issue a redesigned anniversary Daytona in favour of placing the existing 40mm Cosmograph in 950 platinum with a colour palette no Rolex chronograph had carried before. The combination has aged into one of the most recognisable Daytona configurations in the modern catalogue.

[[File:Ref 116506 hero.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=116506 platinum Daytona ice blue dial chestnut bezel|116506 ice-blue dial with chestnut Cerachrom monobloc bezel, 950 platinum case and Oyster bracelet]]

==Core facts==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! detail !! value
|-
| reference || 116506
|-
| family || Daytona (Cosmograph)
|-
| production || 2013 to 2023
|-
| anniversary launch || Baselworld 2013, Daytona 50th anniversary
|-
| case || 40mm 950 platinum, ~12.5mm thick
|-
| crystal || flat sapphire, no Cyclops
|-
| bezel || monobloc Cerachrom in chestnut brown, tachymeter graduations in platinum PVD
|-
| crown || Triplock screw-down, twin-O-ring
|-
| pushers || screw-down, 950 platinum
|-
| movement || caliber 4130, in-house chronograph
|-
| frequency || 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
|-
| jewels || 44
|-
| power reserve || 72 hours
|-
| water resistance || 100m
|-
| bracelet || 950 platinum Oyster
|-
| clasp || Oysterlock with Easylink 5mm comfort extension
|-
| dial || ice-blue lacquer, contrasting silver-grey-on-chestnut subdial rings, applied 18k white-gold indices
|-
| dial sub-references || 116506-0001 (standard ice-blue), 116506-0002 / 0008 (baguette-diamond hour markers), 116506-0004 (Arabic-Indic numerals, Middle East)
|-
| launch retail || approx. USD 75,000 (per Logan Baker, Phillips); approx. GBP 50,000 (per Robert-Jan Broer, Fratello)
|-
| caseback || solid 950 platinum (sapphire caseback first appears on the 126506 successor)
|-
| predecessor || none in platinum; sits alongside the steel 116520, Rolesor 116523, yellow gold 116528
|-
| successor || 126506 (2023, caliber 4131, sapphire caseback)
|-
| sibling diamond ref || 116576TBR (pavé dial + baguette-set bezel, separate reference)
|}

==Where it sits in the line==

The 116506 sits at the top of the cal-4130 generation. Its launch in 2013 came thirteen years into the cal-4130 production run that began with the steel 116520 in 2000, and it slots into the gold-and-platinum Daytona line that already included the steel-and-yellow-gold 116523, the yellow gold 116528, and the white gold 116519. Logan Baker's Phillips editorial frames the reference as the first time Rolex offered the Daytona case in solid platinum, and the move marked platinum out as the new top-of-the-line material for the Cosmograph rather than gold.

That distinction matters because the Daytona was already deep into precious-metal territory before 2013. Yellow-gold manual-wind Daytonas appeared in the 1970s, the gem-set 6269 and 6270 pushed the line into jewellery-watch territory in the 1980s, and the modern Rainbow Daytona arrived before the 116506. Platinum was not the Daytona's first move away from the tool-watch brief. It was the material that made Rolex's hierarchy explicit: steel for the waiting-list sports watch, gold for the precious-metal chronograph, platinum for the top catalogue Daytona.

The chestnut-on-ice-blue palette has no precedent inside the Daytona line. Earlier modern Daytonas had carried mother-of-pearl, meteorite, and lacquered colour dials in the precious-metal references, but the chestnut Cerachrom bezel is unique to the 116506 inside the Cosmograph family — the rest of the cal-4130 ceramic-bezel rollout that arrived from 2011 onward used black Cerachrom on the gold and platinum chronograph references. The aBlogtoWatch hands-on review by Ariel Adams reads the chestnut-and-ice-blue combination as a Newman-era exotic-dial echo translated into modern materials. That framing is contested at Baselworld but has aged well in the years since.

The 126506 replaced the 116506 in March 2023 at Watches & Wonders, with caliber 4131 in place of cal 4130 and a sapphire caseback in place of the closed platinum back, per Fratello's hands-on comparison of the two generations. The 116506 is the last platinum Daytona Rolex produced with a solid caseback. Buyers who care about the closed back as a design feature — and many do, given the platinum mass it carries — will only find it on this reference.

==Production outline==

Rolex produced the 116506 from the Baselworld 2013 launch through to a 2023 wind-down that aligns with the Watches & Wonders Geneva announcement of the 126506. RolexForums collector threads from 2023 track the run-out at the dealer level: allocations slowed through late 2022 and 2023, and the reference left the catalogue when its successor took the platinum Daytona slot. The full production span is approximately ten years.

Across the run Rolex made the dial line denser without changing the case, bracelet, or movement. The launch dial in 2013 was the standard ice-blue lacquer with applied 18k white-gold hour indices and Chromalight-filled luminous plots, sold as 116506-0001. The diamond-set dial, with baguette-diamond hour markers in white gold settings on the same ice-blue ground, entered the catalogue early in the run, sold as 116506-0002 in earlier production and 116506-0008 in later catalogue updates per the 41Watch buyer's guide cataloguing of the platinum Daytona sub-references. An Arabic-Indic numeral dial appeared as a Middle East regional execution under sub-reference 116506-0004, with white-gold Eastern-Arabic numerals replacing the standard applied indices on the same ice-blue ground.

The case, bracelet, bezel, and movement held constant across the entire production run. There is no published collector taxonomy of mark-level dial generations within the 116506 — the run is too short and the production volume too limited for the kind of Mk-1-through-Mk-5 mapping that exists for the steel 116520. Forum collectors track minor printing differences across late and early examples, but no documented set of dial generations has formed.

==Movement notes==

Caliber 4130 is the same in-house chronograph movement Rolex launched in 2000 on the 116520, carried across every cal-4130-generation Daytona reference for twenty-three years. The architecture is column wheel start-stop-reset, vertical clutch chronograph engagement, blue Parachrom hairspring, 28,800 vph, 44 jewels, 72-hour reserve. CaliberCorner records the 290-part construction and ceramic reversing-wheel bearings; Colin A. White's ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' (Morning Tundra) catalogues the cal 4130 as the longest-running modern Rolex chronograph caliber by a wide margin.

The 116506's solid platinum caseback hides the movement from view, which is consistent with every cal-4130 Daytona — Rolex never produced a sapphire-caseback variant in this generation. That reservation is what makes the move to a sapphire caseback on the 126506 successor read as a generational reset rather than a routine refresh, per Fratello's side-by-side comparison.

Movement servicing on the 116506 follows the same intervals and procedures as the rest of the cal-4130 line. There are no platinum-specific changes to the caliber. For the full caliber lineage see [[Reference:Movements#cal-4130]].

==Dial map==

The ice-blue lacquer is the unifying feature across every 116506 dial. Rolex reserves the ice-blue colour exclusively for its platinum references — the same dial colour appears on the platinum Day-Date and platinum GMT-Master II, and never on a steel, gold, or two-tone Rolex. On the 116506 the ice-blue ground is paired with chestnut-toned subdial rings that match the bezel, and applied indices in white gold rather than the yellow-gold or two-tone applied indices found on the cal-4130 gold references. Subdial graphics carry through the standard Daytona layout: running seconds at nine, 30-minute counter at three, 12-hour counter at six.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! sub-reference !! variant !! distinguishing features !! notes
|-
| 116506-0001 || standard ice-blue || applied 18k white-gold indices, Chromalight luminous plots, no diamonds || Launch configuration. The dial that defined the reference at Baselworld 2013 and remained the volume-production option through to 2023.
|-
| 116506-0002 || baguette-diamond hour markers (early) || baguette-cut diamond hour markers in white-gold settings, applied to the ice-blue ground || Diamond-marker variant introduced during the early production run. Sold under sub-reference 0002 in earlier 116506 catalogue listings.
|-
| 116506-0008 || baguette-diamond hour markers (later) || same diamond-marker dial; later catalogue numbering || The 41Watch buyer's guide records the 0002-to-0008 sub-reference renumbering across the run as a cataloguing change rather than a dial-construction change. Documented at auction in the Sotheby's 2022 Important Watches lot of a c.2019 diamond-set 116506 and the Sotheby's 2024 Fine Watches lot of a late-production diamond-marker example.
|-
| 116506-0004 || Arabic-Indic numerals || white-gold Eastern-Arabic numerals replace the applied indices on the standard ice-blue ground || Middle East regional execution, sold through Rolex's Gulf-region distribution. Diamond markers absent on this variant; numerals are the only deviation from the launch dial.
|}

The diamond-set bezel and pavé-dial executions of the platinum Daytona sit on a separate reference number, the [https://wristaficionado.com/products/rolex-daytona-116576tbr-platinum-ice-blue-arabic-dial-diamond-baguette-bezel-2023 116576TBR], not the 116506. The TBR carries the same 950 platinum case and ice-blue dial language but adds a baguette-diamond bezel in place of the chestnut Cerachrom and a fully diamond-paved or baguette-set dial in place of the standard or single-row diamond marker dial. That reference is its own production line and is covered separately.

==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==

The case is 950 platinum at 40mm, around 12.5mm thick, with brushed top surfaces and polished case-flank treatment. SJX's launch piece records the platinum's working properties: heavier than the steel and gold cases of the 116520 and 116528 generation, more malleable than steel, and softer to surface marking than gold. The Bexsonn launch coverage from the same week notes that Rolex finished the platinum case to the same brushed-and-polished tolerances as the steel 116520, which means the platinum reads in proportion to its sibling references rather than as a deliberately differentiated case profile. Lug geometry and case dimensions match the 40mm Daytona case Rolex had been refining since 2000.

The Cerachrom bezel is the headline material change. Rolex produces the chestnut bezel as a monobloc — the entire ring including the tachymeter graduations is a single piece of fired ceramic — with the numerals and graduations deposited as a thin layer of platinum through PVD. The chestnut hue is achieved in the firing process, not by surface treatment, which is what gives the bezel its colour stability against UV and chemical exposure. The tachymeter scale runs around the upper case, framed by the 116506's polished bezel-edge platinum casework. Logan Baker's Phillips editorial places the 116506 as the third Rolex reference to wear Cerachrom, after the GMT-Master II and the precious-metal Daytona references that received the material before the 116506's 50th-anniversary configuration.

The crystal is flat sapphire, no Cyclops, in the same proportions used across the cal-4130 Daytona line. The crown is the Triplock screw-down with three-gasket sealing, at the standard Rolex 700-series geometry. The chronograph pushers are screw-down 950 platinum and follow the same operating routine as the rest of the modern Daytona line: unscrew the pusher, operate the chronograph, screw it back down to seal the case. Water resistance is rated to 100m, consistent with every cal-4130 Daytona reference.

The aBlogtoWatch hands-on review records the on-wrist weight as the 116506's defining tactile feature — solid platinum at 40mm with a platinum bracelet is significantly heavier than the gold or two-tone references of the same generation. That weight is consistent across the production run; Rolex did not adjust the case or bracelet construction to compensate.

==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==

The bracelet is a 950 platinum Oyster, three-link, with brushed centre links and polished outer links, fitted with solid end links integral to the case. Rolex did not produce the 116506 on a strap; every example shipped on the matching platinum Oyster, and that bracelet is what gives the watch its on-wrist mass. The Sotheby's 2020 Important Watches lot of a 2013-production 116506 (case 288CN710) records the platinum Oyster as the original delivery configuration, and every subsequent Sotheby's lot of the reference confirms the same bracelet pairing.

The clasp is the modern Oysterlock with the Easylink 5mm comfort extension — the same lever-and-keeper micro-adjustment system Rolex rolled across the cal-4130 Daytona line in the early 2000s, executed here in 950 platinum. The Glidelock toolless extension that arrived on the ceramic Submariner generation in 2010 never crossed onto the Daytona; Easylink remains the only on-bracelet adjustment the 116506 ever offered. The Rubber B comparison of the 116506 to the 126506 records the clasp as one of the architectural changes between the two generations: the 126506 reworked the Oysterlock mechanism, which leaves the 116506 as the last platinum Daytona with the older clasp design.

The platinum Oyster bracelet on the 116506 is a single fitment across the production run. Sotheby's lot descriptions, the Fratello launch coverage, and Rubber B's generation-comparison piece all describe the same platinum Oyster on every documented example. End-link references and clasp date codes follow the modern Daytona conventions catalogued at [[Reference:Bracelets]].

The 116506 bracelet reference to record is 78596, not the steel Daytona 78590. Some warranty cards show the bracelet reference, and the platinum folding clasp carries platinum-specific hallmarks, including the St. Bernard head, a balance mark, and 950PT alloy marking. Gold and platinum deliveries also used the larger Rolex presentation box rather than the smaller steel-model box, so box size is a period-and-material clue rather than a proof of any particular sub-reference.

==Special branches==

Three production sub-variants are documented across the 116506 run, all variations on the standard ice-blue dial rather than reference-level departures: the launch 0001 (no diamonds), the diamond-marker 0002 / 0008 (baguette diamonds at the indices), and the Middle East 0004 (Arabic-Indic numerals). All three carry the same 950 platinum case and bracelet, the same chestnut Cerachrom monobloc bezel, and the same caliber 4130. The Sotheby's 2022 lot of a c.2019 diamond-set 116506 is the public-record anchor for the 0008 in the auction circuit, and the Sotheby's 2024 Fine Watches lot of a late-production diamond-marker example documents the variant carrying through to the wind-down.

The 116576TBR is the platinum Daytona's diamond-bezel sibling — pavé dial, baguette-diamond bezel in place of the Cerachrom — and it sits on its own reference number rather than as a 116506 sub-variant. Treat it as a related platinum Daytona rather than a 116506 special branch.

Double-signed and retailer-engraved 116506 examples have surfaced occasionally, but the reference's high retail and the 950 platinum mass kept the special-order branch narrow. Production volumes for any of the sub-references are not published by Rolex, and no collector census has surfaced.

==Auction record==

The 116506 entered the auction record at the same Geneva sale where Rolex marked the Daytona's fiftieth anniversary in public.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! sale !! date !! lot detail !! result
|-
| Christie's, "Lesson One", Geneva || 10 November 2013 || lot 50, 'The Nine-Fifty Tribute', full-set; estimate CHF 80,000-120,000 || hammer CHF 197,000 (approx. USD 217,000 at the day's rate). The first 116506 to cross an auction block; placed the platinum Daytona at roughly twice its retail on the day it became publicly tradeable. Per Watchonista and JX Su (SJX).
|-
| Sotheby's Important Watches || 2020 || case 288CN710, c.2013 production, standard 116506-0001 with full-set documentation || Anchors the early-production ice-blue / chestnut configuration in the auction record.
|-
| Sotheby's Important Watches || 2021 || brand-new 116506 with full-set documentation; estimate USD 100,000-150,000 || Sold during the Daytona allocation-premium peak.
|-
| Sotheby's Important Watches I || 2022 || c.2019 116506 with baguette-diamond markers (sub-reference 0008) || Anchors the diamond-set ice-blue variant in the auction record.
|-
| Sotheby's Fine Watches || 2024 || late-production diamond-marker 116506 || Documents the variant carrying through to the 2023 discontinuation.
|}

The 116506 has not produced an auction headline at the scale of the manual-wind exotic-dial 6263 results or the Albino, Unicorn, and JPS singletons that anchor the vintage Daytona record.

Phillips' retrospective also notes that the Lesson One result did not immediately reset the model's market the way many hype auctions do. Interest was comparatively slow in the first years after launch, then strengthened as Rolex added the diamond-marker executions and the platinum Daytona became easier to recognise as its own line rather than a one-off anniversary gesture. What it has produced is a steady mid-six-figure to high-six-figure auction line through the 2013-2024 window, with the diamond-marker examples consistently lifting toward USD 200,000-plus on full-set provenance. Buyers entering the secondary market are pricing the 116506 against the 126506 successor's retail rather than against the manual-wind vintage line.

==Sources==

* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* [https://www.phillips.com/article/117303084/the-rolex-cosmograph-daytona-ref-116506-the-anniversary-watch-that-was-so-much-more Logan Baker, "The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 116506: The Anniversary Watch That Was So Much More", Phillips]
* [https://watchesbysjx.com/2013/04/baselworld-2013-introducing-the-rolex-daytona-in-platinum-with-ceramic-bezel-and-glacier-blue-dial-ref-116506-with-specs-and-price.html JX Su, "Baselworld 2013: Introducing the Rolex Daytona in Platinum with Ceramic Bezel and Glacier Blue Dial ref. 116506", SJX Watches, 2013-04]
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/baselworld-2013-rolex-daytona-ref-116506-platinum/ Robert-Jan Broer, "Baselworld 2013 - Rolex Daytona Ref. 116506 Platinum", Fratello Watches, 2013-04]
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/hands-on-old-and-new-rolex-daytona-in-platinum/ "Hands-On With Two Of The Most Desired Watches In The World: The Old And The New Rolex Daytona In Platinum", Fratello Watches]
* [https://www.ablogtowatch.com/rolex-daytona-platinum-watch-hands-on-an-homage-to-paul-newman/ "Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116506 In Platinum Hands-On: An Homage To Paul Newman?", aBlogtoWatch]
* [https://www.bexsonn.com/platinum-rolex-daytona/ "The Platinum Rolex Daytona 116506 - Post Basel World 2013", Bexsonn]
* [https://rubberb.com/blog/rolex-daytona-platinum-ref-116506-vs-126506/ "Rolex Daytona Platinum Ref 116506 Vs 126506", Rubber B]
* [https://www.watchonista.com/articles/closer-look/rolex-daytona-lesson-one-historical-auction "Rolex Daytona Lesson One: An Historical Auction", Watchonista]
* [https://watchesbysjx.com/2013/11/spectacular-results-at-christies-rolex-daytona-lesson-one-auction-in-geneva-including-a-million-dollar-paul-newman.html JX Su, "Spectacular results at Christie's Rolex Daytona Lesson One auction in Geneva, including a million dollar Paul Newman", SJX Watches, 2013-11]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/important-watches/rolex-cosmograph-daytona-reference-116506-a "Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, Reference 116506 - A Platinum Chronograph Wristwatch with Cerachrom Bezel and Bracelet, Circa 2013", Sotheby's, 2020]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/important-watches/rolex-cosmograph-daytona-reference-116506-a-brand "Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, Reference 116506, A Brand New Platinum Wristwatch", Sotheby's, 2021]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/important-watches-i-2/cosmograph-daytona-reference-116506-a-platinum-and "Cosmograph Daytona, Reference 116506 - A Platinum and Diamond-Set Chronograph Wristwatch with Bracelet, Circa 2019", Sotheby's, 2022]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/fine-watches/daytona-reference-116506-montre-bracelet "Daytona, Reference 116506 - Montre bracelet chronographe en platine", Sotheby's, 2024]
* [https://www.41watch.com/en/journal/buyers-guides/rolex-daytona-platinum-review "Rolex Daytona Platinum: Discovering the ref. 116506 and 126506", 41Watch]
* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=766941 "Nearing Discontinued Production of Platinum Daytona 116506", RolexForums, 2023]
* [https://calibercorner.com/rolex-caliber-4130/ "Rolex Caliber 4130 Watch Movement", Caliber Corner]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-daytona-chronograph-1963-in-depth-review/ Erik Slaven, "In-Depth: The History of the Rolex Daytona, The Emblematic Racing Chronograph", Monochrome, 2024-12-20]

[[Category:Daytona]]
[[Category:Working Draft]]

User talk:Admin

2026-05-30T07:58:42Z

Klaudiusz: Pending audit edit on Reference:116505 (proposal #26) needs review

Reference:116505

2026-05-30T07:58:42Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #26 ref=116505 agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout,bar_raiser (FlaggedRevs pending review)

{{#seo:
|title=Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116505 — BezelBase
|description=Rolex Daytona 116505: the first Everose-gold Daytona, 2008–2023. 40mm Everose Oyster case, engraved Everose tachymeter bezel, caliber 4130, dial branches across chocolate, black, ivory, sundust, and meteorite.
|keywords=Rolex 116505, Daytona Everose, Cosmograph Daytona, caliber 4130, chocolate dial, sundust dial, meteorite dial, Easylink, Oysterlock
|type=article
}}

[[Reference:daytona|Daytona]] -> '''116505'''

The 116505 is the first Daytona made entirely in Rolex's Everose gold. Launched at Baselworld 2008, it shares the cal 4130 architecture and 40mm Oyster case profile of the steel 116520 and full-yellow-gold 116528, finished in the warm pink alloy Rolex patented in 2005 to keep rose-gold colour stable across the life of the watch. Production ran fifteen years on a single reference number before the cal 4131 successor 126505 took over in early 2023.

What sets the 116505 apart from its yellow-gold and Rolesor siblings is dial breadth. The Everose case carries a wider catalogue of dial colours and stone treatments than any other cal 4130 generation Daytona — chocolate, black, ivory, sundust pink, and (from 2021) meteorite, with diamond-marker and baguette variants layered onto each base. The watch sits between the engraved-bezel 116528 yellow gold and the Cerachrom-bezel 116515LN as the engraved-Everose option of the modern Daytona line.

[[File:Ref 116505 hero.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Daytona 116505 in Everose gold|116505 in brushed Everose gold with black dial, formerly in the collection of Eric Clapton CBE. Sotheby's Important Watches 2021, lot 2068.]]

==Core facts==

{| class="wikitable"
! detail !! value
|-
| reference || 116505
|-
| family || Daytona (Cosmograph, automatic)
|-
| production || 2008–2023 (fifteen years)
|-
| case || 40mm, 18k Everose gold
|-
| crystal || flat sapphire, no Cyclops
|-
| bezel || engraved 18k Everose gold tachymeter, fixed
|-
| crown || Triplock screw-down, Everose gold
|-
| movement || Rolex caliber 4130, in-house, COSC
|-
| frequency || 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
|-
| power reserve || 72 hours
|-
| jewels || 44
|-
| water resistance || 100m / 330ft
|-
| bracelet || 18k Everose gold Oyster, SEL
|-
| clasp || Oysterlock with Easylink 5mm comfort extension
|-
| siblings || 116520 (steel), 116528 (yellow gold), 116523 (Rolesor), 116519 (white gold, leather)
|-
| successor || 126505 (cal 4131, 2023, out of scope)
|}

==Where it sits in the line==

The 116505 is the engraved-Everose-bezel chronograph in the cal 4130 generation. It launched in 2008, eight years into the cal 4130 production run that started with the 116520. Yellow-gold and Rolesor versions on Oyster bracelets had carried the in-house movement since 2000; the 116505 added pink to the catalogue without changing the case profile or the movement.

The reference holds the same case, bracelet, and movement architecture as the [[Reference:116528|116528]] yellow-gold Daytona — same 40mm Oyster shell, same screw-down pushers, same engraved metal tachymeter bezel, same 78509 / Everose-cast SEL Oyster bracelet — finished in the 2005 Everose alloy. Rolex describes Everose as a copper-rich rose-gold variant stabilised by a small platinum addition that prevents the copper-driven colour fade typical of conventional rose-gold alloys, cast in Rolex's own foundry rather than bought in.

The Cerachrom-bezel Everose Daytona [[Reference:116515LN|116515LN]] launched alongside the 116505 in 2011, and the two ran in parallel for twelve years. The 116505 is the engraved-bezel option for buyers who wanted the same case and movement without the ceramic insert. The 2023 [[Reference:126505|126505]] (cal 4131) replaced both the engraved-bezel 116505 and the engraved-bezel 116528 with a single thinner-cased successor; the 116505 is therefore the last engraved-Everose Daytona Rolex made.

==Production outline==

Production runs 2008 to early 2023 — fifteen years on a single reference number. The reference launched at Baselworld 2008 with chocolate, black, and ivory dials documented at introduction. Sundust (a soft pink lacquer) appeared in the catalogue alongside the launch dials within the early production window. Meteorite, the slate-grey iron-nickel mineral dial Rolex had used on Day-Date and earlier Daytona references, joined the 116505 catalogue in 2021 — late in the run, alongside the parallel meteorite rollout on the 116515LN, 116518LN, and 116519LN.

The serial format on the 116505 is the random alphanumeric system that Rolex moved to in mid-2010, applied across the entire catalogue. Every 116505 from 2010 onward carries an eight-character random serial; only the earliest two years of production (2008–mid-2010) carry the conventional letter-prefix serial. See [[Reference:Serial-numbers]] for the full key.

The lume across the run is Chromalight blue rather than the cream-to-white Super-Luminova that bracketed the 116520 production. Chromalight had rolled across the modern Rolex catalogue by 2008 and the 116505 carries it from launch.

==Movement notes==

Caliber 4130 sits inside every 116505 — the same first-in-house Rolex chronograph that launched on the 116520 in 2000. Vertical-clutch chronograph coupling, column-wheel start-stop-reset switching, 72-hour power reserve, 44 jewels, 28,800 vph, COSC certification, blue Parachrom hairspring on production from around 2005 onward. Hour and minute counters share a single side of the movement; mainspring replacement does not require uncasing.

By the Everose launch the 4130 was a mature movement: the blue Parachrom hairspring was already standard and the architecture was familiar to Rolex service departments. Revolution notes the 201-part layout, well below the El Primero-based 4030, and the vertical clutch that lets the chronograph run without the amplitude penalty of a lateral clutch. That matters on a gold Daytona, since many are worn as everyday watches rather than stored as fragile variants.

The 116505 runs the Rolex Superlative Chronometer specification across its production span. Rolex redefined its Superlative Chronometer certification in 2015 around a −2/+2 seconds-per-day casing standard and a five-year guarantee; late 116505 production, including the 2021 meteorite executions, falls under that modern certification language.

For the full caliber lineage and the architecture comparison with the predecessor cal 4030, see [[Reference:Movements#cal-4130]].

==Dial map==

The 116505 has a broader dial catalogue than any other cal 4130 generation Daytona. The Everose case invited colour and stone variations that the steel 116520 never received and that the yellow-gold 116528 only partially shares. The variants below are the configurations documented in Rolex catalogue editorial across the production run.

{| class="wikitable"
! Variant !! Period !! Distinguishing features
|-
| Chocolate || 2008–2023 || Warm dark-brown lacquer base; black sub-dial rings on the most common -0013 / -CHOCBKI variant; applied gold five-minute markers; reads as the signature 116505 dial colour and the most-photographed configuration in the auction record
|-
| Black || 2008–2023 || Black lacquer base with pink (Everose-tone) sub-dial rings; applied gold markers; carries the red Daytona script above the six o'clock sub-register on most production
|-
| Ivory || 2008–2023 || Off-white cream lacquer base with three sub-dials in the same ivory tone; applied gold markers; runs the entire production span
|-
| Sundust (pink) || ~2009–2023 || Soft pink-rose lacquer base; black or matching-tone sub-dials depending on suffix code; reads as the "rose on rose" configuration that defines a portion of the late-production market
|-
| Meteorite || 2021–2023 || Slate-grey Gibeon-meteorite mineral base showing the natural Widmanstätten crystal pattern; applied gold markers; introduced 2021 alongside the parallel meteorite rollout on 116508 / 116509 / 116515LN / 116518LN / 116519LN
|-
| Diamond-marker variants || 2008–2023 || Applied diamond hour markers on chocolate, black, ivory, sundust, or meteorite base; documented across the production run rather than on a single sub-period
|-
| Baguette-marker variants || 2008–2023 || Baguette-cut diamond markers replacing the standard applied gold markers; appears on chocolate, black, sundust and ivory bases in catalogue text
|}

The white mother-of-pearl dial documented on the 116509 white-gold Daytona did not formally enter the 116505 catalogue. The catalogue overlap between the gold Daytonas of the 4130 generation is broad but not total, and the 116505's dial branches are the ones above.

==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==

The 116505 case is 40mm in 18k Everose gold — the same nameplate dimension as the steel 116520 and the yellow-gold 116528. Lug-to-lug and case thickness track the rest of the cal 4130 generation. Whether the gold case runs to the marketed 40mm or carries the same machining tolerance offset that puts the steel 116520 at a measured 38.5mm is not separately documented; gold and platinum cases in Rolex's modern catalogue generally run closer to the marketed figure than the steel forgings.

The bezel is engraved 18k Everose gold with the tachymeter scale machined into the metal. There is no insert, no ceramic, no PVD-printed scale — the numerals and graduations are cut directly into the bezel surface, the same engraved-bezel architecture the 116520 and 116528 carry. Cerachrom did not arrive on the Everose Daytona until the parallel 116515LN launched in 2011. Buyers who wanted ceramic on the Everose case had to cross to the LN reference; the 116505 stays engraved across its full run.

The crystal is flat sapphire with no Cyclops, the running-seconds sub-dial sits at six o'clock, and the Triplock crown handles 100m water resistance. Screw-down chronograph pushers sit on either side of the crown. The pushers must be unscrewed before the chronograph can be started — the cal 4130 generation's standing trade-off for the case's water rating, identical across steel, gold, and Everose variants.

==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==

The bracelet is the 18k Everose gold Oyster SEL — solid end links integral to the first link rather than a separable stamped piece, machined entirely in Everose gold. The bracelet is the gold-cast parallel to the steel 78490 that carried the 116520 across its run; the 116505's gold bracelet reference number is documented in the boxed-set paper rather than on the bracelet itself, and auction catalogue text generally identifies the bracelet by material rather than by reference number.

The clasp is the modern Oysterlock with the Easylink 5mm comfort extension — the lever-and-keeper micro-extension Rolex added to the cal 4130 generation around 2002–2003. Every 116505 carries Easylink from launch; the early-production Oysterlock-without-Easylink configuration that defines a small share of 116520 / 116528 production never reached the Everose reference. The clasp blade carries a year code per the Millenary Watches key — single letter through 2010, three-character random alphanumeric from 2011 — and on SEL bracelets the date code, part number, and Rolex crown are stamped into the underside of the end link itself rather than the clasp blade alone. See [[Reference:Bracelets]] for the full date-code key.

The Daytona never adopted the Glidelock micro-extension Rolex rolled onto the Submariner-line clasps in 2010. Easylink remains the only on-bracelet adjustment the 116505 ever offered.

The bracelet finishing follows the standard modern precious-metal Daytona formula: brushed outer links, polished centre links, and a polished clasp cover. The presentation is dressier than the steel 116520, though the clasp keeps the same Oysterlock and Easylink hardware.

==Special branches==

The 116505 does not carry the kind of single-artifact provenance lots that anchor the 16520 (Newman), 6263 (RCO / Big Red), or 116528 (Clapton). What it has instead is a documented dial-variant programme — chocolate, black, ivory, sundust, meteorite, with diamond and baguette layered on each — that Rolex used the Everose case to differentiate the reference from the engraved yellow-gold 116528.

The meteorite-dial 116505 is the headline late-run variant. Rolex introduced meteorite dials across the cal 4130 generation gold Daytonas in 2021 — 116505 alongside 116508, 116509, 116515LN, 116518LN, and 116519LN — and the variant ran for two production years before the 2023 cal 4131 transition. The Gibeon-meteorite mineral base shows the natural Widmanstätten crystal pattern; no two examples are identical. The variant carries a documented secondary-market premium over the lacquer-dial 116505.

The meteorite branch also splits the bezel and bracelet across the 2021 release. The white-gold 116519LN paired a black Cerachrom bezel with Oysterflex, while the yellow-gold 116508 and Everose 116505 kept engraved metal bezels and Oyster bracelets. The 116505 meteorite is therefore the full-metal Everose execution of the late-run meteorite programme.

Tiffany & Co. and other retailer-double-signed 116505 examples have not surfaced in the public auction record at the volume that defines the earlier 16528 generation. By the late 2000s the retailer dial-signing programme that produced the documented Tiffany Daytonas of the 1980s and 1990s had largely ended at most of the historical partners; the 116505 sits on the post-programme side of that transition.

==Historical market and auction record==

The 116505 trades primarily through dealer and private channels rather than at major auction. Sotheby's, Christie's, and Phillips have catalogued individual 116505 lots across the production span, with chocolate-dial and meteorite-dial examples carrying the strongest bids. The reference does not host the kind of headline single-artifact record that defines the vintage Daytona market; collected-on-material-and-movement-terms is the working frame.

Specific lot results vary year to year and are best read in current auction catalogues rather than fixed in a static article.

==Sources==

* [https://www.rolex.com/watchmaking/features/materials/everose "Everose - Materials, Watchmaking Features", Rolex]
* [https://millenarywatches.com/what-is-rolex-everose-gold-a-complete-guide/ "What is Rolex Everose Gold? A Complete Guide", Millenary Watches]
* [https://millenarywatches.com/rolex-caliber-4130/ "Rolex Caliber 4130 Complete Guide", Millenary Watches]
* [https://calibercorner.com/rolex-caliber-4130/ "Rolex Caliber 4130 Watch Movement", CaliberCorner]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-daytona-chronograph-1963-in-depth-review/ Erik Slaven, "In-Depth: The History of the Rolex Daytona, The Emblematic Racing Chronograph", Monochrome, 2024-12-20]
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a-vintage-watch-nerds-critical-dissection-of-the-rolex-daytona-past-to-present-part-33 Paul Boutros, "In-Depth: A Vintage Watch Nerd's Critical Dissection of the Rolex Daytona, Past to Present (Part 3/3)", Hodinkee, 2013-03]
* [https://revolutionwatch.com/a-movement-in-history-the-zenith-driven-rolex-daytona/ Ross Povey, "A Movement in History: The Zenith-driven Rolex Daytona", Revolution Watch, 2018-09-03]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/vintage-rolex-daytona-the-gold-standard Karyn Orrico, "Vintage Rolex Daytona: The Gold Standard", Sotheby's, 2024-12-17]
* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* [https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/ David Boettcher, "Vintage Watch Straps — Rolex bracelet and clasp reference", vintagewatchstraps.com, 2026-04-18]
* [https://www.watchguys.com/pages/rolex-daytona-116505-review "Rolex Daytona 116505 Review: A Daytona Complete Guide", WatchGuys]
* [https://www.ablogtowatch.com/hands-on-rolex-daytona-chronograph-watches-with-mother-of-pearl-dials-and-diamond-bezels/ "Hands-On: Rolex Daytona Chronograph Watches With Mother-Of-Pearl Dials And Diamond Bezels", aBlogToWatch]
* [https://www.jaztime.com/rolex/daytona/meteorite "All Meteorite Dial - Rolex Daytona Chronograph Watches", Jaztime]

[[Category:Daytona]]
[[Category:Working Draft]]

User talk:Admin

2026-05-30T07:58:41Z

Klaudiusz: Pending audit edit on Reference:116500LN (proposal #25) needs review

Reference:116500LN

2026-05-30T07:58:41Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #25 ref=116500LN agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout,bar_raiser (FlaggedRevs pending review)

{{#seo:
|title=Rolex 116500LN Daytona — Production, Dial Variants, Serial Ranges | BezelBase
|description=The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116500LN — the ceramic-bezel steel Daytona produced from 2016 to 2023. Black-bezel, white-dial Panda and inverse Black-dial Panda variants, caliber 4130, the reference that inherited the long-run 116520 spot.
|keywords=Rolex, 116500LN, Daytona, Cosmograph, Panda, ceramic bezel, caliber 4130, reference guide
|image=Ref 116500LN hero panda.webp
|image_alt=116500LN Panda hero
|type=article
|og_type=article
|published_time=2026-04-19T23:41:31Z
|modified_time=2026-04-29T02:45:51Z
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
}}

[[File:Ref 116500LN hero panda.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=116500LN Panda hero|Panda 116500LN]]

The <code>116500LN</code> is the steel ceramic Daytona, produced from 2016 to 2023. Two dials, one movement, one bracelet. The reference is best known not for what it changed mechanically but for what it did to the secondary market: a seven-year run during which authorized-dealer allocation became the defining story of modern Rolex retail.

==Core facts==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| <code>116500LN</code>
|-
| family
| Daytona
|-
| production
| 2016 to 2023; succeeded by 126500LN in March 2023
|-
| movement
| caliber 4130
|-
| case
| 40mm 904L Oystersteel, about 12.2mm thick, screw-down pushers
|-
| crystal
| sapphire, flat, no Cyclops
|-
| water resistance
| 100m
|-
| bezel
| Cerachrom monobloc ceramic, black tachymeter with platinum PVD numerals
|-
| bracelet
| Oyster with Oysterlock and Easylink 5mm toolless extension
|-
| lume
| Chromalight
|-
| dials
| white with black subdials ("Panda", 116500LN-0001) or black with grey-silver subdials (116500LN-0002)
|-
| launch price
| CHF 11,800 / EUR 11,300 / USD about 12,400
|-
| predecessor
| <code>116520</code>
|-
| successor
| <code>126500LN</code> (40mm, caliber 4131)
|}

==Where it sits in the line==
[[File:Ref 116500LN generation-compare.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=116500LN and 126500LN side by side|116500LN and 126500LN Panda side by side]]

The 116500LN replaces the 116520, which had run sixteen years on the same 40mm case, the same caliber 4130, and an aluminum tachymeter bezel that scratched and faded. On paper the change is a bezel swap. In practice the ceramic launch reset where the reference sat in the queue. Demand outran allocation almost immediately and stayed there for the full production run.

The launch was messier than the later collector shorthand suggests. At Baselworld 2016 Rolex presented the ceramic-bezel 116500LN as an addition to the line rather than a replacement, and said the steel-bezel 116520 would continue, with no stated end date for the overlap. The market treated the 116500LN as the new steel Daytona immediately, but the factory position at launch was not a clean same-day replacement.

The 126500LN took over in March 2023 with the same ceramic bezel, a slightly thinner 11.9mm case, a reworked Oysterlock clasp, and the new caliber 4131. Rolex moved the platinum PVD numerals to a reshaped bezel geometry and thinned the subdial rings, but kept the reference a 40mm steel ceramic Daytona. The 116500LN remains the choice for buyers who prefer the existing case proportions and the 4130 movement Rolex had been refining since 2000, and its market position is now frozen because production has ended.

One under-noted reason the 116500LN now has its own following is the steel Daytona case shape it preserved. The 116500LN kept the older steel-case asymmetry, with slimmer, pointier lugs on one side to balance the visual weight of the crown, guards, and screw-down pushers. The 126500LN moved the steel model to the broader, more symmetrical lug profile used across the refreshed Daytona line, and added a metal frame around the Cerachrom bezel while keeping the ceramic piece itself monobloc. That makes the 116500LN the last steel Daytona with the narrow-lug, unframed-ceramic case language.

The precious-metal siblings across the same case generation include the two-tone Rolesor 116503, the yellow gold 116508, and the white gold 116509, with ceramic-bezel variants added gradually across the generation. The 116500LN sits at the entry point of the ceramic family, the steel rollout that put Cerachrom on the lowest retail rung in the reference line.

==What changed from the 116520==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! feature
! 116520
! 116500LN
|-
| bezel
| aluminum tachymeter, engraved and painted
| Cerachrom ceramic monobloc, platinum PVD numerals
|-
| tachymeter numerals
| straight-line geometry around the bezel
| shifted to a curved-axis layout for ceramic fitment
|-
| lume
| Super-LumiNova (green glow)
| Chromalight (blue glow)
|-
| dial
| white or black with colour-matched subdials on late production, and contrasting subdials on the 2000 launch
| white with black subdials, or black with grey-silver subdials — both contrasting throughout the run
|-
| case finishing
| brushed/polished contrast retained
| same, with Oystersteel 904L unchanged
|-
| movement
| caliber 4130
| caliber 4130, unchanged
|}

The 116500LN keeps the 116520's case, movement, bracelet architecture, and most of the dial printing. What moves is the bezel material, the lume formula, and the visible treatment of the subdials. Everything else holds.

==Production outline==

The 116500LN does not carry the layered internal map that defines vintage Daytona references. Caliber 4130, the Cerachrom bezel, the Oyster bracelet, and the two dial options held constant for the full seven-year run. Year-to-year external change is narrow enough that the reference reads as a single-era production, and most editorial treats it that way.

Forum collectors have documented minor dial-printing drift across the run, but no Mark taxonomy has formed. The reference is not perfectly static from 2016 to 2023, but the variation has not crossed the threshold from supplier drift to identifiable variant.

Production end is documented variously. The most precise claim places the final 116500LN production run at 27 March 2023, coinciding with the 126500LN announcement at Watches & Wonders Geneva. Other sources round to 2023 or 2024 without a precise boundary. The conservative read is that 116500LN production ended around the March 2023 successor launch, with allocated examples continuing to reach retail into 2024.

==Movement notes==

Caliber 4130 is the first fully in-house Rolex chronograph movement. Rolex introduced it in 2000 on the 116520, and it powered every steel Daytona from that launch through the end of 116500LN production in 2023. Twenty-three years on a single chronograph caliber is exceptional by any measure.

The architecture is column wheel and vertical clutch, with a 72-hour power reserve. Nothing on the 116500LN's movement diverges from what the 116520 had already established as the modern Daytona template.

The useful 4130 point is not only that it is in-house. It simplified the Daytona chronograph architecture after the Zenith-based 4030: a longer 72-hour reserve, a full balance bridge, a free-sprung Microstella balance, the Parachrom hairspring, and service-minded construction with far fewer screw types than the preceding movement. Hodinkee's watchmaker-sourced note also points to behind-the-scenes 4130 refinements, including a hairspring protection block and playless gears in the chronograph train. Those are not visible variant markers, but they explain why the 116500LN could be mechanically static and still not feel obsolete in 2023.

The 4131 succeeded it on the 126500LN, keeping the column wheel and vertical clutch and adding the Chronergy escapement Rolex had rolled across the three-hand sport lines through the late 2010s and early 2020s. The efficiency gain shows up in real-world precision rather than power reserve, which stays at roughly 72 hours.

==Dial map==

===Panda (white dial)===

The 116500LN-0001 is the white-dial option. A silver-white lacquer base carries three black snailed subdials: the hours counter at 6, the seconds counter at 9, and the 30-minute counter at 3. Applied 18k white-gold indices, polished and filled with Chromalight, frame the subdials. A red <code>DAYTONA</code> signature arcs above the six o'clock subdial. There is no date window, consistent with the Daytona's chronograph-first layout.

Panda is collector shorthand for any dial matching a white face against contrasting dark subdials, named for the visual resemblance to the animal. Rolex does not use the term in its documentation. The white-and-black combination has been on the Daytona since the 1960s Paul Newman variants, and the 116500LN is the first steel ceramic-bezel reference to carry that layout into modern production.

===Black dial===
[[File:Ref 116500LN hero black.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=116500LN black dial|Black-dial 116500LN]]

The 116500LN-0002 is the black-dial option. Layout matches the Panda: three subdials at 6, 9, and 3, applied white-gold indices, no date. The subdials are finished in a silver-grey snailed treatment that reads as a softer contrast against the black base than the crisp black-on-white of the Panda. The <code>DAYTONA</code> signature stays red, and the minute track sits in white printing.

Market behaviour on the two dials diverges, with Panda examples consistently trading above black-dial ones. The reason has never been fully explained, but the price gap is real enough to treat as fact.

===Dial printing drift===

Forum threads track small printing differences across the run on both dial variants. Slightly thinner font weight on some mid-run bottom-line text, minor spacing adjustments in the lower-half printing, and subtle subdial-texture variations show up under macro lighting. None of these has crossed the threshold from photographed-on-some-examples to documented Mark variant, and a collector taxonomy for the 116500LN has not formed. The run reads as one long production with minor supplier drift visible only under close inspection.

==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes==

===Case===

The case is 40mm in 904L Oystersteel, about 12.2mm thick, with brushed top surfaces and polished case-flank treatment. Lug-to-lug runs at roughly 47mm, consistent with the 116520 that came before it. Rolex did not resize the case for the 116500LN, and the bezel change did not require case tooling changes. A 116520 and a 116500LN wear identically on the wrist save for the bezel material. Anyone buying the 116500LN for the ceramic alone was getting the identical case and bracelet the 116520 had carried since 2000.

===Bezel===

The Cerachrom bezel is the reason the reference exists. Rolex produces it as a monobloc ceramic piece: the entire bezel ring including the tachymeter track is a single piece of ceramic rather than a ceramic insert seated inside a steel ring. The tachymeter numerals and scale graduations are deposited through a PVD (physical vapor deposition) process using platinum, which gives them the cool grey-silver cast that distinguishes the modern ceramic bezel from an aluminum insert at any distance.

The 116500LN was not the first Daytona with Cerachrom. The ceramic Daytona bezel had already appeared on precious-metal references, including the Everose 116515LN in 2011 and the platinum 116506 in 2013. The 116500LN's importance is narrower and more commercial: it brought that material and visual language to the steel Daytona, where the waitlist pressure was already strongest.

The numerical geometry shifted from the 116520 as part of the ceramic transition. Aluminum-insert tachymeter scales sat on a flat radial layout; the 116500LN tachymeter numerals follow a subtly curved axis that matches the ceramic bezel's surface tension and firing tolerances. The change is imperceptible on a wrist shot and obvious side-by-side with a 116520.

The ceramic itself is scratch-resistant against anything shy of a diamond-edged tool and fade-proof against UV. The practical implication is that a 116500LN bezel surfaces any flaw as an impact mark, since ceramic breaks before it scratches, rather than as the progressive wear pattern an aluminum bezel accumulates.

===Crystal===

Flat sapphire, no Cyclops over the date window because the Daytona carries no date. Crystal thickness and radius match the 116520 exactly. No anti-reflective coating is specified in Rolex's published documentation.

===Crown===

Triplock screw-down with crown guards, rated with the case to 100m. The crown is identical in dimension to the 116520 crown, carrying the Rolex coronet and three dots that mark Triplock sealing.

===Pushers===

The chronograph pushers on the 116500LN are screw-down, consistent with the rest of the Daytona line since the 6263. Pusher-screw feel and travel match the 116520. Unscrewing the pushers before operating the chronograph remains the single habitual quirk of Daytona wear, and the 116500LN does not adjust it.

==Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes==

===Bracelet===

Standard Oyster, 20mm at the lugs, solid links throughout, solid end links coded into the case. The reference carries the standard modern Daytona Oyster bracelet, consistent with the 116520 in both measurement and construction.

===Clasp===

The clasp is Oysterlock with Easylink. Oysterlock is the locking safety flap Rolex uses across the modern Professional line. Easylink is the toolless 5mm micro-adjustment system: a flip-out internal tab that extends the bracelet by five millimetres in a single step. The Glidelock on the ceramic Submariner offers continuous adjustment across a larger range; Easylink is a single binary extension, so more limited in travel but faster to deploy on the wrist.

The Easylink implementation on the 116500LN is identical to the 116520, and nothing in the bracelet system changed between the two references. The 126500LN successor reworked the clasp architecture, which leaves the 116500LN as the last Daytona with the older Oysterlock mechanism.

===Packaging===

Standard Rolex green box of the 2010s-2020s era with warranty card, Superlative Chronometer tag, booklets, and hang tags. Warranty format during the 116500LN run was the credit-card-style card rather than the earlier paper card. Full-set examples in the market carry the card, tag, and both booklets; the earliest examples from 2016 may carry transitional hang-tag formatting.

==Special editions==
[[File:Ref 116500LN asprey-red.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=Asprey red-dial 116500LN|Asprey red-dial 116500LN limited edition]]

A small number of 116500LN watches left Rolex's production flow with a second dial signature or a bezel-colour swap tied to a specific retailer. The most visible is the Asprey program, a two-colour limited series of 25 pieces each delivered through Asprey's London boutique and sold from a back room rather than the retail floor. The Asprey Daytonas carry an Asprey co-signature on the dial and a colour-swapped tachymeter insert; production was tiny and Rolex's catalog never confirmed them.

Beyond Asprey, regular-production 116500LN watches have appeared with engraved casebacks for institutional customers and occasional double-signed dials for retailer anniversaries. These are personalisation layers on standard 116500LN watches rather than distinct Rolex reference variants.

==Market and collector context==

Few Rolex references have moved the secondary market the way the 116500LN did. At launch in spring 2016, grey-market dealers were selling the white dial at close to seventy percent over list within days of Baselworld. The premium compounded through the late 2010s: roughly €17,000 in 2016, €20,000 in 2018, €23,000 across 2019 and 2020, then a steep acceleration into 2021 when white-dial examples traded routinely above €30,000 and peak Chrono24 listings went past €35,000. GBP prices tracked similarly, with retail around £10,500, Q4 2021 at roughly £32,000, and peak listings at £35,000.

The reference sat at the centre of the 2020–2022 luxury-watch run-up. Authorised-dealer waitlists ran for years. Successful applicants had to show long purchase histories with the dealer, often on lesser references, before an allocation opened. Flipping was policed actively, with Rolex restricting future allocations to buyers who resold within windows set by individual dealers.

The correction from early 2023 onward brought 116500LN pricing back toward the mid-$20,000s for white-dial examples and into the low $20,000s for black-dial examples by 2024. The reference still trades well above retail, consistent with its discontinued and ceramic-era status, but the multiples-of-retail era is over. The case for buying one now rests on the watch itself: the last steel Daytona on the 40mm case, the last on the 4130 movement, and the first to carry Cerachrom.

The successor 126500LN has inherited the waitlist position without matching the secondary-market peak of its predecessor. The 116500LN is likely to be the reference collectors point to when they describe the ceramic-Daytona moment, regardless of whether the 126500LN turns out to be the objectively better watch.
==Sources==

* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/rolex-daytona-ref-116500ln-review Jack Forster, "A Week On The Wrist: The Rolex Daytona Ref. 116500LN", Hodinkee, 2020-01-01]
* [https://watchesbysjx.com/2016/03/introducing-the-rolex-daytona-in-steel-and-ceramic.html JX Su, "Introducing the Rolex Daytona in Steel with a Black Ceramic Bezel Ref. 116500LN", SJX Watches, 2016-03-16]
* [https://watchesbysjx.com/2016/06/prudent-meditations-on-the-rolex-daytona-ceramic.html JX Su, "Prudent Meditations on the Rolex Daytona Ceramic", SJX Watches, 2016-06-21]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/rolex-daytona-116500ln-steel-cerachrom-black-bezel-live-photos-price/ Frank Geelen, "Rolex Daytona 116500LN in steel with Cerachrom black bezel Hands-On", Monochrome, 2016-03-17]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/market-analysis-continous-insane-rise-in-price-of-the-rolex-daytona-116500ln/ Brice Goulard, "Market Analysis: Continuous Rise in Price of the Rolex Daytona 116500LN", Monochrome, 2021-03-05]
* [https://timeandtidewatches.com/rolex-daytona-ref-116500ln-review/ "Rolex Daytona ref. 116500LN review", Time+Tide, 2019-04-30]
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/an-owners-review-of-the-rolex-daytona-116500ln-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/ "An Owner Review Of The Rolex Daytona 116500LN", Fratello]
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/new-rolex-daytona-2016-what-changed/ "New Rolex Daytona 2016 - What Changed", Fratello, 2016-01-01]
* [https://deployant.com/review-rolex-cosmograph-daytona-116500ln/ Nick Gould, "Review: Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116500LN", Deployant, 2016-04-12]
* [https://www.ablogtowatch.com/the-definitive-guide-to-the-2023-steel-rolex-daytona-watch-vs-previous-116500ln-version/ "The Definitive Guide To The 2023 Steel Rolex Daytona Watch Vs Previous 116500LN Version", aBlogtoWatch, 2023-01-01]
* [https://oracleoftime.com/price-performance-the-rolex-daytona-cosmograph-ref-116500ln-in-2021/ "The Price Performance of the Rolex Daytona Cosmograph Ref. 116500LN in 2021", Oracle Time, 2021-12-11]
* [https://oracleoftime.com/unusual-purple-rolex-daytona-up-for-sale-at-sothebys-fine-watches-online-auction/ "Unusual Purple Rolex Daytona up for Sale at Sothebys", Oracle Time, 2023-12-04]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-116500-ln-cosmograph-daytona-lot-377-788 "Rolex Ref. 116500LN Cosmograph Daytona made by Asprey, red dial, limited edition of 25", Antiquorum Geneva, 2025-05-01]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2019/the-rolex-daytona-capsule-collection/rolex-daytona-ref-116500ln-a-stainless-steel-2 "Rolex Daytona 116500LN A Stainless Steel Capsule Collection 2019 Lot 2", Sotheby's, 2019-01-01]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/26687/lot/72/ "Rolex 116500LN Black Dial December 2021 Lot 72", Bonhams, 2021-12-01]
* [https://www.watchcollectinglifestyle.com/home/insider-rolex-cosmograph-daytona-cerachrom-bezel-ref-116500ln-hands-on-with-the-hottest-watch-of-the-summer-of-2016-already-selling-above-retail "Insider: Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Cerachrom Bezel ref. 116500LN", Watch Collecting Lifestyle, 2016-01-01]
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-blog/watch-review/rolex-daytona-116500-watch-review-guide.html "Rolex Daytona 116500LN Ultimate Collectors Guide", Bob's Watches]
* [https://www.watchguys.com/pages/rolex-daytona-panda-116500-vs-126500 "116500 vs 126500 Comparison", WatchGuys]
* [https://wristaficionado.com/blogs/news/the-ultimate-rolex-panda-daytona-buyer-s-guide-in-2025 Ripley Sellers, "The Ultimate Rolex Panda Daytona Buyer Guide in 2025", Wrist Aficionado, 2024-05-13]
* [https://rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=917431 "My few words on the 116500LN", RolexForums]
* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=551788 "116500LN White or Black?", RolexForums]
* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=560860 "116500LN Supply and Availability", RolexForums]

[[Category:Daytona]]
[[Category:Working Draft]]

User talk:Admin

2026-05-30T07:58:41Z

Klaudiusz: Pending audit edit on Reference:114270 (proposal #24) needs review

Reference:114270

2026-05-30T07:58:40Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #24 ref=114270 agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout,bar_raiser (FlaggedRevs pending review)

{{#seo:
|title=Rolex 114270 Explorer — Production, Dial Variants, Serial Ranges | BezelBase
|description=The 114270 is the Explorer that nobody noticed changing. It replaced the 14270 around 2001, upgrading the movement from caliber 3000 to caliber 3130 —…
|keywords=Rolex, 114270, Explorer, specifications, reference guide
|image=Ref 114270 hero 2.webp
|image_alt=Explorer 114270, 36mm black dial on Oyster bracelet
|type=article
|og_type=article
|published_time=2026-04-16T04:29:07Z
|modified_time=2026-04-29T02:45:48Z
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
}}

[[Reference:explorer|Explorer]] -> '''114270'''

The 114270 is the Explorer that nobody noticed changing. It replaced the 14270 around 2001, upgrading the movement from caliber 3000 to caliber 3130 — Parachrom hairspring, balance bridge, better shock and temperature resistance — and swapping folded end links for solid. Externally, it looks almost identical to the late 14270 Swiss Made. Hodinkee observed that "changes are made incrementally, and sometimes that means the only upgrades are hidden away behind a layer of steel." That is the 114270 in one sentence.

It ran for about nine years before the 214270 replaced it with the controversial 39mm case. As the last 36mm Explorer before the size change, the 114270 is gaining collector attention it never had during production.



[[File:Ref 114270 hero 2.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Explorer 114270, 36mm black dial on Oyster bracelet|Explorer 114270, 36mm black dial on Oyster bracelet]]

== Core facts ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| 114270
|-
| family
| Explorer I
|-
| production
| about 2001 to 2010 (~9 years)
|-
| movement
| caliber 3130, Parachrom hairspring, balance bridge, ~48-hour power reserve
|-
| case
| 36mm steel Oyster, 100m water resistance
|-
| crystal
| sapphire
|-
| crown
| screw-down
|-
| bezel
| flat polished steel
|-
| dial
| black lacquered, "Swiss Made" below 6 o'clock
|-
| indices
| applied 18k white gold with Super-LumiNova
|-
| numerals
| applied 18k white gold Arabic 3-6-9
|-
| hands
| Mercedes hour, baton minute, lollipop seconds
|-
| bracelet
| Oyster with solid end links
|-
| lume
| Super-LumiNova throughout
|-
| lug holes
| none
|-
| rehaut (early)
| plain
|-
| rehaut (late)
| engraved "ROLEX ROLEX ROLEX" with serial number
|-
| predecessor
| 14270
|-
| successor
| 214270
|}


== Where it sits in the line ==

The 114270 sits between the 14270 and the 214270. In practice, it sits between two much louder stories: the 14270's five dial generations and Blackout variant, and the 214270's controversial size increase. The 114270 is the quiet middle chapter — nine years of consistent production with minimal external changes.

That quietness has a cost. The 114270 spent years as a "youngtimer" — too recent for collectors, too old for the showroom. The 14270 had its Blackout breakout, the 214270 had its size controversy, and the 114270 had steady, invisible competence.

That reputation is shifting. The 124270 returned the Explorer to 36mm in 2021, implicitly validating the size the 114270 represented. As the last six-digit 36mm Explorer, the 114270 now occupies a specific historical position — the final expression of a 36mm platform before Rolex broke with it.

It ran alongside the Submariner 14060M and 16610 — sharing the same era of solid end links, engraved rehauts, and incremental refinement across the Rolex sport line.


== Production outline ==

Nine years, one caliber, minimal changes. The 114270 entered production around 2001 and ended around 2010. The only meaningful mid-production change documented so far is the addition of the engraved rehaut late in the run.

The 114270 does not have the dial generation taxonomy of the 14270. Super-LumiNova was standard from the start. The dial reads "Swiss Made" below 6 o'clock throughout. There are no lume transitions, no lug hole changes, no bracelet upgrades to track.

This consistency is the reference's defining characteristic. It is also what makes the 114270 underserved in collector literature — there is less to write about because there is less that changed.


== Movement notes ==
[[File:Ref 114270 movement.webp|thumb|right|300px|alt=Caliber 3130 — balance bridge and blue Parachrom hairspring|Caliber 3130 — balance bridge and blue Parachrom hairspring]]

Caliber 3130. The upgrade from the 14270's caliber 3000 is the real story of this reference, even though it is invisible from the outside.

The balance bridge replaces the balance cock — two-sided support for the balance wheel instead of single-sided, with better stability and shock resistance. The Parachrom Breguet overcoil hairspring, a paramagnetic alloy developed by Rolex, resists magnetic fields and temperature variation far better than the conventional Nivarox hairsprings used in the 3000. The Parachrom hairspring is blue, a visual signature of post-2000 Rolex movements.

The 3130 runs at 28,800 vph with about 48-hour power reserve, matching the 3000's frequency and power characteristics. The improvements are in precision and environmental resistance, not in the basic operating parameters.

The cleaner comparison is architectural. Caliber 3000 was already a modern high-beat automatic, but the 3130 adopts the 31xx layout: a full balance bridge in place of the 3000's balance cock, plus Microstella regulation, the construction collectors associate with later service robustness.

COSC chronometer certification appears on the dial throughout the run.


== Dial map ==
[[File:Ref 114270 hero.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Explorer 114270 — applied indices, framed 3-6-9 Arabics|Explorer 114270 — applied indices, framed 3-6-9 Arabics]]

The 114270 dial is consistent across production. Black lacquered surface, applied 18k white gold indices with Super-LumiNova fill, applied 3-6-9 Arabic numerals, "Swiss Made" below 6 o'clock. Mercedes hour hand, baton minute hand, lollipop seconds hand.

That consistency is also an authentication trap. The 114270 dial gives none of the quick generation splits a 14270 does: no Blackout dial, no tritium-to-LumiNova text change, no late single-word "Swiss" dial. On a loose or poorly photographed head, construction details do the dating rather than dial taxonomy.

The only dial-adjacent change is the rehaut. Early production carries a plain, smooth inner bezel ring. Late production is engraved with repeating "ROLEX ROLEX ROLEX" text and the serial number at 6 o'clock.

The rehaut engraving was introduced across the Rolex sport line in the mid-2000s as an anti-counterfeiting measure. On the Submariner 16610, this happened around 2005. The exact serial band for the 114270 rehaut transition is not firmly pinned.

The visual similarity to the late 14270 Swiss Made is striking. Without checking the end links (folded vs. solid), the movement (3000 vs. 3130), or the rehaut (late 114270 only), the two references are difficult to distinguish. By design: Rolex's incremental approach meant the 114270 inherited the 14270's settled aesthetic and changed only what sat behind the dial.


== Case, bezel, crystal, and crown ==

The case carries forward the 36mm Oyster platform. Flat polished bezel, sapphire crystal without Cyclops, screw-down crown. 100m water resistance.

The exterior dimensions and finishing are virtually unchanged from the late 14270. No lug holes — these were already removed on the 14270 around 1994. The case material and finishing (brushed lug tops, polished sides) continue the established pattern.

The 114270 carries the Laser Etched Crown (LEC) — the tiny Rolex coronet visible at six o'clock under a loupe — on examples produced from approximately 2002 onward. Late-production 114270s also carry the engraved rehaut: the inner-bezel flange laser-engraved with repeating Rolex coronets and the case serial. The rehaut engraving rolled out across the Rolex sport line during 2005–2008, so a late-period 114270 (post-2005) carries both the LEC and the engraved rehaut. Pre-2002 examples have a plain sapphire crystal and a smooth rehaut.


== Bracelets, end links, and clasps ==

The bracelet upgrade is the most visible external change from the 14270. Solid end links replace the 14270's folded 558B end links. The difference is immediately tactile — the bracelet sits heavier and more rigidly against the case, with the end links filling the lug gap completely rather than leaving the slight flex and play of the stamped construction.

The bracelet is the Oyster 78690 with 558B solid end-links — the SEL upgrade that distinguishes the 114270 from the 14270 (which carried the same 558B end-links in the older hollow-stamped construction on bracelet reference 78790). The clasp is an Oysterlock folding type, matching the era's standard across the Rolex sport line.

The solid end link upgrade on the 114270 parallels the same change on the Submariner line, where the 16610 transitioned from stamped to solid end links around 2001. The Explorer and Submariner moved in lockstep on this specification.

== Sources ==

=== Editorial ===

* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-explorer-from-1953-36mm-1016-14270-114270-214270-124270-in-depth-review/ The History of the Rolex Explorer] — Frank Geelen (Monochrome)
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/rolex-explorer-114270-perfect-youngtimer-watch-vintage-corner/ Rolex Explorer 114270 — A Perfect Youngtimer Watch] (Monochrome)
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/rolex-explorer-reference-points A Comprehensive Collector's Guide to the Rolex Explorer I] — Jon Bues (Hodinkee, 2018)
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/rolex-explorer-i-reference-114270/ Rolex Explorer I Reference 114270] (Fratello)
* [https://www.rescapement.com/blog/rolex-explorer-reference-114270 Rolex Explorer Reference 114270] (Rescapement)
* [https://revolutionwatch.com/exploring-the-rolex-explorer/ Exploring the Rolex Explorer] — Wei Koh (Revolution)
* [https://www.swisswatchexpo.com/thewatchclub/2018/11/14/rolex-explorer-114270-buying-guide/ Rolex Explorer 114270 Buying Guide]
* [https://rolexpassionreport.com/15606/the-evolution-of-rolex-luminous/ The Evolution of Rolex Luminous] — Philipp Stahl (Rolex Passion Report)

=== Specialist registries ===

* [https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-blog/rolex-info/rolex-explorer.html Rolex Explorer Guide] (editorial)
* [https://watchbase.com/rolex/explorer/114270 Rolex Explorer 114270 reference page] (Watchbase)
* [https://millenarywatches.com/rolex-explorer-114270/ Rolex Explorer 114270 Complete Guide] (Millenary Watches)
* [https://millenarywatches.com/rolex-bracelet-reference-numbers/ Rolex Bracelet Reference Numbers Guide] (Millenary Watches)
* [https://watch-collector.co.uk/rolex-bracelet-end-link-codes/ Rolex Bracelet End Link Codes] (The Watch-Collector Leeds)
* [https://beckertime.com/blog/rolex-caliber-3130/ The Rolex Caliber 3130] (Beckertime)
* [https://www.blackbird-watchmanual.com/manual/icons/the-rolex-explorer-reference-14270-114270/ The Rolex Explorer Reference 14270 & 114270] (Blackbird Watch Manual)

=== Auction lots ===

* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/fine-watches-10/reference-114270-explorer-a-stainless-steel Reference 114270 Explorer — Sotheby's Fine Watches] (Sotheby's, 2022)
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-114270-explorer Rolex Ref. 114270 Explorer — Antiquorum] (Antiquorum)
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/explorer-114270/ Rolex Explorer 114270 — Bonhams] (Bonhams)
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/explorer-114270 Rolex Explorer 114270 — Phillips] (Phillips)
* [https://everywatch.com/rolex/explorer/114270 EveryWatch Reference 114270 aggregate index] (EveryWatch)

=== Books ===

* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White (Morning Tundra). ISBN 978-0-578-63082-3
* ''The Best of Time: Rolex Wristwatches — An Unauthorized History'' — James M. Dowling and Jeffrey P. Hess (Schiffer Publishing, 3rd edition)

[[Category:Explorer]]
[[Category:Working Draft]]

User talk:Admin

2026-05-30T07:58:40Z

Klaudiusz: Pending audit edit on Reference:114200 (proposal #23) needs review

Reference:114200

2026-05-30T07:58:39Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #23 ref=114200 agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout,bar_raiser (FlaggedRevs pending review)

{{#seo:
|title=Rolex 114200 Air-King — First COSC-Certified Air-King, Cal 3130 | BezelBase
|description=The 114200 is the first chronometer-rated Air-King — 2007 to 2014, 34mm steel Oyster, Cal 3130 with Parachrom hairspring. Engraved rehaut, concentric "wave" dial palette in multiple colors, Domino's Pizza 114200 documented at Christie's. Closes the 34mm Air-King chapter before the 116900 redesign.
|keywords=Rolex, 114200, Air-King, COSC chronometer, Cal 3130, concentric wave dial, engraved rehaut
|image=Ref 114200 hero.webp
|image_alt=Rolex 114200 Air-King silver concentric dial
|type=article
|og_type=article
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
}}

[[Reference:air-king|Air-King]] -> '''114200'''

The 114200 is the modern Air-King. 2007 launch at Baselworld, 2014 retirement, 34mm steel Oyster on Cal 3130 with the Parachrom hairspring. The 114200 is also the first chronometer-rated Air-King in the line's history. Every prior Air-King — the 4925, the 6552, the 5500, the 14000, the 14000M — ran sub-COSC; the dials read "PRECISION" or "SUPER PRECISION" rather than carrying chronometer certification. The 114200 changes that. The dial reads "SUPERLATIVE CHRONOMETER OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED," and the Air-King line finally crosses into the chronometer tier the broader Rolex catalogue had been on for decades.

The 114200 also introduces the concentric "wave" dial palette that becomes the reference's most-collected hallmark — multi-color concentric circles radiating from the center, available in silver, black, blue, green, salmon, white, and champagne, with applied stick markers, 3-6-9 Explorer Arabic numerals, Roman numerals, or full Arabic numerals at every hour depending on the configuration. The dial menu is the widest the Air-King line ever ran. The 114200 is also the last 34mm Air-King; the 2016 116900 redesign goes to 40mm with a pilot-watch dial language and a green seconds hand, and editorial generally treats it as a reset of the line rather than a continuation.



[[File:Ref 114200 hero.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 114200 Air-King silver concentric dial|Rolex Air-King 114200, silver concentric "wave" dial, c.2010]]

== Core facts ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| 114200 (engine-turned bezel sister: 114210; white-gold-bezel sibling: 114234)
|-
| family
| Air-King
|-
| common name
| "the modern Air-King," "the COSC Air-King," "the concentric Air-King"
|-
| production
| 2007–2014; replaced after a 2-year gap by 116900 (2016, 40mm redesign)
|-
| case
| 34mm × ~11.6mm × 41.7mm L2L stainless steel Oyster, smooth bezel, 19mm non-drilled lugs
|-
| crystal
| sapphire
|-
| crown
| Twinlock screw-down
|-
| movement
| Cal 3130, automatic, 28,800 vph, ~48h reserve, hack feature, Parachrom hairspring; jewel count contested (Slaven/Monochrome and Robb Report: 31; Siems/Goldammer: 27)
|-
| chronometer
| yes — first COSC-certified Air-King; dial reads "SUPERLATIVE CHRONOMETER OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED"
|-
| rehaut
| engraved with repeating "ROLEX ROLEX ROLEX" + serial number, post-2005 Rolex convention; present on 114200 from launch
|-
| water resistance
| 100m
|-
| bracelet
| 78350 19mm Oyster with 557B solid end-links, 904L steel
|-
| caseback
| screw-down threaded Oyster, smooth exterior
|-
| predecessor
| 14000M (2000–2006, Cal 3130 without engraved rehaut, non-COSC)
|-
| successor
| 116900 (2016, 40mm pilot redesign — outside pre-2020 collector window for many editorial frames)
|}


== Where it sits in the line ==

The 114200 is the closing reference in the 34mm Air-King chapter that runs from 4925 (1945) through 6552 (1953) and 5500 (1957) into the sapphire-crystal modern era at 14000 (1989) and 14000M (2000). Across that 70-year run the case envelope stays at 34mm, the dial text alternates between "AIR-KING" and "OYSTER PERPETUAL," and the movement steps from manual-wind to bidirectional-rotor to high-beat. The 114200 finishes the chapter with the upgrade the Air-King had never received: chronometer certification.

Sister references on the same no-date Cal. 3130 architecture include the 14060M no-date Submariner, which gained COSC dial text in later production, and the 114270 Explorer. The 14270 Explorer belongs to the earlier Cal. 3000 generation, and the Yacht-Master date references use different movement architecture. The Cal 3130 itself runs across the Rolex time-only catalogue from 1999 / 2000 into 2018, replaced by the Cal 3230 generation. The 114200 sits in the same architectural moment as those siblings — engraved rehaut, COSC certification, Parachrom hairspring on later production.

The 114200 also shares its case middle with two Air-King contemporaries that some treat as separate references and some treat as 114200 sub-variants. The 114210 is the engine-turned-bezel sister; same 34mm case, same Cal 3130, same dial palette, fluted bezel rather than smooth. The 114234 is the white-gold-bezel sibling; 34mm steel case with a fluted white-gold bezel set into the case middle, same Cal 3130. Both run in parallel with the 114200 across 2007–2014; the 114200 is the steel-only pure-Air-King reference.

The transition to the 116900 in 2016 is treated by most editorial as a reset rather than a continuation. The 116900 jumps to 40mm, adopts a pilot-watch dial language (3 / 6 / 9 Arabic numerals, green seconds hand, Faraday-cage anti-magnetic shield, "AIR-KING" in stylized typography), and reads as a new Air-King design language rather than as a refinement of the 114200's case. The 114200 is the last 34mm Air-King.


== Production outline ==

The 2007 introduction year is consensus across Marcus Siems' Air-King family history (September 2025), Monochrome (Erik Slaven, January 2025), Robb Report's Air-King guide (Allen Farmelo + Gareth Munden, September 2024), and Watch-Wiki. The 114200 ships at Baselworld 2007 alongside the 114210 (engine-turned bezel sister) and the 114234 (white-gold-bezel sibling), which trade in parallel through the 2007–2014 production run.

The 2014 retirement is similarly consensus. The Air-King line is dropped from the catalogue at Baselworld 2014 — Robin Nooy at Monochrome (March 2016) frames the 116900 launch as a return after the line was "dropped from the collection." The 2-year hiatus from 2014 to the 116900's 2016 launch is the longest gap in the Air-King's continuous catalogue presence since the 1945 introduction.

A small handful of secondary outlets imply the 114200 ran "until 2016" — conflating discontinuation with line return. The primary editorial (Monochrome, Goldammer, Robb Report) consistently gives 2014 as the production end and 2016 as the line return on a different reference. 2007–2014 is the active production span.

The 114200 is recent enough that most surviving examples are documented through dealer-market sales rather than essay-grade major-house lots. The Christie's "Jewels and Watches Online: La Dolce Vita" sale 21040 lot 136 (a Domino's Pizza 114200, c.2013, case 96A51575, full set) is the documented major-house anchor. Phillips, Sotheby's, Bonhams, and Antiquorum carry no documented 114200 catalog essays in the auction record.


== Movement notes ==

The 114200 runs Cal 3130 — the same Cal 3130 that powers the contemporary 14060M Submariner, the 14270 Explorer, and the broader Cal 3130-era Rolex time-only catalogue from 1999 / 2000 through 2018. 28,800 vph (4 Hz), approximately 48 hour power reserve, hack feature, bidirectional self-winding, Parachrom hairspring (the blue paramagnetic hairspring Rolex introduced across the catalogue from c.2005 onward, present on 114200 from launch).

The jewel count is contested across editorial coverage. Monochrome (Erik Slaven) and Robb Report read the Cal. 3130 in the 114200 era as 31 jewels, an upgrade from the 27-jewel Cal. 3000 of the [[Reference:14000#movement-notes|14000 era]]; Marcus Siems' Air-King family history gives 27 jewels. The 31-jewel reading holds the majority position; the 27-jewel attribution sits against the consensus and is best recorded as a source inconsistency rather than evidence of a proven Air-King running change.

The 114200's COSC chronometer certification is the architectural break with prior Air-Kings. Every prior Air-King — the 4925's Cal 10½ Hunter, the 6552's Cal 1030, the 5500's Cal 1530 / 1520, the 14000's Cal 3000, the 14000M's Cal 3130 (the same Cal 3130 the 114200 carries) — ran sub-COSC. The dial designation read "PRECISION" or "SUPER PRECISION" depending on the era. The 114200 changes that. The dial reads "SUPERLATIVE CHRONOMETER OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED," and the movement carries the Cal 3130's COSC certification rather than the 14000M's identical-caliber but uncertified configuration.

The 14000M-to-114200 caliber handoff is the cleanest demonstration of the COSC-as-marketing-decision rule in the Rolex catalogue. The Cal 3130 is mechanically identical between the two references; what changes is whether Rolex sent the movement to COSC for chronometer certification before casing. The [[Reference:14000M#movement-notes|14000M]] did not; the 114200 did.


== Case and construction ==

34mm × approximately 11.6mm × 41.7mm L2L stainless steel three-piece Oyster — case middle, threaded caseback, threaded crown. The case profile reads heftier than the 14000M's despite identical nominal dimensions; the wider lugs and cleaner bezel-to-case-middle transition give the 114200 a more substantial wrist presence than its predecessor. Lugs are 19mm with non-drilled spring-bar holes, consistent with the 14000-era convention. The bezel is fixed and steel and smooth on the 114200 itself; the engine-turned bezel sibling lives on the 114210 reference.

The crystal is sapphire, period-standard. The crown is Twinlock screw-down. Water resistance is rated at 100m, unchanged from the 14000 era.

The case is steel-only across the 114200 production. No precious-metal 114200 surfaces in the auction record. The two-tone or gold-bezel Air-Kings of the 2007–2014 era live on adjacent reference numbers (the 114234 white-gold-bezel sibling, the 114200/X gem-set sub-variants documented at some sources but outside this article's scope as separate references).


== Engraved rehaut ==

The 114200 carries the engraved rehaut convention from launch in 2007. The inner bezel ring around the dial is engraved with repeating "ROLEX ROLEX ROLEX" text plus the watch's serial number, matched to the between-lugs serial engraving. The engraved rehaut is a post-2005 Rolex catalogue convention adopted across the steel sport line; on the Air-King the 14000M's late production may carry it, but the 114200 has it from launch as standard.

The engraved rehaut does double-duty as an authentication anchor and as a security feature. The serial number on the rehaut should match the between-lugs engraving; a mismatch flags case-replacement. The "ROLEX ROLEX ROLEX" repetition itself is fine pantograph engraving that resists counterfeit reproduction more cleanly than the older smooth rehaut.


== Dial map ==

The 114200 carries the broadest documented dial palette in the Air-King line's history. The introduction of the concentric "wave" dial pattern combined with a wider color palette than the 14000-era Air-King produces a multi-axis catalogue: color (silver, black, blue, green, salmon, white, champagne) × marker style (concentric wave, applied stick, 3-6-9 Explorer Arabic, full Roman numeral, full Arabic numeral) × outer ring finish (sunburst soleil, brushed, matte). The list of documented configurations runs into double digits.

A taxonomy correction worth printing: the "Tutti Frutti" nickname does not apply to the 114200. Tutti Frutti is the established nickname for the gem-set Yacht-Master configurations with multi-color sapphire bezels; applying it to the 114200's multi-color dial palette is a misattribution that occasionally surfaces in dealer copy. The 114200's multi-color dials are the "concentric" or "wave" Air-King palette, not Tutti Frutti.


=== Silver concentric (wave) ===

The production-volume 114200 dial. Sunburst silver outer ring with concentric circular pattern radiating from the center to the chapter ring, applied stick or baton hour markers, "OYSTER PERPETUAL" and "AIR-KING" in two-line dial text above six, "SUPERLATIVE CHRONOMETER OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED" above. The standard 114200 across the run.


=== Black concentric (wave) ===

Matte black ground with the same concentric pattern. Trades at a moderate premium to silver. Documented across the production.


=== Blue concentric with orange Arabic numerals ===

The most-cited rare 114200 dial. Sunburst blue outer ring with circular concentric inner section, applied orange Arabic numerals at every hour, no luminous fill (the orange-on-blue contrast does the legibility work). Sometimes called the "Air-King concentric blue" or the "blue 114200." Trades at a substantial premium to standard configurations and is the 114200 dial the modern collector market consistently flags as the headline collectible.


=== Pink salmon concentric ===

Salmon ground with the concentric pattern, applied stick or Roman numeral indices. The 14000-era salmon palette continues to the 114200 with the concentric finish added.


=== Green concentric ===

A rarer 114200 dial — sunburst green outer with concentric inner section, typically applied stick markers. The green Air-King is documented at editorial level (Monochrome's history names green as one of the catalogue colors) but surfaces less frequently at dealer market than blue or salmon.


=== 3-6-9 Explorer dial ===

The Explorer 3-6-9 layout the 5500 made famous and the 14000 carried over continues to the 114200. Black or silvered ground (sometimes concentric, sometimes flat), 3-6-9 Arabic numerals at three, six, and nine, baton or stick indices at the other hours. Erik Slaven at Monochrome describes the 3-6-9 Explorer dial as "a standard arrangement" on the 114200 — not a rare configuration but one of the catalogue's established options.


=== Roman numeral dial ===

Roman numerals at every hour or at the cardinal positions. Silvered, black, or salmon ground. The Roman 114200 sits closer to the Datejust dial language than to the traditional Air-King and was part of the 114200's broader appeal-widening catalogue.


=== Applied Arabic numeral dial ===

Full applied Arabic numerals at every hour rather than the 3-6-9 Explorer subset. Silvered or black ground.

The white and champagne 114200 dials surface in editorial mentions but are less commonly encountered in the dealer market than the silver / black / blue concentric configurations.

A separate silver 3-6-9 branch with pink luminous block markers is documented on full-set 2012 examples. It is not the same thing as the salmon concentric dial: the ground remains silver, while the color sits in the luminous hour blocks and the 3-6-9 layout. Treat it as a dial execution to record, not as a new nickname category.


== Bracelets ==

19mm Oyster across the production. The 114200 era moves to 904L stainless steel for both case and bracelet — the same alloy upgrade Rolex implemented across the catalogue post-2003. The bracelet reference is 78350 with end-link 557B (the refined solid end-link variant of the 14000-era 557). The clasp is the modern Oysterclasp with Easylink 5mm comfort extension.

The 78350 / 557B configuration is consistent with the 14000M era — the bracelet platform did not change at the 14000M-to-114200 transition. What changed is the steel grade (904L from 2003 onward) and the clasp's Easylink integration, which standardized across the Rolex catalogue in the same window.

A folded-link Jubilee bracelet was a period catalogue option on the 114200 era and surfaces on a minority of surviving examples, primarily Roman-numeral and Arabic-numeral dial configurations sold into the Datejust-adjacent market.


== Special branches ==


=== Domino's Pizza 114200 ===

[[File:Ref 114200 dominos detail.webp|thumb|right|260px|alt=Rolex 114200 Dominos detail|Rolex Air-King 114200 Dominos Pizza, dial logo + caseback commemorative engraving]]

The Domino's Pizza Rolex incentive program continued from the 5500 / 14000 era onto the 114200. Christie's "Jewels and Watches Online: La Dolce Vita" sale 21040 lot 136 (c.2013, case 96A51575, Cal 3130, full set with original box and papers) documents a 114200 Domino's example. The dial carries Explorer-style 3-6-9 Arabic numerals at three, six, and nine on a silvered ground, with the Domino's logo on a center bracelet link rather than on the dial itself, and the awardee's commemorative engraving on the caseback.

The Christie's condition report calls the dial clean and original with only very light case wear, and the lot retains its original guarantee and sales tag. For a modern presentation Air-King that ties the watch to a 2013 delivery rather than to a later bracelet or caseback embellishment, which matters as much as the logo placement itself.

The 114200 is the last documented Domino's Air-King reference; the program wound down by the early 2010s before Rolex moved past the 114200 in 2014. Christie's lot 136 is the strongest auction-house anchor for a 114200 Domino's; dealer-market examples surface less frequently than the 5500 and 14000 Domino's pieces.


=== 114210 engine-turned-bezel sibling ===

Twin reference to the 114200, 2007–2014, same case and movement and dial palette, fluted engine-turned bezel rather than smooth. Some collectors treat the 114210 as an Air-King sub-variant; some as a Datejust-adjacent reference. The Air-King family hub treats both 114200 and 114210 as part of the 114200-generation Air-King.


=== 114234 white-gold-bezel sibling ===

Steel case with a fluted white-gold bezel set into the case middle. Same Cal 3130, same case middle, same dial palette. The 114234 sits at the precious-metal-trim end of the 114200 generation and trades at a substantial premium to the steel-only 114200.

The Tiffany & Co.-signed 114200, Cartier-signed 114200, and government-crest commemorative 114200 (Saudi / UAE / Bahrain / Kuwait) are not documented in the auction record through 2025. Their absence is not proof — modern reference catalogues digitise more slowly than vintage ones — but the documented record does not currently carry them.


== Historical market and auction record ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Sale !! Lot !! Year !! Reference details !! Result
|-
| Christie's Jewels and Watches Online "La Dolce Vita" || 136 || c.2018 || 114200 Domino's Pizza c.2013, case 96A51575, Cal 3130, full set || estimate / hammer not retrievable from listing page
|}

The 114200 is documented through the dealer market and through regional UK and US auctioneers rather than through Phillips / Sotheby's / Christie's headline catalogues. The Christie's La Dolce Vita Domino's lot is the strongest auction-house anchor in the auction record.

Pricing across the dealer market sits in the USD 4,500–7,000 band for standard silver and black concentric examples in clean condition. Blue concentric with orange Arabic, salmon, and green configurations carry premiums into the USD 8,000–12,000 range. Domino's, the 114210 fluted-bezel sibling, and the 114234 white-gold-bezel sibling all trade at distinct premium tiers tied to their specific configurations.


== The 114200-to-116900 redesign ==

The 114200 closes the 34mm Air-King chapter. The Air-King line drops from the Rolex catalogue at Baselworld 2014. After a 2-year hiatus the line returns at Baselworld 2016 as the 116900 — but as a 40mm pilot-watch redesign rather than as a continuation of the 34mm 114200. Robin Nooy's Monochrome hands-on review (March 2016) frames the 116900 as a return after the line was "dropped from the collection," and editorial consensus treats the 116900 as a reset rather than a refinement.

The 116900 carries a different design language: 40mm rather than 34mm (a 6mm size jump), 3-6-9 Arabic numerals at three / six / nine in stylized typography, green seconds hand, "AIR-KING" in a more aggressive font, Faraday-cage anti-magnetic soft-iron shield around the movement (the same architecture Rolex uses on the Milgauss). The 1940s aviation-numeral dial reads as a reset to the 4925 era's pilot-watch commemoration, not as a continuation of the 5500 / 14000 / 14000M / 114200 entry-tier sport Oyster lineage.

The 114200 is therefore the last reference in the continuous 34mm Air-King chapter and is sometimes treated as the family's modern-era closing piece. The 116900 (and the 2022 126900 successor) sit in their own design language, and editorial coverage of the modern Air-King line generally splits at the 2014/2016 boundary.


== Authentication ==

The 114200 is recent enough that originality verification is generally easier than on the vintage Air-Kings. The engraved rehaut is the cleanest single anchor: the rehaut's "ROLEX ROLEX ROLEX" repetition plus the serial number must match the between-lugs serial engraving exactly. A mismatched rehaut serial is a case-replacement flag; modern counterfeit production sometimes mismatches the two engravings.

The case stamp inside the caseback should read 114200. Early 114200 examples can be checked against late letter-prefix serial ranges, but Rolex moved to randomized alphanumeric serials around 2010. For later 114200s, the rehaut serial should match the paperwork and any remaining case engraving, but the serial alone cannot assign a precise production year; the warranty card or sale record becomes the stronger date anchor.

The movement should be Cal 3130. A 114200 fitted with Cal. 3000 (the 14000 generation) points to a movement swap and is wrong for the reference; a 114200 with Cal. 3132 or any Cal. 32XX is also incorrect, though Cal. 3132 is a genuine Rolex movement used in other references rather than a non-existent variant. The Parachrom hairspring should be present from launch — the blue paramagnetic spring is visible inside the balance assembly.

The dial concentric pattern is fine engraving rather than printing. Counterfeit concentric dials sometimes use printed or screen-printed concentric patterns that are flatter and less detailed than the genuine pantograph-engraved Rolex pattern. Loupe inspection of the concentric finish is the cleanest dial authentication tell.

The bracelet should be 78350 with 557B end-link in 904L steel. Earlier 14000-era end-link 557 (matte) on a 114200 is service-era refit; later modern Oyster bracelet references (post-2014) on a 114200 are also service-era refits. The clasp should carry the modern Oysterclasp with Easylink 5mm comfort extension; older clasps are service replacements.

The dial restoration question is light on the 114200 versus older Air-Kings — the reference is recent enough that most surviving examples have not been through restoration. Original dials are the norm; a perfectly clean 114200 is plausible rather than suspect.

== Sources ==
* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* [https://www.rescapement.com/blog/rolex-air-king-history Tony Traina, "Rolex Air-King History: The Forgotten King", Rescapement]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-of-the-rolex-air-king-the-underrated-pilots-watch/ Erik Slaven, "History of the Rolex Air-King, the underrated pilots watch", Monochrome Watches, 2025]
* [https://goldammer.me/blogs/articles/rolex-airking-origin-history-and-design-evolution Marcus Siems, "Rolex Air-King Origin History and Design Evolution", Goldammer]
* [https://robbreport.com/style/watch-collector/lists/complete-guide-to-the-rolex-air-king-1945-to-present-1235881849/ "The Complete Guide to Rolex Air-King Watches From 1945 to Present", Robb Report]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/hands-on-review-rolex-oyster-perpetual-air-king-ref-116900-40mm-baselworld-2016-live-pics-price/ Robin Nooy, "Hands-On Review Rolex Oyster Perpetual Air-King ref 116900 40mm Baselworld 2016", Monochrome Watches, 2016]
* [https://onlineonly.christies.com.cn/s/jewels-watches-online-la-dolce-vita/rolex-oyster-perpetual-air-king-dominos-pizza-ref-114200-136/144839 "Rolex Oyster Perpetual Air King Per Dominos Pizza Ref 114200", Christie's]
* [https://www.watch-wiki.net/doku.php?id=rolex_air-king "Rolex Air-King", Watch-Wiki]
* [https://www.windvintage.com/rolex-air-king-reference-114200-pink-hour-markers-unpolished-full-set Eric Wind, "Rolex Air-King Reference 114200 Pink Hour Markers Unpolished Full Set Wind Vintage", Wind Vintage]
* [https://revolutionwatch.com/the-king-is-dead-long-live-the-king/ Ross Povey, "The King is Dead Long Live The King — Air-King transition 14000-116900 Ross Povey Revolution", Revolution Watch, 2020]
* [https://therake.com/default/stories/the-king-is-dead-long-live-the-king Ross Povey, "The King is Dead Long Live The King The Rake Povey syndicated", The Rake, 2020]

[[Category:Air-King]]
[[Category:Working Draft]]

User talk:Admin

2026-05-30T05:45:41Z

Klaudiusz: Pending audit edit on Reference:114060 (proposal #22) needs review

Reference:114060

2026-05-30T05:45:41Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #22 ref=114060 agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout,bar_raiser (FlaggedRevs pending review)

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|title=Rolex 114060 Submariner — Production, Dial Variants, Serial Ranges | BezelBase
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[[Reference:submariner|Submariner]] -> '''114060'''

The 114060 is the last 40mm no-date Submariner. Rolex introduced it at Baselworld 2012 and kept it in production until around 2020, when the 124060 arrived with caliber 3230 and a 41mm case. Ceramic bezel technology, the Maxi case, and the Glidelock bracelet all arrived in the no-date line with this reference, pulling the watch into the same modern construction that had reached the date models two years earlier.

Caliber 3130 sits inside, the same COSC-certified movement that powered the late 14060M. The carryover makes the mechanical story look simple on paper; on the wrist the change is harder to miss. The Maxi Case — Rolex's term for the wider-lugged, heavier-crowned case architecture that arrived on the ceramic-era Submariner — measures 40mm across but wears larger than a five-digit Sub because the lugs are broader, the crown guards more substantial, and the mass higher. At roughly 12.5mm thick and 48mm lug-to-lug, the 114060 takes up more wrist real estate than its 40mm number suggests.

Where the 14060M broke into 2-liner and 4-liner generations, the 114060 looks the same from 2012 to 2020. No known mid-run specification changes exist. Collectors who overlooked the watch during its production run now call it "the last small Sub," and interest has climbed steadily since the 41mm 124060 replaced it. One era, one configuration.



[[File:Ref 114060 hero.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Submariner Ref. 114060|Rolex Submariner Ref. 114060]]

== Core facts ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| 114060
|-
| family
| Submariner (no date)
|-
| production
| 2012 to about 2020
|-
| movement
| caliber 3130, COSC, 28,800 vph, 48hr power reserve
|-
| case
| 40mm, 904L steel, Maxi case, no lug holes, ~12.5mm thick, ~48mm lug-to-lug
|-
| crystal
| sapphire, flat, no Cyclops
|-
| water resistance
| 300m / 1000ft
|-
| crown
| Triplock screw-down
|-
| bezel
| Cerachrom ceramic, unidirectional, platinum PVD numerals, scratch-resistant
|-
| bracelet
| Oyster ref.97200, solid links, Oysterlock with Glidelock (20mm micro-adjust)
|-
| dial
| 2-line ("Submariner" + depth rating), white gold Maxi markers
|-
| lume
| Chromalight blue
|-
| rehaut
| engraved "ROLEX" repeating + serial at 6
|-
| case back
| solid steel, screw-down
|-
| successor
| 124060
|}


== Where it sits in the line ==

The 114060 runs alongside the date-equipped [[Reference:116610LN|116610LN]] on a black Cerachrom bezel and caliber 3135, and the green-bezel [[Reference:116610LV|116610LV]] — the "Hulk" — on the same caliber. Together the three make up the six-digit Submariner family of 2010 to 2020, the date watches sharing the 3135 and the no-date 114060 carrying the 3130. All three share black or green Cerachrom and COSC certification.

The 114060 replaced the 14060M and was itself succeeded by the 124060, which brought the 3230 caliber with its 70-hour power reserve and moved the case to 41mm. As the last no-date Submariner at 40mm, it wears differently on the wrist from current production, and that difference is at the center of why the reference has held collector attention.

The Vintage Rolex Field Manual notes the 114060 as the introduction of the engraved rehaut to the no-date Submariner line, though the feature had already appeared on the 4-liner 14060M from 2007.


== Production outline ==

The 114060 ran unchanged. Rolex launched it in 2012 at the full modern specification and kept it that way to discontinuation in 2020 — no known mid-run dial, bracelet, or case changes. The full modern package was there from day one: Cerachrom ceramic bezel, Maxi Case, Glidelock bracelet, Chromalight lume, engraved rehaut, and random serial numbers (Rolex had already switched from sequential to random numbering by 2010).

The consistency makes the 114060 one of the simpler modern Submariners to buy on the secondary market. There is no 2-liner versus 4-liner split, no bracelet upgrade window, and no lug-hole question. A 2013 example should look identical to a 2019 example.

Whether any minor internal changes occurred — clasp refinements, hairspring variants within the 3130 — is not documented in the current evidence set.


== Movement notes ==

Caliber 3130 is an automatic no-date movement with COSC chronometer certification, running at 28,800 vph and storing about 48 hours of power reserve. The same caliber powered the late 14060M, so the movement is carryover rather than new. Regulation is handled by a Parachrom blue hairspring — Rolex's paramagnetic alloy spring, more resistant to magnetic fields, temperature change, and shock than a traditional spring — together with Microstella regulating nuts on the balance.

The 114060 was the last Submariner to run the 3130. Its successor, the 124060, moved to caliber 3230, bringing the 70-hour reserve and the Chronergy escapement. That closed out the 3130 era in the no-date line.


== Dial map ==

The dial is glossy black with applied white-gold Maxi markers and larger Mercedes hands. "Maxi" in this context refers to marker and hand proportions — bigger lume plots and wider hands than the five-digit 14060 and 14060M carried, sized to match the wider Maxi Case.


=== The 2-line question ===

The 114060 carries four lines of lower dial text: "SUBMARINER," the depth rating, and "SUPERLATIVE CHRONOMETER OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED." It keeps the symmetrical no-date layout, but it does not return to the sparse 2-line lower dial of the original 14060 or early 14060M. The clean look comes from the absence of a date window and Cyclops, not from the absence of chronometer text. The 114060 is COSC-certified but does not announce the fact on the dial. That places it in an unusual position in Submariner history: the original 14060 carried a 2-line dial because it was not COSC-certified; the late 14060M carried a 4-line dial because it was certified and Rolex wanted to say so; the 114060 carries a 2-line dial despite being certified. The layout is a design choice, not a specification limitation.

For collectors who care about dial typography, the 114060 is the modern reference that most closely echoes the spare look of the original 14060 — a COSC-grade movement sitting behind a visually uncluttered face.

All markers and hands use Chromalight, Rolex's long-emission lume that glows blue rather than the older Super-Luminova green. Rolex Forum owners report useful legibility for anywhere from three to seven-plus hours in complete darkness, with variation driven by prior light exposure and individual perception. The "SWISS MADE" text sits at 6 o'clock.


== Case, bezel, crystal, and crown ==


=== Maxi case ===

The case is 40mm 904L stainless steel in the Maxi format — wider lugs and more pronounced crown guards than the slim five-digit case used on the 14060 and 14060M, about 12.5mm thick with a 48mm lug-to-lug span, and no drilled lug holes.

The finishing leans modern: brushed top surfaces with mirror-polished case flanks, the polished sides catching light along the wider lugs.

The same 40mm diameter does not translate to the same wrist feel. The Maxi Case is larger and heavier; the wider lugs spread the visual footprint; the crown guards read as more substantial. Some collectors prefer the heft and presence. Others miss the slimmer five-digit proportions. That preference split is one reason the 114060 has become collectible — it is the last Submariner to offer this 40mm Maxi case before Rolex moved the line to 41mm.


=== Cerachrom bezel ===

Unidirectional bezel with a black Cerachrom ceramic insert — Cerachrom being Rolex's proprietary ceramic, scratch-resistant, fade-resistant, and UV-stable, meaning the bezel will look the same in twenty years as it does today. The numerals and graduation marks are filled with platinum by PVD coating, giving them a silver-grey appearance that catches light cleanly against the black.

Cerachrom is the most visible difference between the 114060 and the 14060M. Aluminum bezels on older Subs scratch, fade, and develop patina; ceramic does neither. Collectors split on which they prefer — aluminum for character and age, ceramic for durability and consistency.


=== Crystal and crown ===

Flat sapphire crystal, no Cyclops — the defining visual difference between the no-date 114060 and the date-equipped 116610LN. The flat crystal gives the 114060 a symmetrical face with no magnifier bump at 3 o'clock. The crown is the Triplock screw-down, carried over from the 14060M and rated to 300m.


=== Rehaut ===

The inner rehaut is engraved with repeating "ROLEX" text and the serial number at the 6 o'clock position — standard on all 114060 examples, matching the engraved rehaut introduced on the 4-liner 14060M from 2007.

The case back is solid steel, screw-down, with no display window.


== Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes ==


=== Bracelet ===

The 114060 ships on bracelet ref.97200: an Oyster bracelet with solid links and an Oysterlock clasp fitted with the Glidelock extension system. The Oysterlock is the locking clasp Rolex uses across the modern Professional line — a folding safety catch that prevents accidental opening.

Glidelock is the in-clasp micro-adjustment that lets the wearer change bracelet length in roughly 2mm increments across a 20mm range without tools, by sliding a notched mechanism inside the clasp body. Useful for fitting the watch over a wetsuit or accommodating heat-driven wrist swelling without swapping spring bars. The system was new to the no-date Submariner with the 114060.

The 97200 is a meaningful upgrade on the 93150 and 93250 that came on the 14060 and 14060M — heavier, more solid, and fitted with what is arguably the most practical bracelet adjustment Rolex has ever introduced.


=== Clasp date codes ===

Rolex clasp date codes documented in the Vintage Rolex Field Manual run through RS = 2010. Clasp coding systems across the 114060 era (2012–2020) may have shifted. An "S" stamp on any Rolex clasp denotes a service replacement.


=== Packaging ===

The 114060 era corresponds to the green Rolex box with the outer white or green cardboard sleeve, the green warranty card, booklets, and hang tags. Rolex moved to a new warranty card format during this window. Exact packaging variations across the 2012–2020 run are not well documented.


== Special branches ==
[[File:Ref 114060 hero 3.jpg|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Submariner Ref. 114060|Rolex Submariner Ref. 114060]]

No special branches are known. The 114060 was a standard commercial reference — no military, retailer, or regional variants — and stayed uniform across its entire run. The absence of mid-run changes means there is no variant hierarchy to rank inside the reference. Collector preferences fall instead on condition and completeness (box, papers, warranty card) rather than on production year.


== Collector perspective: "the last small Sub" ==

The 114060 was not always the collector favorite it has become. During its production run it lived in the shadow of the 116610LN and 116610LV, because the Glidelock and Cerachrom were bigger news on the date line, and because the 116610LV's green dial was a conversation piece. The 114060 registered as the quiet one in the family.

Discontinuation in 2020 reframed the reference. When the 124060 grew to 41mm, collectors understood that the 40mm no-date Submariner was gone — the size that had defined the Submariner for decades now lived only in discontinued references. The 114060 became the last small Sub. Wrists that found the 124060 slightly too large turned back to the 114060 and found exactly the proportions they wanted.

The reappraisal is still running. The 114060 is not a vintage collectible and may never command vintage-tier premiums. But it occupies a specific niche — a modern, hard-wearing ceramic-bezel Submariner in the classic 40mm case, with a clean 2-line dial, no date window, no Cyclops, and no chronometer text. For a certain kind of buyer, nothing else on the current market does this.


== Production volume estimates ==

Industry estimates from the early 2010s put no-date Submariner production at roughly 15,000 units per year. If those figures held steady across the 114060's eight-year run, total production would land somewhere around 120,000 units — a rough envelope, since Rolex does not publish production numbers and the estimate circulates among dealers and collectors rather than from any factory source.


== Historical market and auction record ==

The 114060 sits in the strongest part of the modern no-date Submariner market. It was discontinued recently enough that examples are abundant, and demand has stayed firm because it is the last 40mm no-date Sub.

Sotheby's maintains a dedicated buying category for the reference, with examples listed at prices that reflect its position as a mainstream modern collectible. Christie's has also handled 114060 lots, though specific hammer prices have not been extracted in the current evidence set.

On the secondary market the 114060 trades above both the 14060 and the 14060M. The ceramic bezel, Glidelock bracelet, and Maxi Case are a clear step up in build quality and finishing, and the clean 2-line dial appeals to collectors who want the no-date layout without chronometer text on the face.

Comparison with the 124060 successor focuses on two changes: the movement (3130 versus 3230, 48-hour versus 70-hour reserve) and the case (40mm versus 41mm). Some collectors prefer the 114060 for the 40mm case and take the older movement in the trade.

== Sources ==
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/rolex-submariner-history-part-2-the-55xx-1680references/ History of the Rolex Submariner - Part 2, The 55XX References and 1680 Date] — Tom Mulraney, Monochrome
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/how-to-start-collecting-the-rolex-submariner The Rolex Submariner: A Complete Collector's Guide] — Stephen Pulvirent, Sotheby's
* [https://timeandtidewatches.com/rolex-submariner-114060-review/ Rolex Submariner 114060 Review] — Andrew McUtchen, Time and Tide Watches
* [https://www.ablogtowatch.com/rolex-submariner-114060-review/ Rolex Submariner 114060 Review] — Ariel Adams, aBlogtoWatch
* [https://professionalwatches.com/rolex-submariner-reference-guide/ Rolex Submariner Reference Guide] — Professional Watches editorial, Professional Watches

[[Category:Submariner]]
[[Category:Working Draft]]

User talk:Admin

2026-05-29T17:38:51Z

Klaudiusz: Pending audit edit on Reference:16710 (proposal #21) needs review

Reference:16710

2026-05-29T17:38:51Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #21 ref=16710 agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout,bar_raiser (FlaggedRevs pending review)

{{#seo:
|title=Rolex 16710 GMT-Master II — Production, Dial Variants, Serial Ranges | BezelBase
|description=The 16710 is the long-running steel GMT-Master II — 1989 to 2007, caliber 3185 with rare late-run 3186, three bezel options (Pepsi, Coke, all-black), Mark 1 tritium / Mark 2 Luminova / Mark 3 Super-LumiNova lume sequence, late stick dial.
|keywords=Rolex, 16710, GMT-Master II, caliber 3185, caliber 3186, stick dial, Pepsi, Coke, SEL bracelet, no-holes case, 16710T
|image=Ref 16710 pepsi-bobs.webp
|image_alt=Pepsi 16710 on Oyster bracelet
|type=article
|og_type=article
|published_time=2026-04-18T03:22:17Z
|modified_time=2026-04-29T11:30:00Z
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
}}

[[Reference:gmt-master|GMT-Master]] -> '''16710'''

The [[Reference:16710|16710]] is the long-running neo-vintage GMT-Master II. It takes the architecture of the thick transitional [[Reference:16760|16760]], slims the case, keeps the independently adjustable 24-hour hand, and stays in production for eighteen years — long enough to accumulate its own late-run mythology. Stick dials, the rare cal 3186, solid-end-link bracelets, no-holes cases, and the 1998 Luminova dials still printed with T<25 text all sit under the same reference number.

A 1990 Pepsi and a 2007 stick-dial 3186 with a no-holes case share little beyond the model number on the rehaut.



[[File:Ref 16710 pepsi-bobs.webp|thumb|right|454x454px|alt=Pepsi 16710 on Oyster bracelet|Pepsi 16710 on Oyster bracelet]]

== Core facts ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| [[Reference:16710|16710]]
|-
| family
| GMT-Master II (five-digit, neo-vintage)
|-
| production
| 1989 to 2007 (Field Manual reference table); a narrative note pushes discontinuation into a 2007–2008 transition. Replaced by the 116710LN ceramic in 2007
|-
| case
| 40mm steel Oyster, slimmer than the [[Reference:16760|16760]] it succeeded; 100m water resistance
|-
| crystal
| sapphire with Cyclops; laser-etched coronet at 6 o'clock from 2003 onward
|-
| crown
| screw-down 7mm with crown guards
|-
| movement
| caliber 3185 across most of the run; rare late-production caliber 3186 with Parachrom blue hairspring on Z- and M-serial end-of-line examples
|-
| GMT mechanic
| flyer GMT — independently adjustable local hour hand, 24-hour hand tracks the home time zone independently
|-
| dial generations
| Mark 1 (1989–1997, "SWISS – T<25" tritium); Mark 2 (1998–1999, "SWISS" Luminova — narrow transitional window); Mark 3 (2000–2007, "SWISS MADE" Super-LumiNova). Late stick-dial sub-variant on D-serial onward
|-
| bezel
| 24-hour aluminium insert in three factory configurations: Pepsi (16710B), Coke (16710A), all-black (16710N). Coke disappears with the 2007 ceramic transition and never returns in aluminium
|-
| bracelet
| 78360 Oyster with hollow end-links → SEL Oyster from 2000 (78790A with 801 SEL end-links, later integrated stamped 78790A); Jubilee 62510H with 502B end-links optional
|-
| late-production sub-variant
| 16710T — no-holes case introduced 2003 alongside laser-etched crown; pairs with the SEL bracelet and (on the latest Z and M serials) the cal 3186 + stick dial
|}


== Where it sits in the line ==

The 16710 is the reference that normalises the GMT-Master II after the thick, short-run [[Reference:16760|16760]]. The 16760 established the independent-hour-hand architecture in a deliberately bulky case. The 16710 takes the same movement logic, slims the case, and offers the widest bezel palette of any five-digit GMT. Three factory bezel codes ran across the entire 1989–2007 production: 16710A (Coke), 16710B (Pepsi), 16710N (all-black). The two-tone 16713 and the all-yellow-gold 16718 carry the same flyer-GMT mechanic in different metals.

The ceramic references that follow — the 116710LN at Baselworld 2007, then the 116710BLNR Batman, the 116719BLRO Pepsi, and the current 126710BLRO / GRNR generation — move to a more modern case and bezel language. The 116710LN replacement killed the aluminium Coke and Pepsi options on the steel GMT entirely; aluminium Coke never returned, and ceramic Pepsi only arrived later on the gold 116719 in 2014 and the steel 126710BLRO in 2018.


== Production outline ==

Production began in 1989 and ran deep into the 2000s. The end date is the only point worth arguing. The Field Manual's reference table gives 1989–2007; its narrative note pushes discontinuation into 2008. The honest reading is 1989 into a 2007/2008 transition, with the 116710LN replacement launched at Baselworld 2007.

The late edge is not just a serial-chart footnote. A documented 2008 papered 16710 pairs the pre-ceramic aluminium Pepsi insert and stick dial with caliber 3186, which is exactly the kind of parts-overlap Rolex usually hides inside transition years. For the 16710, that makes the 2007/2008 boundary a real collecting distinction: regular production had ended, but five-digit cases, aluminium inserts, late dials, and the newer GMT movement still appear together in a small final band.

Internal variation grows as the reference ages. The early band (1989–1997, A through N serial) wears Mark 1 tritium dials, hollow-end-link Oyster bracelets, lug-hole cases, and the standard cal 3185. The middle band (1997–1999, S through W serial) covers the lume transition, with rare Mark 2 transitional dials surfacing in 1998. The late band (2000–2007, A through M serial) carries Mark 3 Super-LumiNova dials, SEL bracelets from 2000, the laser-etched crown and no-holes case from 2003 (the unofficial 16710T), the late stick dial from approximately 2005 onward, and the rare cal 3186 on Z- and M-serial end-of-line examples.


== Movement notes ==

For most of the run, the movement is caliber 3185: 31 jewels, 28,800 vph, hacking, quickset date, COSC chronometer rating, the standard flyer-GMT mechanic with independently adjustable local hour hand. The late-run complication is caliber 3186, which adds the Parachrom blue hairspring (Rolex's paramagnetic and shock-resistant alternative to the original Nivarox flat hairspring) and a revised GMT wheel.

The 3186 first debuted in the yellow-gold 116718 at Baselworld 2005; finding it inside the five-digit 16710 case is the rare, transitional configuration that closes the reference.

The caliber change should not be read as a new GMT system. Phillips describes the 3186 as largely similar in form and function to the 3185, with the blue Parachrom hairspring as the important material upgrade. That keeps the collector distinction narrow: the 3186 16710 is valued because it puts the later six-digit-era movement into the last aluminium-bezel five-digit case, not because it changes how the watch is used. Z-series and M-series end-of-run examples are where the 3186 appears in the 16710. Most 16710 watches built before 2007 carry the 3185, and the dealer-side shorthand "stick dial = cal 3186" is too neat — published collector analysis observes roughly equal 3185 and 3186 stick-dial counts in the secondary market, and a 2005 D-serial example is documented carrying a stick dial well within the 3185 era.

The Field Manual contradicts itself on this caliber question. Its transitions note cites caliber 3135 for the 16710 while the main reference table correctly lists 3185 / 3186. The main table is correct — cal 3135 is a date-only Submariner / Datejust caliber that does not carry the GMT module.


== Dial map ==

The 16710 dial map is where the long production run shows.


=== Standard bezel branches ===

Three bezel-insert colours run across the entire reference: Pepsi (red and blue, code 16710B), Coke (red and black, code 16710A), and all-black (code 16710N). All three were factory delivery configurations through every year of production. Insert-only identification is unreliable for dating because all three carry the same case-back reference number and the same dial-text printing — bezel insert and watch-head era have to agree, not just the insert and the case.


=== Lume sequence: Mark 1 / Mark 2 / Mark 3 ===

Three dial generations across the run. The dial-text bottom-right is the cleanest single dating tool.

* Mark 1 (1989–1997, A through N serial): "SWISS – T<25" text. Tritium luminous compound. Plots age cream to warm beige to mustard depending on UV exposure.
* Mark 2 (1998–1999, narrow handover): "SWISS" only at the bottom. Luminova compound replaces tritium. Rare transitional dials surface with Luminova plots under "SWISS – T<25" tritium-era text — genuine factory output during the changeover, not a service swap. Both lume readings are bright, white, and stable.
* Mark 3 (2000–2007, A through M serial): "SWISS MADE" text. Super-LumiNova compound. The dominant late-run configuration.


=== Transitional T<25 Luminova dial (1998) ===

A small batch of genuine 1998 dials use Luminova but still print "SWISS – T<25" at the bottom. The 1998 lume change happened mid-run, and Rolex used remaining dial stock with the older text printed on it. That makes the watches easy to misread as fake or re-lumed if the buyer expects the cleaner Mark 1 / Mark 2 / Mark 3 cutover. The configuration is real factory transitional output, narrow to 1998 only.


=== Stick dial ===

The late 16710 dial uses a flatter, straighter "stick" font for the dial text — a block-serif printing style that distinguishes the final years of production from the earlier rounder font. The Field Manual treats the stick dial as a real dateable transition, not a service-dial artefact.

The stick dial appears across all three bezel branches — Pepsi, Coke, and all-black — and across both calibers. A 2005 D-serial stick-dial example is documented; later Z-serial and M-serial stick-dial examples carry both cal 3185 and cal 3186. Late stick-dial production sits at roughly 5–7% of total 16710 secondary-market supply by current observation. The stick dial is not bezel-locked, not caliber-locked, and not exclusively M / Z serial — the safest framing is "late-run dial-text style, with peak frequency in the final 2005–2007 window."


== Case, bezel, crystal, and crown ==

The case shares the 40mm footprint of the 16760 but is slimmer and less blocky — most of what shifts the 16710 out of the transitional register and into neo-vintage. Three documented case-and-bracelet changes inside the same final window of production:

SEL bracelet (2000). Solid end links replace the earlier hollow folded end links. The previous Oyster bracelet (78360) had hollow folded end links with a lighter feel and a visible seam from the side. The SEL version uses a solid block of steel where the bracelet meets the case, closing that seam and giving the wrist end a heavier, more modern presentation. Bracelet code shifts to 78790A; early SEL examples carry separate 801 SEL end-links, later integrated 78790A is stamped on the end-link itself.

Laser-etched coronet (2003). A tiny engraved Rolex crown is etched into the sapphire crystal at six o'clock — used to mark authentic crystals and to complicate counterfeiting. On the 16710 it is one of the fastest ways to separate a pre-2003 watch from a later one without cracking the case open. Visible at angle under raking light.

No-holes case (2003). The 2003 case revision filled the external lug holes that earlier production carried — drilled lugs let spring bars be pushed out from outside with a simple tool. The no-holes change matched the convention already used on the other modernised sports models. The configuration is sometimes carried under the unofficial "16710T" name, where the T denotes the no-lug-hole case-stamp variant.

An SEL bracelet, a laser-etched crown, and a no-holes case on the same watch mark it as a true final-generation 16710 rather than simply a late one. When the same watch carries a stick dial and the cal 3186, it is the most upgraded 16710 Rolex ever shipped.


== Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes ==

Period delivery options across the run:
* Oyster 78360 with 501 or 501B end-links — early band (1989–1999), hollow end-links.
* Oyster 78790A with 801 SEL end-links (early SEL, 2000–approximately 2002), then integrated 78790A stamped on the end-link itself (later SEL, 2003 onward).
* Jubilee 62510H with 502B end-links — optional throughout the run.

Surviving examples lean Oyster. That is a survival pattern rather than a delivery pattern; Jubilee fitment belongs to the reference even where it is now less visible in the dealer population. Clasp-stamp dating is the single cleanest cross-check on bracelet originality — a clasp dating later than the watch head implies a swap or a service-era replacement.


== Special branches ==

[[File:Ref 16710 pepsi-bobs.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Pepsi 16710|Pepsi 16710]]
[[File:Ref 16710 coke.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=Coke 16710|Coke 16710]]
[[File:Ref 16710 black-branch.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=Black-bezel 16710|Black-bezel 16710]]


=== Pepsi (16710B) ===

The Pepsi branch carries the family's red-and-blue identity straight into the neo-vintage era. Born-Pepsi authentication needs the insert generation, the case period, and the rest of the watch to agree. Serial alone does not.


=== Coke (16710A) ===

The Coke branch is the clearest bridge back to the 16760. Less common than Pepsi in the surviving market and tends to fade more quietly. The A-suffix code is the catalogue shorthand for factory Coke delivery. Aluminium Coke never returned to the GMT-Master II line after the 2007 ceramic transition — original Coke production ended with the 16710.


=== Black bezel (16710N) ===

The quietest 16710 branch. The N-suffix catalogue code marks factory black delivery; without papers the insert is still a swappable part rather than proof. Aftermarket and dealer-fitted black inserts on Pepsi or Coke cases circulate freely.


=== Late stick-dial cal 3186 ===

The most specialised configuration of the reference. The dial uses the late stick font, the movement is the Parachrom-hairspring 3186 rather than the 3185 that powered most of the run, and the case carries the SEL bracelet, the laser-etched crown, and (in the final year) the no-holes treatment. Stick-dial production runs from approximately 2005 (D-serial) through the Z- and M-serial end-of-run; cal 3186 production is concentrated in the final Z and M serial years. The two configurations overlap but are not interchangeable — both are documented with both calibers.


=== "Albino" modification (not a Rolex production watch) ===

The so-called Albino GMT-Master II is not a Rolex production reference. It is a community modification on a 16710 base, documented across enthusiast forum threads and accessory-maker writeups. The build swaps the bezel insert and sometimes the hands for a stripped-back single-colour look that collectors nicknamed albino. Any watch sold under the "Albino GMT" name is an aftermarket build on a 16710 donor case.

The Real McCoy's / Chuck Yeager watches belong in a different bucket. A documented P-series 16710, sold on 30 May 2001, carried a special red "Chuck Yaeger" dial signature, a case back engraved with General Chuck Yeager, P-51 and X-1 markings, and The Real McCoy's guarantee of authenticity. Antiquorum notes that the project commemorated the 50th anniversary of Yeager's 1947 sound-barrier flight and that both 16700 and 16710 examples are known. That makes it a period retail collaboration, not a later enthusiast modification.


== Historical market and auction record ==

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Sale !! Lot !! Year !! Configuration !! Notes
|-
| Phillips Perpetual editorial || NOS 16710B || ca. 2020s || Pepsi NOS, cal 3186, "error" stick dial — transitional final-spec configuration || article-tied placement
|-
| Sotheby's London Important Watches || — || 2020 || c.2004 Pepsi 16710 || est. GBP 6,000–9,000
|-
| Sotheby's London Important Watches || — || 2020 || c.1991 Pepsi 16710, A-serial || est. GBP 7,000–10,000
|-
| Sotheby's London Important Watches || — || 2020 || c.1993 16710 with Concorde test pilot Brian Trubshaw provenance || est. GBP 12,000–18,000
|-
| Sotheby's Watches Weekly Geneva || — || 2020 || c.1997 Coke 16710 ||
|-
| Sotheby's Watches Weekly London || — || 2020 || c.2007 stick dial 16710 ||
|-
| Sotheby's || L19070/9 || 2019 || c.2006 stick dial 16710 ||
|-
| Sotheby's || — || — || c.1990 Pepsi 16710 ||
|-
| Antiquorum || 292/363 || 2015 || Tiffany & Co. retailer-stamped 16710, R-series; catalogue date "1987" predates the reference launch and bezel descriptions are mixed || est. HKD 55,000–85,000; sold HKD 150,000
|-
| Antiquorum || 235/294 || 2001 || Real McCoy's / Chuck Yeager co-branded 16710, P-series, period retail collaboration || sold 30 May 2001
|-
| Antiquorum Monaco || 358/157 || — || 16710T no-lug-hole sub-variant ||
|-
| Christie's Falling Time online || 192/60546 || — || 16710T Pepsi ||
|}

The 16710 trades primarily on the dealer market rather than at major auction. Across that market the internal spread reads clearly: early Coke examples concentrate near the start of the run, Pepsi listings spread across the full window, and quieter all-black-bezel watches concentrate in the later years. Late stick-dial cal 3186 watches sit at the top of the internal hierarchy before the ceramic [[Reference:116710LN|116710LN]] replacement. Provenance lifts where present — Concorde-pilot, Real McCoy's, and Tiffany retailer-stamped examples carry meaningful documentation premiums above the standard market.

The Brian Trubshaw example is the cleanest provenance case in the current table because the paper trail is part of the lot, not a loose story. Sotheby's catalogued it with a punched Rolex guarantee dated 21 October 1994, document holder, booklets, 1994/95 calendar, framed GMT-Master II advert, hangtags, and presentation case. The catalogue also states that the papers show the watch was issued to Trubshaw directly by Rolex at its headquarters in 1993, likely in exchange during service.

== Sources ==

* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-gmt-master-and-gmt-master-ii-1955-2024-iconic-traveller-watch-in-depth-review/ In-Depth: The History of the Rolex GMT-Master and GMT-Master II] (Monochrome)
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-rolex-gmt-master-the-complete-collectors-guide The Rolex GMT-Master: A Complete Collector's Guide] — Stephen Pulvirent (Sotheby's)
* [https://www.phillips.com/article/135679290/perpetual-picks-rolex-gmt-master-ii-3186-calibre Perpetual Picks: Rare Transitional Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 16710 with cal 3186] — Logan Baker (Phillips)
* [https://millenarywatches.com/gmt-master-ii-16710/ Rolex GMT-Master II 16710: A Complete Guide] (Millenary Watches)
* [https://www.luxurybazaar.com/grey-market/rolex-16710/ Rolex 16710 GMT-Master II Collector's Guide: All the Variants] (Luxury Bazaar)
* [https://www.pomelowatches.com/in-focus/2020/5/18/the-rolex-gmt-master-ii-16710 The Rolex GMT-Master II 16710] (Pomelo Watches)
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/rolex-gmt-master-ii-16710/ TBT Rolex GMT-Master II 16710] — Ross Povey (Fratello)
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/why-i-bought-a-five-digit-rolex-gmt-master-ii-again/ Why I Bought A Five-Digit Rolex GMT-Master II Again] (Fratello)
* [https://revolutionwatch.com/masterstroke-the-gmt-master-part-ii/ Master Stroke: The Rolex GMT-Master Part II] (Revolution)
* [https://www.watchprosite.com/rolex/identifying-future-classic-rolex-from-the-1990-2018-era--part-4-rolex-16710-gmt-master-ii--the-stick-dial-/732.1229496.10113536/ Identifying Future-Classic Rolex: 16710 Stick Dial] (Watchprosite)
* [https://www.watchprozine.com/rolex/identifying-future-classic-rolex-from-the-1990-2018-era-part-3-the-swiss-only-effect-with-four-examples/10060111/732/ Identifying Future-Classic Rolex: The Swiss-only Effect] (Watchprozine)
* [https://www.minus4plus6.com/paracromblu16710.php Rolex Movements & Parachrom — GMT 16710's & 14060M] — Philipp Stahl (Minus4Plus6)
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/watches-4/rolex-gmt-master-ii-pepsi-ref-16710-stainless GMT-Master II Pepsi Ref. 16710 c.2004 — Sotheby's Important Watches] (Sotheby's, 2020)
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/watches-4/rolex-gmt-master-ii-ref-16710-stainless-steel-dual GMT-Master II Ref. 16710 c.1991 — Sotheby's Important Watches] (Sotheby's, 2020)
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/watches-4/rolex-gmt-master-ii-ref-16710-stainless-steel-dual-2 GMT-Master II Ref. 16710 c.1993 ex-Brian Trubshaw — Sotheby's Important Watches] (Sotheby's, 2020)
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/watches-weekly-geneva-3/rolex-coke-gmt-master-ii-ref-16710-stainless-steel Coke GMT-Master II Ref. 16710 c.1997 — Sotheby's Watches Weekly Geneva] (Sotheby's, 2020)
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/watches-weekly-london-19/reference-16710-gmt-master-ii-stick-dial-stainless Reference 16710 GMT-Master II Stick Dial c.2007 — Sotheby's] (Sotheby's, 2020)
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/watches-l19070/lot.9.html Reference 16710 GMT-Master II Stick Dial c.2006 — Sotheby's L19070] (Sotheby's, 2019)
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-16710-lot-292-363 Rolex Ref. 16710 Tiffany & Co. retailer-stamped — Antiquorum lot 292/363] (Antiquorum)
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-235-294 Rolex Ref. 16710 Real McCoy's / Chuck Yeager — Antiquorum lot 235/294] (Antiquorum, 2001)
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-16710-t-2180-oyster-perpetual-date-gmt-master-ii-superlative-chronometer-officially-certified-lot-358-157 Rolex Ref. 16710T Monaco — Antiquorum lot 358/157] (Antiquorum)
* [https://onlineonly.christies.com.cn/s/christies-watches-online-falling-time/rolex-gmt-master-ii-pepsi-ref-16710-t-192/60546 Rolex GMT-Master II Pepsi Ref. 16710T — Christie's Falling Time] (Christie's)
* [https://www.windvintage.com/rolex-stick-dial-gmtmaster-ii-reference-16710-full-set-w-rsc-papers Rolex Stick Dial GMT-Master II Reference 16710 Full Set with RSC Papers] (Wind Vintage)
* [https://hqmilton.com/products/2005-rolex-gmt-16710-d-serial-with-stick-dial-1 2005 Rolex GMT 16710 D-serial with Stick Dial] (HQ Milton)
* [https://www.belmontwatches.com/products/rolex-gmt-master-ii-16710-coke-error-stick-dial Rolex GMT-Master II 16710 Coke "Error Stick Dial"] (Belmont Watches)
* [https://www.bernardwatch.com/Rolex/GMT-Master/RLX9001 Rolex GMT-Master II 16710B with cal 3186] (Bernard Watch)
* [https://bulangandsons.com/products/rolex-gmt-master-2-16710-swiss-only-dial-faded-coke-bezel-w1800 Rolex GMT-Master II 16710 Swiss-only Faded Coke]
* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=300560 16710 SEL bracelet endlink reference (lug holes vs no lug holes)] (RolexForums)
* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=406572 16710 stick dial dating thread] (RolexForums)
* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=386488 16710 Z serial GMT Master II 3186 stick dial] (RolexForums)
* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=756595 16710 Born a Pepsi BLRO Definitive Guide] (RolexForums)
* [https://rolexforums.com/showthread.php?p=9369029 Earliest Known 16710 GMT Master II Stick Dials] (RolexForums)
* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra

[[Category:GMT-Master]]
[[Category:Working Draft]]

User talk:Admin

2026-05-29T17:23:32Z

Klaudiusz: Pending audit edit on Reference:16610 (proposal #20) needs review

Reference:16610

2026-05-29T17:23:31Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #20 ref=16610 agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout,bar_raiser (FlaggedRevs pending review)

{{#seo:
|title=Rolex 16610 Submariner — Production, Dial Variants, Serial Ranges | BezelBase
|description=The 16610 is the standard Submariner of its era — the reference most people picture when they say "Submariner." It entered production around 1988,…
|keywords=Rolex, 16610, Submariner, specifications, reference guide
|image=Ref 16610 hero.jpg
|image_alt=Rolex Submariner Ref. 16610
|type=article
|og_type=article
|published_time=2026-04-14T16:12:48Z
|modified_time=2026-04-29T02:47:35Z
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
}}

[[Reference:submariner|Submariner]] -> '''16610'''

The 16610 is the standard Submariner of its era, the reference most people picture when they say "Submariner." It entered production around 1988, replacing the short-lived 168000, itself a late update of the 16800, and ran until 2010 when the ceramic-bezel 116610LN took over. That is roughly 23 years on a single reference number. No other Submariner Date reference comes close: the 16800 lasted about eight years, the 116610LN ten. The 16610 ran for more than two decades while the rest of the Rolex sports line moved around it, accumulating small specification changes that reward careful inspection.

Across that span the 16610 worked through three lume technologies, two bracelet systems, and a sequence of anti-counterfeiting measures, all without a new reference number. Caliber 3135 stayed put.



[[File:Ref 16610 hero.jpg|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Submariner Ref. 16610|Rolex Submariner Ref. 16610]]

== Core facts ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| 16610
|-
| family
| Submariner Date
|-
| production
| approximately 1988 to 2010 (~23 years)
|-
| movement
| caliber 3135, COSC, 28,800 vph — unchanged for the entire run
|-
| case
| 40mm, 904L steel, Oyster, drilled lug holes (removed ~2003)
|-
| crystal
| sapphire with Cyclops; Laser Etched Crown (LEC) from 2003
|-
| water resistance
| 300m / 1000ft
|-
| crown
| Triplock screw-down
|-
| bezel
| unidirectional 60-click, black aluminum insert
|-
| bezel clicks
| 120-click unidirectional (each click = half a minute)
|-
| bracelet (early)
| Oyster ref.93150, 501B stamped end links, stamped Fliplock clasp
|-
| bracelet (~2001)
| SEL (Super End Links) replace stamped 501B end links
|-
| bracelet (later)
| Oyster ref.93250, Oysterlock clasp
|-
| lume
| tritium (to ~1998), Luminova (~1998–2000), Super-Luminova (~2000+)
|-
| rehaut
| plain (early), engraved ~2005
|-
| predecessor
| 16800
|-
| variants
| 16610LV (Kermit, 2003–2010)
|-
| successor
| 116610LN
|}


== Where it sits in the line ==

The 16610 follows the transitional 16800 and precedes the 116610LN. The 16800 had introduced sapphire crystal and the 300m rating to the date Submariner; the 16610 settled the platform around caliber 3135, the definitive Triplock crown, the 40mm Oyster case, and the graduated 120-click aluminum bezel insert, and held that specification for over two decades. The broader public associates the Submariner Date with the 16610 because it ran for so long, in such volume, and looked so consistent.

There is a short reference between those two watches that matters for collectors: the 168000. It kept the late 16800 formula but moved the Submariner Date into 904L steel before the 16610 arrived with caliber 3135. That makes the 16610 less a clean break from the 16800 than the point where Rolex combined the late sapphire Submariner case specification, 904L steel, and the newer date movement into one long-running production reference.

It ran alongside the no-date 14060 and 14060M. Together those references make up the five-digit Submariner era. Same case, same bracelet architecture, many of the same specification milestones; the 16610 carries the date, the 14060 / 14060M does not.

The 16610 also spawned the 16610LV anniversary variant, the "Kermit," in 2003. The Kermit uses an identical case and movement, differing only in its green aluminum bezel insert and Maxi dial.


== Production outline ==

The 16610's long production splits into five loosely-bounded phases. Transition points are approximate and do not align with calendar decades.


=== Phase 1 — Early production: tritium dials, drilled lugs, stamped end links (~1988–late 1990s) ===

Serial range: pre-X through X series.

The earliest 16610 examples sit closest in character to the preceding 16800. Dials carry tritium lume marked T SWISS T or T<25 near 6 o'clock; tritium has a 12.3-year half-life, so on a 20- to 30-year-old dial the lume runs from light patination to the deep cream, tan, and orange tones collectors call tropical. Lug holes drill straight through the case, allowing strap changes without tools. The bracelet is ref.93150 with stamped hollow 501B end links and a stamped Fliplock clasp with wetsuit extension. The rehaut stays smooth and unengraved throughout the phase.

This is the 16610 at its most vintage-adjacent. The early watch reads as an update of the specification that started with the 5513 rather than a departure from it.


=== Phase 2 — Luminova transition (~1998–2001) ===

Serial range: A to P series (roughly 1998 to 2000).

A short window sits between the full tritium era and the settled Luminova era. Dials marked SWISS only, without the T prefix, appear during the lume changeover. Collectors call these Swiss-only dials, and they are a minor but tracked transitional variant.

Around 1998–1999 Rolex switched to Luminova on the 16610. Late dials drop the tritium markings entirely and read SWISS MADE at 6 o'clock. Luminova glows green-white rather than the warm orange-yellow of aged tritium and does not patinate the same way, which gives the late watch a different visual character on the wrist.

The transition was not instantaneous. Some P-series 16610s still carry tritium and some A-series already wear Luminova. The 93150 bracelet with stamped end links remained in place through this period, keeping the overall feel of the early generation despite the lume change.


=== Phase 3 — SEL upgrade (~2001) ===

Serial range: Y series (roughly 2001 to 2002).

Around 2001 Rolex replaced the stamped 501B end links with solid Super End Links (SEL, code 93250). The change is tactile as much as visual: the SEL bracelet is heavier, more rigid, and fills the lug gap more completely than the older stamped end links. Luminova was upgraded to Super-Luminova at about the same time, improving brightness and longevity.

A 16610 with Y serial or later should carry SEL. A pre-Y serial fitted with SEL has probably had a bracelet upgrade. A Y-plus serial with 501B is unusual and worth verifying against the physical parts.

Y-serial examples (about 2001–2002) are prized for the overlap they capture: SEL had arrived but the drilled lug holes had not yet been removed. A Y-serial 16610 with both SEL and drilled lug holes combines the upgraded bracelet with the heritage case detail, a configuration that existed for only a brief production window and that long-time collectors treat as a distinct desirability point within the reference.

The same end-link change happened at about the same time on the 16610LV (launched 2003, arriving without stamped end links). The no-date sibling, the 14060M, retained stamped end links somewhat longer before transitioning, one reason early 14060M examples are valued for their vintage specification.


=== Phase 4 — Lug holes removed and LEC crystal (~2003) ===

Serial range: F series (roughly 2003 to 2004).

Around 2003 Rolex plugged the lug holes on the 16610. From this point the case is solid through the lug, so strap changes require tools. The Laser Etched Crown, a tiny Rolex coronet etched into the underside of the sapphire at 6 o'clock and visible with a loupe, was added at roughly the same time as an anti-counterfeiting measure.

The 16610LV launched in autumn 2003 already without drilled lug holes, so no production 16610LV ever carried them. The standard 16610 lost its lug holes at about the same point, and from the F serial band onward both references run with solid lugs.


=== Phase 5 — Engraved rehaut and final spec (~2005–2010) ===

Serial range: D series (roughly 2005 to 2006) through V series (production end around 2010).

Around 2005 the 16610 received the engraved inner rehaut, with repeating ROLEX ROLEX ROLEX text and the serial number at 6 o'clock. The engraving became standard across the Rolex sport line during this period as a further anti-counterfeiting step. Late 16610 dials may also show slightly larger lume plots, approaching the Maxi dial format that became standard on the 116610LN successor.

By the final years of production (2008–2010) the watch carried the current-spec bracelet (ref.93250 with SEL and Oysterlock clasp), engraved rehaut, LEC crystal, and Super-Luminova dial. The last production runs (V, N, M series) represent the fully evolved version of the platform, and that is what the 116610LN replaced with a new case and ceramic bezel.

The serial ranges above are collector approximations rather than Rolex-confirmed production records. Rolex produced in batches, and individual watches near a transition point may not match the expected specification. When authenticating a 16610, read the actual components — lug holes present or plugged, end-link type, dial text, crystal etching — rather than relying on the serial band as a guarantee.


== Movement notes ==
[[File:Ref 16610 movement-3135.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Caliber 3135 movement|Caliber 3135 movement]]
[[File:Ref 16610 movement-3135-detail.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Caliber 3135 detail|Caliber 3135 detail]]

Caliber 3135 ran unchanged through the entire 23-year production. It is a 28,800-vph automatic with quick-set date and Microstella regulation, shared with the Datejust and other professional Rolex references of the era. Power reserve is roughly 48 hours, and COSC certification appears on the dial from the start of the 16610 run.

The 3135 replaced the 3035 used in the preceding 16800 generation, carrying 31 jewels, quick-set date, and chronometer rating, and stayed in production well beyond the aluminum-bezel Submariner.

Later 3135 specimens received the Parachrom blue hairspring, a paramagnetic alloy that resists magnetic fields and temperature variation better than the older Breguet overcoil spring. The exact transition point for Parachrom in the 16610 is not firmly established.


== Case, bezel, crystal, and crown ==
[[File:Ref 16610 lume-shot.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Three lume technologies|Three lume technologies]]
[[File:Ref 16610 detail.jpg|thumb|right|250px|alt=Detail view|Detail view]]
[[File:Ref 16610 side-view.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Side profile|Side profile]]

The case is the 40mm crown-guard Oyster carried over from the 16800. Sapphire crystal with a Cyclops magnifier sits over the date window, and a black aluminum insert with a luminous pearl at 12 rides a serrated steel edge.

Four meaningful changes run across the production span. The drilled lug holes present from 1988 disappear around 2003. The Laser Etched Crown, etched on the underside of the sapphire at 6 o'clock, arrives at roughly the same moment. The engraved rehaut with repeating ROLEX text and the serial number appears around 2005. The bracelet evolves alongside, from stamped 501B end links on the 93150 to solid end links around 2001 and eventually the 93250 on an Oysterlock clasp.

Rotation is unidirectional with 120 clicks, each click worth half a minute of elapsed time. The insert is black anodized aluminum on the standard 16610; the [[Reference:16610LV|16610LV]] uses a green anodized insert.

Bezel material (aluminum), crystal type (sapphire with Cyclops), and crown type (Triplock) remained consistent across the 16610's life. The 116610LN successor arrived with a Cerachrom bezel, a Maxi case with wider lugs, and the Glidelock bracelet, a new platform under the same name.


== Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes ==
[[File:Ref 16610 bracelet-clasp.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Oyster bracelet clasp|Oyster bracelet clasp]]

The 16610 bracelet runs through three configurations across the production span: ref.93150 with stamped 501B end links and Fliplock clasp from 1988, the SEL upgrade around 2001, and ref.93250 with Oysterlock clasp on later production. The exact serial cutover from ref.93150 to ref.93250 has not been firmly established.

A clasp code dates the clasp, not the watch head. The stamp is useful for establishing bracelet provenance but cannot date the head.

The early diver's extension uses a fold-out design; later production refined this to a link-based system integrated into the Oysterlock clasp. The transition from hollow end links (HEL) to solid end links (SEL) is among the most closely tracked collector milestones in the reference.

Packaging follows period-based logic. The 16610 spans several Rolex packaging generations, from older green boxes through the later presentation packaging. Box, papers, and warranty card completeness is a significant factor for collector pricing.


== Special branches ==
[[File:Ref 16610 submariner-generations.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Submariner generations comparison|Submariner generations comparison]]
[[File:Ref 16610 comex-hero.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=COMEX 16610 Submariner|COMEX 16610 Submariner]]
[[File:Ref 16610 comex-dial.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=COMEX dial with logo|COMEX dial with logo]]
[[File:Ref 16610 comex-dial-detail.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=COMEX dial detail|COMEX dial detail]]
[[File:Ref 16610 comex-caseback.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=COMEX caseback engraving|COMEX caseback engraving]]
[[File:Ref 16610 comex-marking.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=COMEX marking detail|COMEX marking detail]]


=== Italian State Police ===

A small run of 16610s was issued to the Squadra Nautica, the surface-vessel arm of the Polizia di Stato. Sotheby's Important Watches (June 2021, lot 207) catalogued one such example circa 2002, accompanied by Rolex Official Chronometer Certification dated 9 April 2003, leather cardholder, hang tags, and squadra nautica and polizia patches; the caseback is inscribed and the dial, case, and movement are all standard Rolex production. The 16610 issue is distinct from the better-known [[Reference:16600|16600]] Sea-Dweller "Polipetto," a 78-piece run made in 2008 for the Sommozzatori (the Polizia di Stato dive corps) to mark the unit's fiftieth anniversary; the Polipetto carries the divers' octopus emblem at nine o'clock and is engraved POLIZIA DI STATO SOMMOZZATORI 1958–2008 on the caseback. Phillips Geneva Watch Auction NINE (May 2019, lot 15, hammer CHF 137,500) is the canonical Polipetto reference. Documentation on the 16610 Squadra Nautica issue is thinner — single-lot rather than systematic — and the run reads as a late-modern parallel to earlier institutional commissions rather than a tightly numbered series.


=== COMEX ===

Rolex produced COMEX-marked 16610 Submariners mainly between approximately 1989 and 1997, with later deliveries including a small batch around 2003–2004 and at least one M-serial example catalogued circa 2007. The Rolex-COMEX partnership itself ran earlier across the 5513 / 5514 / 1680 / 16800 generation; the 1989–1997 window is specifically the 16610 portion. The 16610 is the last Rolex model to carry the COMEX logo on its dial. With the exception of dial and caseback engravings, COMEX 16610s are otherwise identical to standard production: same caliber 3135, same case, same bracelet.

By the time of the 16610, diving technology had moved past the point where COMEX divers relied on mechanical wristwatches. The COMEX 16610s functioned as presentation and commemorative pieces rather than active diving tools, which means surviving examples tend to be in significantly better condition than older COMEX references ([[Reference:5513|5513]], [[Reference:5514|5514]], [[Reference:1680|1680]], [[Reference:16800|16800]]). They were never sold through stores, boutiques, or authorized dealers; they were issued directly to COMEX personnel.

The full lineage of COMEX-issued Rolex dive watches spans Submariner [[Reference:5513|5513]], [[Reference:5514|5514]], [[Reference:1680|1680]], [[Reference:16800|16800]], 168000, and 16610, plus Sea-Dweller 1665, 16660, and 16600. The 16610 sits at the end of this lineage; the Rolex-COMEX partnership ended before the next-generation Submariner was introduced.

Late COMEX 16610 authentication needs some caution because the commonly quoted issue-number range is not the whole story. Christie's catalogued an M-serial 16610 COMEX with issue number 6650 and described it as possibly one of the last Submariners delivered to COMEX, outside the usual recognised range for the reference. That kind of late example should be read from the full set of evidence: dial print, caseback issue engraving, case serial, papers, tags, and delivery context, not from the issue number alone.

COMEX 16610s are generally more affordable than older COMEX references ([[Reference:5514|5514]], [[Reference:1680|1680]]) but remain among the most collectible co-branded Rolex models. Watches with the COMEX logo on the dial command stronger premiums than those with caseback-only engravings.



=== GSPR — French presidential security ===

[[File:Ref 16610 government-gspr.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=16610 with GSPR caseback engraving and dial commission|16610 GSPR — caseback engraved with the GSPR logo and crown]]

A 2008-dated batch of thirty 16610s was made for the Groupe de sécurité de la présidence de la République, the gendarmerie unit responsible for protecting the French head of state from 1983 until the unit's 2007 reorganisation. Each watch is numbered N/30 on the caseback and engraved with the GSPR logo and crown rather than carrying the unit signature on the dial face. Antiquorum's Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces sale (December 2008, lot 471, ref. 16610, no. 11/30, case M910617) sold them with their fitted box, GSPR patch, badge, key ring, flag, and a frame of nine GSPR pins; recipients paid for the watches at issue. The branch reads as a late-modern parallel to earlier French institutional commissions and sits among the most strongly documented small-issue 16610 deliveries.


=== Panama Canal limited edition ===

[[File:Ref 16610 government-panama-canal.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=16610 Panama Canal limited edition dial|16610 Panama Canal limited edition — black dial, gilt canal emblem above 6 o'clock]]

Seventy-five steel 16610s were made for the December 1999 transfer of canal sovereignty from the United States to the Republic of Panama, retailed exclusively by Mercurio Joyero in Panama City. The dial carries a gilt Panama Canal emblem above six o'clock with the inscription "Panama Canal — Canal de Panamá"; the caseback is engraved with the limited-edition number around its periphery. A parallel run of seventy-five two-tone steel and yellow-gold examples uses the same dial layout — those circulate as the [[Reference:16613|16613]] Panama Canal. Sotheby's Important Watches 2024 sold one of the steel examples; the steel run is the more frequently surfaced of the two configurations.

=== 16610LV variant ===

The 16610LV ("Kermit") is its own reference rather than a sub-variant of the 16610. It uses the 16610 platform with a green aluminum bezel and Maxi dial.

LV stands for Lunette Verte, French for green bezel. Within the [[Reference:16610LV|16610LV]] collectors track the Flat 4 versus Sharp 4 bezel numerals, a subtle difference in how the numeral 4 at the 40 position on the insert is rendered. The [[Reference:16610LV|16610LV]] also introduced the Maxi dial, with larger hour indices and broader hands, as a standard format, a layout that carried forward to the [[Reference:116610LN|116610LN]].


== Authentication ==

The tritium-to-Luminova transition created a short authentication shorthand that doubles as the fastest way to date a 16610. T SWISS T or SWISS T<25 at 6 o'clock indicates a tritium dial from the 1988 to roughly 1998 era. A bare SWISS reading places the dial in the short Luminova transition of 1998 to 2000. SWISS MADE covers the settled Super-LumiNova era from 2000 to the end of production.

Rolex servicing in the 2000s routinely fitted Luminova dials to tritium-era watches because tritium dials were no longer being manufactured. A pre-A serial (pre-1999) wearing a SWISS MADE dial has almost certainly had a service replacement. The Luminova dial is not incorrect, since Rolex fitted it, but it is no longer the original configuration, and collectors treat the swap as a significant deduction.

A tritium dial on a tritium-era serial carries a premium for the honest patina and the confidence that the watch has not been redialed. When buying a pre-Y serial 16610, read the dial text before anything else.


== Historical market and auction record ==

The 16610 is one of the most available pre-ceramic Submariners on the secondary market, which keeps prices below the rarer 16800 and the shorter-production 16610LV. A 23-year production run means high absolute production numbers, and the reference was never limited or specialty. The 16610-to-16610LV production ratio is widely reported on collector forums at roughly five or six to one in favour of the standard reference, but no published source confirms that figure.

As the gap between aluminum-bezel and ceramic-bezel Submariners widens, attention within the 16610 has concentrated on tritium dials, the Swiss-only transitional dials, and early examples still carrying both lug holes and stamped end links.

== Auction record ==

Documented major-house lots covering the 16610 production span and its strongest special branches. Estimates given where hammer figures sit behind a sign-in wall.

|-
| 2025-06-12 || Christie's Important Watches (New York) || lot 6584442 || c.2007, late stickered 16610 COMEX, case M300437, COMEX issue no. 6650, with undated International Guarantee, sales tag, hang tag, leather card holder, product literature, presentation box and outer packaging || sold

{| class="wikitable"
! Date !! House / sale !! Lot !! Configuration !! Result
|-
| 2019-05-21 || Sotheby's Class of 2019 (New York) || 15 || c.1994, black tritium dial, case W596821, movement 7262247 || est. USD 7,000–10,000
|-
| 2020-08-04 || Sotheby's Watches Weekly (New York) || 1056 (paired stainless 16610 lot) || c.1991, early tritium-era stainless, sibling to a 16613 in the same series || est. USD 8,000–12,000 (lot family)
|-
| 2020-09-15 || Sotheby's Watches (New York) || 304 || c.2002, black Luminova-era dial, case Y451547, movement 39175326, on stainless Oyster || est. USD 7,000–9,000
|-
| 2020-09-04 || Sotheby's Watches Weekly (New York) || 108 || c.2002, black Luminova dial, case Y841396, on Oyster with hang tag || est. USD 7,000–9,000
|-
| 2021-06-10 || Sotheby's Important Watches (New York) || 207 || c.2002, Italian State Police Squadra Nautica issue, case Y641302, with chronometer certification dated 9 April 2003, leather cardholder, squadra nautica and polizia patches, hang tags || est. USD 30,000–50,000
|-
| 2023-06-15 || Sotheby's Fine Watches (online) || 433 || c.1989, earliest tritium production, case L386867, movement 5259963, on stainless Oyster || est. USD 6,000–8,000
|-
| 2008-12 || Antiquorum Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces (Geneva) || 471 || c.2008, GSPR (French presidential security) issue no. 11/30, case M910617, with fitted box, GSPR patch, badge, key ring, flag, and a frame of nine GSPR pins || sold (institutional issue)
|}

== Sources ==
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/how-to-start-collecting-the-rolex-submariner The Rolex Submariner: A Complete Collector's Guide] — Stephen Pulvirent, Sotheby's
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/rolex-submariner-history-part-2-the-55xx-1680references/ History of the Rolex Submariner - Part 2, The 55XX References and 1680 Date] — Tom Mulraney, Monochrome
* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/rolex-submariner-14060m/ Rolex Submariner 14060M Review] (Fratello)

* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-rolex-submariner-that-bridges-the-gap-between-vintage-and-modern The Spec Sheet: The 16610 Submariner] — Hodinkee, 2022
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-blog/watch-review/comex-rolex-submariner-16610.html COMEX Rolex Submariner 16610] — Bob's Watches, 2021
* [https://www.swisswatchexpo.com/thewatchclub/2023/12/19/rolex-submariner-16610-buying-guide/ Rolex Submariner 16610 Buying Guide] — SwissWatchExpo, 2023


== Related references ==

The 16610 hosted the late-period [[Reference:comex|COMEX]] issue, the final reference in the COMEX program before Rolex ended institutional supply in 1997. The [[Reference:submariner|Submariner family hub]] tracks the wider line.

[[Category:Submariner]]
[[Category:Working Draft]]

User talk:Admin

2026-05-29T17:05:11Z

Klaudiusz: Pending audit edit on Reference:116710LN (proposal #19) needs review

Reference:116710LN

2026-05-29T17:05:10Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #19 ref=116710LN agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout,bar_raiser (FlaggedRevs pending review)

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|keywords=Rolex, 116710LN, GMT-Master, specifications, reference guide
|image=Ref 116710LN hero.jpg
|image_alt=Steel GMT, black Cerachrom bezel
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|published_time=2026-04-18T22:34:19Z
|modified_time=2026-04-29T02:46:20Z
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[[Reference:gmt-master|GMT-Master]] -> '''116710LN'''

The [[Reference:116710LN|116710LN]] is the watch that moved the steel GMT-Master II into the ceramic era. It replaced the aluminium-bezel 16710 in 2007 with a black Cerachrom insert, a widened Super Case, and the late-run caliber 3186 architecture that had already entered the reference 16710 at the end of its life. For most of its twelve-year run it carried the "Lunette Noire" shorthand that Monochrome used in period press, and the "LN" suffix in the reference denotes that black-bezel configuration.

The Batman followed in 2013 and the ceramic Pepsi 126710BLRO arrived later in a narrower case generation, and the 116710LN spent most of its run in their shadow. Auction-record depth is thin relative to those flanking references, though the watch carries genuine collector substance on its own terms.



[[File:Ref 116710LN hero.jpg|thumb|right|250px|alt=Steel GMT, black Cerachrom bezel|Steel GMT, black Cerachrom bezel]]

== Core facts ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| [[Reference:116710LN|116710LN]]
|-
| family
| GMT-Master II
|-
| production
| 2007-2019
|-
| movement
| caliber 3186
|-
| case
| 40mm Oystersteel Oyster case, Super Case generation
|-
| crystal
| sapphire with Cyclops
|-
| water resistance
| 100m
|-
| bezel
| black Cerachrom with platinum-filled numerals
|-
| key identity
| first steel GMT-Master II with a ceramic bezel
|}


== Where it sits in the line ==

The 116710LN sits between two eras of the steel GMT-Master II. Upstream, it replaces the aluminium-bezel 16710, the long-running neo-vintage reference. Downstream, it is the final single-colour black-ceramic steel GMT-Master II before the 126710 generation arrives with a narrower case, a Jubilee-bracelet option, and caliber 3285. Fratello reads it as the last all-black-bezel steel GMT-Master II, which is the cleanest placement inside the family arc.

A two-tone sibling sits alongside it. Rolex launched the [[Reference:116713LN|116713LN]] a year earlier in 2006 as the first GMT-Master II with a Cerachrom bezel, and the steel-only 116710LN followed in 2007. Both carry the same bezel language and the same movement architecture.


== Production outline ==

Production runs from 2007 through 2019. The 2007 launch is uncontested across the published coverage. The 2019 discontinuation ties to a single Baselworld event. Rolex introduced the Jubilee-bracelet [[Reference:126710BLNR|126710BLNR]] and simultaneously retired both the 116710LN and the Oyster-bracelet [[Reference:116710BLNR|116710BLNR]], a step Monochrome covered in period as part of the 2019 collection rationalisation.

The defining internal date is 2007 itself. Rolex positioned the reference as the first stainless-steel GMT-Master II with a ceramic bezel, and Monochrome's 2013 retrospective records steady early demand from collectors who wanted the Cerachrom update without waiting for the two-colour bezels that came later in the line.


== Movement notes ==

The 116710LN runs caliber 3186 for its entire production life. The movement was already in service at the tail end of the 16710 run, where it arrived as the late upgrade over caliber 3185. Here it is the baseline from day one. The 3186 carries a blue Parachrom hairspring, Paraflex shock protection, and the revised GMT wheel that improved the independent-hour-hand mechanism. Power reserve is 48 hours.

The same 3186 powers the 116710BLNR Batman, which is why collectors group the two ceramic-bezel siblings together at the movement level even when the bezels and dial signatures separate them visually.


== Dial map ==

[[File:Ref 116710LN dial-detail.jpg|thumb|right|300px|alt=Black dial with green signature line|Black dial with green signature line]]

The 116710LN has one cataloged dial configuration: glossy black with a green "GMT-Master II" signature line and a green 24-hour hand. The green signature line is the identifying mark. The Batman deletes that line and runs a blue 24-hour hand instead.

Early examples carry Super-LumiNova; Rolex rolled its blue-emitting Chromalight compound across the Super Case sports references around 2008, and most of the 116710LN run uses it. Collectors read Chromalight as the modern dividing line between the 16710's tritium / Luminova / Super-Luminova history and the ceramic generation that followed. Patina is not part of the 116710LN conversation the way it is on a 1998 T<25 16710. Chromalight plots on a 2010 example look the same as on a 2018 example.

Two documented special dials exist. Sotheby's catalogued a 116710LN carrying the Omani Khanjar emblem, dated circa 2010. Bonhams London Watches offered a "Sea King" commission produced around 2014 for UK Ministry of Defence personnel, a 123-piece batch marking the retirement of the Royal Navy's Sea King helicopter fleet. Both are institutional-commission dials rather than Rolex-catalogue variants, and both sit outside the standard black-printed configuration.


== Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes ==

[[File:Ref 116710LN bezel-detail.jpg|thumb|right|300px|alt=Black Cerachrom bezel close-up|Black Cerachrom bezel close-up]]
[[File:Ref 116710LN caseback.jpg|thumb|right|300px|alt=Caseback detail|Caseback detail]]

The case is the Super Case generation that rolled across the Rolex sports catalogue from the mid-2000s onward. Compared to the 16710, the lugs are wider, the crown guards heavier, the overall wrist presence more substantial. Fratello dates the Super Case architecture to a 2005-onward programme that the 116710-series inherits in full.

The bezel is the defining feature. Cerachrom is Rolex's ceramic trademark, and the black insert on the 116710LN is the first time it appeared on a steel GMT-Master II. Numerals and markings are recessed into the ceramic and filled with platinum via a PVD process, which is why they stay white and bright after years of wear. The contrast against the 16710 is straightforward. Aluminium inserts faded in UV light and scratched from day-to-day wear. The Cerachrom insert does neither.

The crystal is sapphire with a Cyclops over the date. The crown is a Triplock screw-down crown, replacing the earlier Twinlock setup while retaining the 100m water-resistance rating.


== Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes ==

[[File:Ref 116710LN bracelet-detail.jpg|thumb|right|300px|alt=Oyster bracelet and clasp|Oyster bracelet and clasp]]

The 116710LN ships on an Oyster bracelet with solid end links. The Oysterclasp carries the Easylink 5mm comfort extension, a tool-free on-wrist micro-adjustment. Glidelock, the longer micro-adjustment system Rolex uses on the Submariner and Sea-Dweller, never reached the GMT-Master II line.

Full-set packaging is Rolex's standard presentation box, the International Guarantee card, and the swing tags. Auction lot descriptions for late-production 116710LN examples set the same full-set expectation as the 116710BLNR.


== Special branches ==


=== Khanjar dial ===

The Khanjar is the Omani state emblem, a ceremonial curved dagger printed on selected Rolex dials commissioned by the Omani royal family. The Sotheby's circa-2010 lot places a Khanjar-dial 116710LN inside the reference's early production run and is the strongest institutional-provenance example documented for the reference.


=== Sea King ===

The Sea King is a British military commemorative produced around 2014, one of 123 pieces marking the retirement of the Royal Navy's Sea King helicopter fleet. Bonhams London Watches offered one example with an estimate of GBP 20,000 to 25,000. A 123-piece institutional batch this late in the reference's life shows the 116710LN was still drawing meaningful institutional commissions in the mid-2010s.


== Historical market and auction record ==

The auction record is limited but not empty. Phillips catalogued a 116710LN engraved "TO ERIC SO MANY THANKS PAUL 2009" at the Hong Kong Watch Auction XVII, a piece gifted to Eric Clapton by Paul Stewart. The engraving puts a rare celebrity-provenance anchor on a reference whose major-house lot history is otherwise sparse. Sotheby's and Bonhams carry the Khanjar and Sea King institutional-commission examples described above.

Secondary-market pricing since discontinuation sits below the Batman sibling. Fratello's 2021 comparison against the 126710GRNR uses the 116710LN's last-all-black-bezel position to anchor its market identity. Late-production full-set lots at the major auction houses remain scarce, and 2019 final-year examples have so far surfaced primarily through the secondary market rather than catalog auctions.

== Sources ==
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/an-early-retrospective-rolex-gmt-master-ii-lunette-noire-ceramic/ An Early Retrospective – Rolex GMT-Master II Lunette Noire Ceramic] — Evan Yeung, Monochrome Watches
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-gmt-master-and-gmt-master-ii-1955-2024-iconic-traveller-watch-in-depth-review/ In-Depth: The History of the Rolex GMT-Master and GMT-Master II] — Monochrome
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/ceramic-bezel-close-up-of-the-rolex-gmt-master-ii-ref-116710ln/ Ceramic Bezel close-up of the Rolex GMT-Master II ref. 116710LN] — Fratello Watches
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/sunday-morning-showdown-rolex-gmt-master-ii-126710grnr-vs-116710ln/ Sunday Morning Showdown: Rolex GMT-Master II 126710GRNR Vs. 116710LN] — Fratello Watches
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/fasten-your-seatbelts-rolex-gmt-master-history/ Fasten Your Seatbelts: Rolex GMT-Master History and Overview of All Major References] — Fratello editorial, Fratello Watches
* [http://www.thewatchobserver.com/tests-watches/gmt-master-ii-116710ln-4707/ Test of the Rolex GMT-Master II 116710LN] — The Watch Observer editorial, The Watch Observer
* [https://www.chrono24.com/magazine/a-long-term-review-of-the-rolex-gmt-master-ii-ref-116710ln-p_152909/ A Long-Term Review of the Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 116710LN] — Chrono24 Magazine
* [https://www.xupes.com/magazine/article/2021/02/12/the-forgotten-reference-series-the-rolex-gmt-master-ii-116710ln The Forgotten Reference Series: The Rolex GMT-Master II 116710LN] — Xupes editorial, Xupes
* [http://luxurytyme.com/en/rolex-reviews/review-the-rolex-gmt-master-ii-116713-ln-116710-ln/ Review: The Rolex GMT Master II 116713 LN & 116710 LN] — Luxury Tyme
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-blog/watch-review/rolexs-ultra-cool-pilot-watch-gmt-master-ii-116710ln.html Rolex GMT-Master II 116710LN Ultimate Buying Guide] — Bob's Watches
* [https://watchcharts.com/watch_model/53-rolex-gmt-master-ii-116710/overview Rolex GMT-Master II 116710 Price Overview] — WatchCharts
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/HK080423/868 Rolex 116710LN GMT-Master II engraved to Eric Clapton — Hong Kong Watch Auction XVII] — Phillips
* [https://www.bonhams.com/press_release/40979/ Rolex 116710LN Sea King — Bonhams London Watches] — Bonhams
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/important-watches/reference-116710ln-khanjar-gmt-master-ii-a Reference 116710LN Khanjar GMT-Master II — Important Watches 2024] — Sotheby's

[[Category:GMT-Master]]
[[Category:Working Draft]]

User talk:Admin

2026-05-29T14:41:25Z

Klaudiusz: Pending audit edit on Reference:5513 (proposal #17) needs review

Reference:5513

2026-05-29T13:38:53Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #17 ref=5513 agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout (FlaggedRevs pending review)

{{#seo:
|title=Rolex 5513 Submariner — Production, Dial Variants, Serial Ranges | BezelBase
|description=Rolex 5513 reference guide covering production from about 1962 to 1990, dial eras from gilt to matte to late gloss, movement fitment, bracelet fitment, and the main originality traps.
|keywords=Rolex, 5513, Submariner, specifications, reference guide
|image=Ref 5513 dial-detail 2.webp
|image_alt=Late gloss 5513
|type=article
|og_type=article
|published_time=2026-04-14T15:49:40Z
|modified_time=2026-04-29T02:49:43Z
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
}}

[[Reference:submariner|Submariner]] -> '''5513'''

The 5513 is the long-run no-date Submariner, the cheaper non-chronometer partner to the 5512, produced from about 1962 to 1989/1990 across twenty-seven continuous years. Early watches are gloss gilt, most of the run is matte, and the final years return to gloss with white-gold surrounds.



[[File:Ref 5513 dial-detail 2.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Late gloss 5513|Late gloss 5513]]

== Core facts ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| 5513
|-
| family
| Submariner (no date, non-chronometer)
|-
| production
| approximately 1962 to 1989/1990
|-
| total production
| 151,449 units
|-
| movement
| caliber 1530 (early), 1520 (long run)
|-
| case
| 40mm, crown guards
|-
| crystal
| acrylic
|-
| position
| non-chronometer counterpart to the 5512
|}


== Where it sits in the line ==

The 5513 sits next to the 5512, not above it. The 5512 was the premium no-date chronometer. The 5513 was the cheaper non-chronometer, sold in far greater volume and with the cleaner two-line dial.


== Production outline ==


=== Early gilt ===

The first 5513 watches use a glossy black lacquer dial with gilt printing rather than the later matte style. This phase runs from about 1962 to 1966.


=== Late gilt and Bart Simpson ===
[[File:Ref 5513 bart-simpson-coronet.jpg|thumb|right|220px|alt=5513 Bart Simpson coronet gilt gloss dial|5513 Bart Simpson coronet gilt gloss dial]]Late gilt examples lead into the Bart Simpson branch, collector shorthand for a coronet whose points look flatter and wider than the earlier shape. The branch carries its own typographic diagnostics.


=== Matte run ===
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-dial-sequence.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=5513 matte dial sequence — meters first to Maxi V|5513 matte dial sequence — meters first to Maxi V]]

Most 5513 watches are matte-dial watches. The matte years run from about 1966 to 1984, starting with meters-first dials (200m before 660ft), moving through serif and non-serif matte variants, and ending with the late Maxi branch and its larger lume plots.


=== Late gloss ===

In the final years, the 5513 picks up a gloss dial with white-gold surrounds while keeping the old acrylic no-date case. Late-run examples from 1988 and 1989 show the formula clearly, usually on 93150 bracelets.


== Movement notes ==

Early 5513 watches ran caliber 1530; the long-run production used caliber 1520. The exact handover is not pinned to a clean dated cutover.

Early non-COSC 5512 examples share the 1530, consistent with the 5513's position as the non-chronometer alternative to the 5512. The 5513 never used the 1560 or 1570 chronometer calibers of the 5512 track.


== Dial timeline ==
[[File:Ref 5513 dial-detail.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Gilt-dial 5513 close-up|Gilt-dial 5513 close-up]]
[[File:Ref 5513 classic-coronet-dial-detail.jpg|thumb|right|220px|alt=5513 classic coronet gilt gloss dial|5513 classic coronet gilt gloss dial]]

The dial timeline splits three ways: early gilt, the long matte middle, and late gloss at the end.

Serial bands below are collector approximations based on caseback stamps and surviving examples, not Rolex factory records. Watches near any transition point can blur the expected specification.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! genre
! approx. years
! quick tell
! why it matters
|-
| Explorer dial
| 1962–1965
| 3-6-9 numerals on an early gilt dial
| rare special branch, usually linked to UK-market examples
|-
| Underline / Double Swiss Underline
| 1963–1964
| underline print and early pointed crown-guard context
| narrow transitional window around the radium-to-tritium change
|-
| Open chapter ring gilt
| 1964–1966
| gloss gilt dial with open outer minute track
| main late-gilt commercial branch
|-
| Bart Simpson
| around 1966
| wide, flat coronet in late gilt production
| most recognisable late-gilt subtype
|-
| Meters-first matte
| 1966–1970
| depth rating reads 200m before 660ft
| first matte generation
|-
| Serif / non-serif matte
| 1970–1976
| feet-first matte dial with marker and font diagnostics
| core middle run of the reference
|-
| Pre COMEX
| 1976–1977
| fat coronet and unusual "=" placement
| brief bridge between standard matte and Maxi dials
|-
| Maxi Mk I–V
| 1977–1984
| larger lume plots and mark-specific text alignment
| most collected late-matte subgroup
|-
| Late gloss
| 1984–1990
| gloss dial with white-gold surrounds
| bridge into the modern Submariner look
|}


=== Explorer dial (approx. 1962–1965) ===
[[File:Ref 5513 dial-variant-explorer.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Explorer-dial 5513|Explorer-dial 5513]]

Explorer-dial 5513 examples exist from the earliest production run and are among the most sought-after 5513 variants. The layout replaces the standard rectangular lume plots at 3, 6, and 9 o'clock with the Arabic numerals 3, 6, and 9 — borrowed directly from the Explorer — while keeping slim luminous batons at the remaining hours. Dial text is reduced in size to give the numerals room.

Stephen Pulvirent's Hodinkee Reference Points piece on the Submariner notes that Explorer-dial Submariners "seemed to have been made for the UK market"; the UK concentration has never been conclusively explained. Most surviving examples came from UK distribution channels, and Explorer-dial 5512 examples from the same period share the same UK-market skew. For rarity context: Phillips has sold only 15 Explorer-dial Submariner examples across all references (6200, 6538, 5510, 5512, 5513) combined. Fifteen total.


=== Underline (approx. 1963–1964) ===
[[File:Ref 5513 dial-variant-underline.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Underline 5513|Underline 5513]]
[[File:Ref 5513 dial-variant-double-swiss-underline.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Double Swiss underline 5513|Double Swiss underline 5513]]

Certain early gilt 5513 dials carry an underline (a short printed line) just below the depth rating and "Submariner" text at six o'clock. These are transitional pieces that appear across several Rolex sport references in the same period; the marking is a Rolex-wide production phenomenon. Most Underline 5513 examples also carry Cornino (pointed) crown guards, consistent with their position in early production.


=== Double Swiss Underline (approx. 1963) ===

A rarer sub-variant of the Underline. Here the underline sits beneath the Rolex signature at 12 o'clock rather than at 6 o'clock, and the dial carries two "Swiss" text printings at the bottom: one gilt, in line with an open chapter ring, and one white just below it. The Double Swiss phenomenon appears across multiple Rolex references from this period. The Double Swiss Underline 5513 is documented in collector literature as among the last 5513 examples to feature pointed (Cornino) crown guards, which sets the crown guard transition to rounded guards at approximately 1963 for the 5513.


=== Gilt, Open Chapter Ring (approx. 1964–1966) ===
[[File:Ref 5513 dial-variant-open-chapter-ring.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Open chapter ring 5513|Open chapter ring 5513]]

Once the Underline and Double Swiss variants are past, the main gilt 5513 body uses an open chapter ring: the gilt hash marks around the dial perimeter are not connected by a solid ring on the outer edge. The openness is the visual diagnostic. The outer perimeter of the minute track shows either hash marks that float free or hash marks that connect into a closed band. No underline, no exclamation marks. These are the cleanest, most straightforward early gilt 5513 examples.


=== Bart Simpson (approx. 1966, serials approximately 1.4M–1.5M) ===

Late gilt production brings what the collector community and auction catalogues call the Bart Simpson dial. The Rolex coronet reads as a Bart Simpson face in silhouette, with wider points, and the deep yellow color from late galvanic gilt metallurgy amplifies the cartoon resemblance. Typical serial range is 1.4M to 1.5M, with examples appearing as early as 1.3M and as late as 1.6M. Bart Simpson 5512 examples also exist but are much rarer by volume.

Beyond the coronet shape, the Bart Simpson dial has several authentication details that distinguish it from the classic coronet gilt dial that immediately preceded it:

* The "L" in ROLEX sits to the left of center, underneath the coronet.
* The "P" in PERPETUAL falls directly under the extended part of the serif on the "L" in ROLEX.
* In the depth rating, the "2" and "0" align directly over the "S" and "U" in SUBMARINER.
* The 6s in the depth rating are open.
* The horizontal bars of the "f" and "t" in "ft" are aligned (co-linear).

The classic coronet gilt dial that immediately precedes the Bart Simpson (typically in the 1.1M to 1.3M serial range, with examples in the very late 1.0M range) differs on several of these points:

* The "P" in PERPETUAL sits farther to the left, positioned underneath the "L" in ROLEX rather than under the serif extension.
* The shape of the letter "S" in SUBMARINER is distinctly different from the Bart Simpson version.
* The horizontal bars of the "f" and "t" in "ft" are not aligned.
* The coronet itself has cleaner, more defined lines compared to the Bart Simpson's wider, flatter points.

Some overlap exists during the transition between the classic coronet and the Bart Simpson dial. The classic coronet dial is also commonly seen with an underline in serial ranges corresponding to 1963.


=== Matte, Meters First (approx. 1966–1970, serials approximately 1.6M to 2.2M) ===
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-meters-first-tritium-flat.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Flat tritium|Flat tritium (late)]]
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-meters-first-tritium-dome.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Dome tritium|Dome tritium (mid)]]
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-meters-first-tritium-thin.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Thin tritium|Thin tritium (early)]]
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-meters-first-swiss-t25.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=SWISS T<25 spanning five hash marks|SWISS T<25 spanning five hash marks]]
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-meters-first-detail-2.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Meters first depth rating detail|Meters first depth rating detail]]
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-meters-first-detail.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Meters first dial detail|Meters first dial detail]]

The transition from gilt-gloss to meters-first matte dials started around the 1.6M serial range (approximately 1966). By serial 1.7M (1968), the meters-first matte dial was in full production. The depth rating puts metric units first ("200m = 660ft"), which is why collectors call them meters-first. The shift to feet-first depth ratings overlaps in the 2.2M serial range (late 1969 to early 1970), where both meters-first and feet-first dials appear.

Authentication details for the Meters First dial:

* The "L" in "ROLEX" has very little if any serif on top and is centered under the coronet.
* The 6s in the depth rating are semi-open: the top of the 6 appears rotated a couple of degrees clockwise (may require a 10x loupe to confirm).
* The "S" in "SUBMARINER" has a characteristic shape: the top part is straight across, and the middle horizontal portion sits closer to the top than the bottom.
* "SWISS - T < 25" at the bottom of the dial spans five minute hash marks. This is wider than subsequent matte dials, which span only three hash marks. (A short run of 5512 meters-first matte dials had "SWISS - T < 25" across only three hash marks, but no 5513 example with this narrower spacing is known.)

Tritium application varies across the meters-first production run: early examples have a very thin layer of tritium that can appear very white and may be hard to detect without a loupe; mid-production examples show more dome-like tritium plots; late production examples have tritium applied in a flat layer, similar to the style used throughout the 1970s.


=== Non-serif, first run (late 1969–1970, serials approximately early 2.0M) ===
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-serif-nonserif-timeline.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Serif vs non-serif timeline|Serif vs non-serif timeline]]
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-serif-detail-2.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Serif hour marker flair|Serif hour marker flair]]
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-nonserif-detail-2.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Non-serif hour marker corners|Non-serif hour marker corners]]The first non-serif dials appear in the very early 2.0M serial range (late 1969 to early 1970), immediately following the meters-first dials. The depth rating switches to feet first ("660ft = 200m"). The "=" sign sits above and slightly to the right of the "A" in "SUBMARINER." "SUBMARINER" is printed below the depth rating. The 6s in the depth rating are open.

The non-serif dial is identified by the corners of the 3, 6, and 9 o'clock hour markers, which form perfect 90-degree angles with no extensions or flair. The middle horizontal stroke of the "E" in "ROLEX" has an abundance of serif at its end. The "P" in "PERPETUAL" is shifted to the left relative to the "L" in "ROLEX" above it.


=== Serif (1970–1973, serials approximately early/mid 2.0M to late 3.0M/early 4.0M) ===

Serif dials introduce small extensions (sharp points or "flair") at the corners of the 3, 6, and 9 o'clock hour markers. This is the distinguishing feature from the non-serif dial. The middle horizontal stroke of the "E" in "ROLEX" has no serif at its end, the opposite of the non-serif dial. The depth rating remains feet first, with the "=" sign above and slightly to the right of the "A" in "SUBMARINER." "SUBMARINER" is printed below the depth rating.

Tritium was hand-applied and can cover the serif extensions on hour markers, making a Serif dial look like a Non-serif. When the hour markers are ambiguous, the "E" in "ROLEX" resolves it: abundance of serif on the middle stroke means non-serif dial; no serif on the middle stroke means serif dial.

The Serif dial is the most common early-to-mid matte genre and the one most collectors picture when they think of a matte 5513.


=== Non-serif, second run (1973–1976, serials approximately late 3.0M to early/mid 5.0M) ===

The dial printing returns to non-serif text in the mid-1970s. The transition back from serif to non-serif began in the late 3.0M serial range. This second non-serif phase runs until the Pre COMEX dial appears in the early-to-mid 5.0M range. The same hour-marker and "E" in "ROLEX" diagnostics apply as in the first non-serif run.


=== Pre COMEX (approx. 1976–1977, serials approximately 5.0M) ===
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-precomex-dial-detail.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Pre COMEX dial detail|Pre COMEX dial detail]]
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-precomex-detail-2.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Pre COMEX text detail|Pre COMEX text detail]]

The term "Pre COMEX" was coined by Ed Delgado on the Vintage Rolex Forum on October 24, 2008, to describe dials with characteristics very similar to some COMEX 5514 dials. This dial sits between the second non-serif run and the Maxi I.

Authentication details:

* The coronet is somewhat smudgy and noticeably fat at the bottom, wider than the Maxi I coronet that follows.
* The top of the "L" in "ROLEX" has a tremendous amount of serif and sits to the left of center under the coronet.
* The 6s in the depth rating are open.
* The "=" sign in the depth rating sits above and to the left of center of the "A" in "SUBMARINER," a key differentiator from other matte dials where it sits to the right or directly above.
* "SUBMARINER" is printed below the depth rating.
* The "S" in "SUBMARINER" has a normal appearance (not the zig-zag shape seen on Maxi I and IV).

Quick identification: a smudge-like coronet with an "L" with abundant serif underneath, depth rating above "SUBMARINER," and the "=" sign above and slightly to the left of the "A." That combination identifies a Pre COMEX dial.


=== Maxi MK I through MK V (1977–1984) ===
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-maxi-v-dial-detail.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Maxi V dial|Maxi V dial]]
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-maxi-iv-dial-detail.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Maxi IV dial|Maxi IV dial]]
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-maxi-iii-dial-detail.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Maxi III lollipop dial|Maxi III lollipop dial]]
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-maxi-ii-dial-detail.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Maxi II dial|Maxi II dial]]
[[File:Ref 5513 matte-maxi-i-dial-detail.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=Maxi I dial|Maxi I dial]]
[[File:Ref 5513 dial-variant-maxi.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=5513 Maxi dial|5513 Maxi dial]]
[[File:Ref 5513 dial-variant-maxi 2.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=5513 Maxi dial detail|5513 Maxi dial detail]]

The Maxi era introduces noticeably larger lume plots and bolder printing. Collectors call the late-1970s large-plot matte 5513 dials Maxi dials; modern Submariner references later used the same term for enlarged marker layouts. Collectors break the Maxi phase into five marks, MK I through MK V, based on lume plot size, text position, and specific typographic details. All Maxi dials have coronets that are narrower at the bottom than the Serif and Pre COMEX dials. All Maxi dials have open 6s in the depth rating. All Maxi dials except the Maxi I have "SUBMARINER" printed above the depth rating.

Two identifiers recur across Maxi dials and serve as quick sorting tools:

The "=" sign position relative to the "A" in SUBMARINER sorts Maxi I through V quickly: Maxi I has it directly above the "A"; Maxi II directly below and in the middle of the "A"; Maxi III uses the "200m" alignment instead, with the two 0s in "200m" lining up under the "N" and "E" of "SUBMARINER"; Maxi IV directly below the "A" but shifted slightly to the right; Maxi V directly below and in the middle of the "A."

The "S" shape in "SUBMARINER" is the second quick sort. A zig-zag S (resembling a backwards capital Z) appears on Maxi I and Maxi IV. A normal S appears on Maxi II, Maxi III, and Maxi V.

MK I (1977–1978, serials early/mid 5.0M to early 6.0M): The last matte dial with "SUBMARINER" printed below the depth rating. Tritium hour plots are very large but do not touch the minute marks. The coronet is tapered and slender at the bottom, a key distinction from the preceding Pre COMEX's fat coronet. Carries the zig-zag S in "SUBMARINER." The "=" sign sits directly above the "A" in "SUBMARINER."

MK II (1978, serials 5.0M to early 6.0M): The first matte dial with "SUBMARINER" printed above the depth rating. "SUBMARINER" is shorter in length than the depth rating below it. The "f" in the depth rating lacks serif. Normal "S" in "SUBMARINER." The "=" sign sits directly below and in the middle of the "A."

MK III (approximately 1978, serials 5.0M to 6.0M): Large tritium hour plots that often appear to touch the five-minute hash marks (nicknamed "lollipop"), though under magnification they do not always make contact. "SUBMARINER" above the depth rating and shorter in length. Large open 6s. The "f" in the depth rating has a distinctive serif. The two 0s in "200m" line up directly underneath the "N" and "E" in "SUBMARINER."

MK IV (approximately 1981, serials late 6.0M to late 7.0M): "SUBMARINER" above the depth rating and shorter in length. Shares the zig-zag S with Maxi I. The "=" sign sits directly below the "A" but shifted slightly to the right, distinguishing it from Maxi II where it is centered.

MK V (serials 7.0M to 8.0M, through approximately 1984): "SUBMARINER" printed above the depth rating, but unlike Maxi II–IV, the "SUBMARINER" text is longer than the depth rating below it — a unique characteristic among Maxi dials. Open 6s. The "f" in the depth rating lacks serif. The "=" sign sits directly below and in the middle of the "A." Production continued until approximately 1984 when the black gloss dial with white-gold surrounds was introduced.


=== Gloss (1984–1990) ===

The final 5513 dials return to a glossy finish, but with white-gold surrounds around the hour markers rather than the gilt printing of the early era. This is the late gloss phase that bridges the acrylic-crystal 5513 and the later modern Submariner world. Gloss 5513 dials are visually distinct from everything that came before and sit in their own collecting lane.


== Dial map ==

Collectors usually split the 5513 into four families: early gilt, late-gilt Bart Simpson, the long matte middle, and late gloss. Named sub-variants live inside those families.


== Case, bezel, crystal, and crown ==

The 5513 case form stays stable across the run: a 40mm crown-guard case, acrylic crystal, and rotating dive bezel. The case changes less than the dial. Most of the hard originality work sits in inserts, crowns, and later service parts.


=== Crown guard transition ===

The first 5513s start with pointed Cornino crown guards inherited from the 5512. Rounded guards take over by the mid-1960s and stay there through the rest of the run. The shift covers a transition zone of overlapping production rather than a single dated cutover.


== Dial originality and service dials ==

The dial is the biggest originality trap on the 5513. Long production and hard service life mean correct dials, later service dials, and outright bad dials all circulate on honest-looking cases.

Matte 5513 dials from the 1970s and 1980s are frequent service-replacement territory. Font weight, text sizing, and depth-rating format should all match the case period. A dial that looks too fresh for the case deserves scrutiny.

Maxi dials attract premiums, so they attract replacement and misidentified parts too. The mark has to match the serial-era logic, lume plot size, and text arrangement.

The lower dial text is one of the easier cross-checks. A case and dial from different eras often give themselves away here.

Early gilt 5513 dials carry the same premium and the same risk as early 5512 dials. Coronet shape, chapter-ring style, and print character all have to match the period.

The dial deserves its own pass against the case. Bracelet drift is common on long-run references; dial drift carries more weight on the 5513 because the matte and Maxi premiums sit on the dial itself.


== Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes ==
[[File:Ref 5513 bracelet-detail 2.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Meters-first matte 5513 on Oyster bracelet|Meters-first matte 5513 on Oyster bracelet]]
[[File:Ref 5513 bracelet-detail.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Late gloss 5513 on Oyster bracelet|Late gloss 5513 on Oyster bracelet]]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! bracelet
! end links
! note
|-
| 7206
| 80
| early rivet-era fitment
|-
| 9315
| 280 or 380
| documented by the early 1970s
|-
| 93150
| 580
| late-run fitment and common later replacement
|}

The table is a fitment map. A clasp code dates the bracelet rather than the watch head, and bracelet swaps across the long run are common.

USA-market C+I (Credit et Industrie) bracelets used hollow rivets while Swiss-market bracelets used solid pins. The distinction matters for authentication and feel, but not every surviving watch still carries its original bracelet.

Surviving 5513s frequently turn up with later 93150 bracelets, much later clasp stamps, and other mixed service parts. Packaging tracks the sale period and market rather than the reference number itself.


== Special branches ==
[[File:Ref 5513 historical-example 2.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Military-engraved 5513 caseback example|Military-engraved 5513 caseback example]]
[[File:Ref 5513 historical-example 3.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Commercial 5513 on Oyster bracelet|Commercial 5513 on Oyster bracelet]]
[[File:Ref 5513 historical-example 4.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Early gilt 5513 on strap|Early gilt 5513 on strap]]
[[File:Ref 5513 historical-example.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Spider-dial 5513 example|Spider-dial 5513 example]]


=== Explorer dial ===

The Explorer-dial branch sits inside the early gilt run as a distinct collecting line. The dial-timeline section above covers the 3-6-9 layout and the UK-market skew; the provenance below anchors both.

Sotheby's 2020 Lot 377 carried a family-owned 1964 watch with caliber 1530, UK Garrard guarantee dated 1965, and later service papers. The Garrard provenance supports both the UK-market thesis and the date range.


=== MilSub ===
[[File:Ref 5513 dial-variant-milsub.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=MilSub 5513|MilSub 5513]]
[[File:Ref 5513 dial-variant-milsub 2.webp|thumb|right|220px|alt=MilSub 5513 detail|MilSub 5513 detail]]

British military 5513 work belongs in its own branch. Collectors shorten "military Submariner" to MilSub. Documented examples include both a South African Army-associated 5513 and a sold 1974 military 5513, which shows both non-British military use and the messy service life of issued watches. British military casebacks use service codes such as 0552 for Navy issue and W10 for Army issue, with 923-7697 as the NATO stores code seen on issued examples.

Rolex Forum research has documented additional military and institutional procurement branches. Chilean Navy examples are marked "Propriedad Armada de Chile" (Property of the Chilean Navy) on the caseback, confirming South American naval procurement beyond the better-known Argentine Navy 5514 COMEX connection. The New Zealand Fisheries Research Division purchased 14 Submariners for research divers, a small institutional order that places the 5513 in a scientific-research context alongside its military and commercial diving roles.

One distinction Rolex Forum collectors emphasize: US Navy SEALs were issued Tudor Submariners, not Rolex Submariners. The SEAL-Rolex association is a common misconception. The Tudor connection is well documented in military procurement records, while British military Rolex Submariners include modified 5513 watches, double-reference 5513/5517 watches, and the dedicated 5517, with other naval and institutional procurement branches needing separate evidence.


== Historical market and auction record ==

The market spread is wide because the 5513 spans common commercial watches, rare dial branches, and military provenance. Standard late-matte and gloss examples remain readily available; the branch watches do not. Late-1960s US retail pricing ran around $160–$175.

Auction results sort the reference into clear lanes. Explorer-dial, military, and strong early-gilt watches sit well above ordinary late commercial examples. Standard commercial 5513s are plentiful; Bart Simpson, early gilt, and cleaner full-set examples pull into a higher lane quickly.

Mixed-parts watches are common. Documented spider-dial and bracelet-focused 5513 examples show replacement dials, inserts, crowns, later bracelets, and much later clasp stamps sitting together on one otherwise honest watch. Spider dial refers to a glossy dial with lacquer crazing; the effect turns up across a broad late-vintage band rather than a single year.

== Sources ==
* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/rolex-submariner-history-part-2-the-55xx-1680references/ History of the Rolex Submariner - Part 2, The 55XX References and 1680 Date] — Tom Mulraney, Monochrome
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/how-to-start-collecting-the-rolex-submariner The Rolex Submariner: A Complete Collector's Guide] — Stephen Pulvirent, Sotheby's
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-blog/rolex-info/vintage-week-rolex-submariner-5513.html Rolex 5513 Submariner Review & Ultimate Buying Guide] — Bob's Watches
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/explaining-the-bart-simpson-rolex-submariner-erics-favorite Explaining The Bart Simpson Rolex Submariner: Eric's Favorite Coronet] — Eric Wind, Hodinkee
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/rolex-submariner-reference-points Reference Points: Understanding The Rolex Submariner] — Stephen Pulvirent, Hodinkee
* [https://le-monde-edmond.com/5512-submariner-in-depth-review/ In depth-review Rolex 5512 Submariner] — Edmond Saran, Le Monde Edmond
* [https://www.windvintage.com/blog/collectors-guide-rolex-submariner-reference-5512 Collector's Guide: What To Know About The Rolex Submariner Reference 5512] — Charlie Dunne, Wind Vintage
* [https://www.watchprosite.com/editors-picks/vintage-rolex-box-reference-guide-list-1950-to-mid-2000-s/732.1629451.16558431/ Vintage Rolex Box reference guide list 1950 to mid 2000's] — WatchProSite community, WatchProSite
* [https://www.sothebys.com/buy/0bfeaa8a-22d0-4e8d-9200-0d1a611ef7ea/lots/ec00c334-b62d-4907-8bb3-568a5101a36b Rolex Submariner "South African Army", Ref 5513, Military Stainless Steel Wristwatch With Bracelet, Circa 1970] — Sotheby's, Sotheby's
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/watches-4/rolex-submariner-explorer-dial-ref-5513-stainless Rolex Submariner "Explorer Dial", Ref 5513, Stainless Steel Wristwatch With Rare Dial And Bracelet, Circa 1964] — Sotheby's, Sotheby's
* [https://amsterdamvintagewatches.com/shop/rolex-submariner-5513-meters-first-dial/ Rolex Submariner 5513 'Meters First'] — Amsterdam Vintage Watches, Amsterdam Vintage Watches
* [https://greyandpatina.com/product/1966-rolex-5513-bart-simpson-tropical-patina-submariner/ 1966 Rolex 5513 "Bart Simpson" Tropical Patina Submariner] — Grey and Patina, Grey and Patina
* [https://greyandpatina.com/product/1965-rolex-5513-meters-first-gilt-submariner-w-box-paper/ 1965 Rolex 5513 Gloss Gilt Submariner W/Box & Paper] — Grey and Patina, Grey and Patina
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/vintage-rolex-submariner-ref-5513-black-spider-dial.html Vintage Rolex Submariner Ref 5513 Black Spider Dial] — Bob's Watches editorial staff, Bob's Watches
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/vintage-rolex-submariner-ref-5513-stainless-steel-bracelet.html Vintage Rolex Submariner Ref 5513 Stainless Steel Bracelet] — Bob's Watches editorial staff, Bob's Watches
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/vintage-1989-rolex-submariner-5513.html Vintage 1989 Rolex Submariner 5513] — Bob's Watches editorial staff, Bob's Watches
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/vintage-rolex-submariner-5513-stainless-steel-oyster.html Vintage Rolex Submariner 5513 Stainless Steel Oyster] — Bob's Watches editorial staff, Bob's Watches
* [https://watchesofdistinction.com/product/rolex-military-submariner-ref-5513-1974/ Rolex Military Submariner Ref 5513 (1974)] — Watches of Distinction, Watches of Distinction

* [http://www.5513mattedial.com/ 5513 Matte Dial and Gilt-Gloss 5512 Submariner — Comprehensive Reviews] — Beaumont Miller II, 5513mattedial.com

Named contributors: Research by Beaumont Miller II (5513mattedial.com), with acknowledged contributions from Marcello Pisani, Jedly, and Tomvox. The Maxi dial taxonomy draws on Tomvox's 2008 research. The "Pre COMEX" dial designation was coined by Ed Delgado on the Vintage Rolex Forum (October 24, 2008).


== Related references ==

The 5513 sits inside the [[Reference:submariner-5xxx-family|5xxx Submariner family]] alongside the chronometer 5512 and the institutional 5514 and 5517. Two military and commercial branches use the 5513 case as their host: the [[Reference:comex|COMEX]] program (Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises) issued 5513s to French saturation divers from the early 1970s, and the British military [[Reference:milsub|MilSub]] configuration ran on 5513 cases for the first two batches before the dedicated 5517 took over in the third.

[[Category:Submariner]]
[[Category:Working Draft]]

Reference:116400

2026-05-29T05:14:18Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #16 ref=116400 agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout (FlaggedRevs pending review)

{{#seo:
|title=Rolex 116400 Milgauss — Modern Revival 2007–2023 — BezelBase
|description=The 116400 is the Milgauss revival: 2007 Baselworld launch, caliber 3131 with Parachrom Blu, four sub-references including the Glace Verte green-sapphire variants (Z-Black, Z-Blue). The only colored crystal Rolex has ever produced. Line discontinued Watches & Wonders 2023 with no successor.
|keywords=Rolex 116400, 116400GV, Milgauss, Glace Verte, Z-Blue, Z-Black, caliber 3131, Parachrom Blu, orange lightning-bolt seconds, 78690 bracelet, Watches & Wonders 2023
|type=article
}}

[[Reference:milgauss|Milgauss]] -> '''116400'''

The 116400 is the Milgauss revival. Rolex unveiled it at Baselworld March 2007, nineteen years after 1019 production ended and at the fiftieth anniversary of the 1956 6541 catalogue launch. The brief inverts the 1019's reading: where the 1019 stripped the 6541's signatures for a dress-coded antimagnetic Oyster, the 116400 revives the lightning-bolt seconds hand and adds the green sapphire crystal that only the Milgauss line has ever worn. Four sub-references run across sixteen years, two with clear sapphire crystals (white dial 116400-0002 and black dial 116400-0001) and two with the Glace Verte green-tinted sapphire (Z-Black 116400GV-0001 and the 2014 Z-Blue 116400GV-0002). The line ends at Watches & Wonders Geneva 2023 with the 116400GV discontinuation. Rolex has not announced a Milgauss successor.

[[File:Ref 116400 hero.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Milgauss 116400GV Z-Blue — electric-blue zirconium-sunburst lacquer under the Glace Verte sapphire crystal, the only colored crystal Rolex has ever produced. Image via Monochrome.|Rolex Milgauss 116400GV Z-Blue — electric-blue zirconium-sunburst lacquer under the Glace Verte sapphire crystal, the only colored crystal Rolex has ever produced. Image via Monochrome.]]

==Core facts==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| 116400 / 116400GV
|-
| family
| Milgauss
|-
| production
| 2007 to 2023, sixteen years
|-
| movement
| caliber 3131, 31 jewels, 28,800 vph, ~48h power reserve, Parachrom Blu hairspring
|-
| case
| 40mm, 904L Oystersteel, soft-iron Faraday cage with "B-arrow" engraving
|-
| crystal
| clear sapphire (116400) or green-tinted Glace Verte sapphire (116400GV)
|-
| bezel
| smooth fixed steel — continuation of the 1019
|-
| antimagnetic rating
| 1,000 gauss
|-
| water resistance
| 100m / 330ft
|-
| sub-references
| 116400-0001 black/clear, 116400-0002 white/clear, 116400GV-0001 Z-Black, 116400GV-0002 Z-Blue
|-
| hands
| orange lightning-bolt seconds — revives the 6541 signature
|-
| bracelet
| 78690 Oyster three-link with Oysterclasp + Easylink 5mm extension
|-
| predecessor
| 1019
|-
| successor
| none — line discontinued Watches & Wonders April 2023
|}

==Where it sits in the line==

The 116400 closes the Milgauss line. The 6541 opens it in 1956 with the antimagnetic Faraday-cage architecture and the lightning-bolt seconds. The 1019 carries the dress-coded silhouette through 1988, after which the line sits empty for nineteen years. Rolex revives the reference in 2007 with the 50th-anniversary GV, runs four sub-references for sixteen years, and closes the line in 2023 with no successor.

The architectural continuity with the [[Reference:milgauss#Faraday cage — the line's defining feature|Faraday cage]] is direct. Modern ferromagnetic alloys replace the original soft iron, and the case carries a "B with arrow" engraving on the inner cage assembly as the modern shielding signature, but the structural concept is unchanged. The case grows from 38mm to 40mm to match contemporary sport-line dimensions. The lightning-bolt seconds hand revives the 6541 signature in orange, and reads more cartoonish than its 1957 forebear (itself the design choice that pushed Rolex toward the dress-coded 1019).

Inside the 116400, caliber 3131 is the time-only sister of cal 3135. Same architecture without the date wheel and quickset. A Parachrom Blu hairspring in paramagnetic niobium-zirconium alloy sits on top of the Faraday cage's mechanical shielding, which makes the 3131 one of the most modern antimagnetic movements in Rolex's catalogue and the Faraday cage at this point partially redundant. The cage stays because the Milgauss without it is just an Oyster Perpetual.

==Production outline==

===Launch — Baselworld March 2007===

Rolex revives the Milgauss at Baselworld 2007 with three variants: the white-dial clear-crystal 116400-0002, the black-dial clear-crystal 116400-0001, and the black-dial green-crystal 116400GV-0001 (Z-Black). The launch landed during the LHC commissioning period at CERN, before first beam in September 2008., and Rolex sends pre-production 116400 examples to CERN for testing, a deliberate echo of the original 6541 development brief. The 2007 anniversary year frames the green crystal as the 50th-anniversary signal even though the 116400 is positioned as a continuous catalogue revival rather than a limited-edition release. Launch retail was USD 6,200.

===Sub-reference cutoff (c. 2013 to 2014)===

The 116400-0001 black-dial clear-crystal is the first sub-reference to drop. Sources split between 2013 and 2014. Collector dates derive from catalogue absence and AD last-shipped reports rather than an official Rolex EOL announcement. The drop times to the Z-Blue launch.

===Z-Blue launch — Baselworld March 2014===
[[File:Ref 116400 zblue dial.webp|thumb|right|320px|alt=Rolex Milgauss 116400GV Z-Blue dial — electric-blue sunburst under the Glace Verte green sapphire crystal. Orange lightning-bolt seconds hand and orange MILGAUSS text at 12 are the signature accents.|116400GV Z-Blue — the 2014 introduction. Electric-blue sunburst dial against the Glace Verte green sapphire crystal. The only blue dial ever in the Milgauss line.]]

The 116400GV-0002 Z-Blue replaces the discontinued non-GV black in the catalogue. Electric-blue sunburst lacquer pigmented with zirconium (hence "Z") sits under the green Glace Verte crystal. The dial reads aqua and turquoise through the green tint, shifting from deep blue to aqua-blue with green reflections depending on light angle. Retail jumps to USD 8,200.

===White-dial clear-crystal end (2016)===

The 116400-0002 white-dial clear-crystal is the last non-GV Milgauss to leave production, in 2016. Sources align on 2016 with reasonable confidence; no Rolex announcement.

===Watches & Wonders Geneva 2023===

The entire Milgauss line is discontinued at Watches & Wonders 2023. The 116400GV-0001 Z-Black and 116400GV-0002 Z-Blue both leave production. Last published retail ran USD 9,150 to 9,300. No successor announced. Sixty-seven years after the 6541 entered the catalogue, the Milgauss line closes.

==Movement notes==

Caliber 3131 is a 28.5mm time-only chronometer movement running 31 jewels at 28,800 vph (4 Hz), with bidirectional rotor winding and roughly a 48-hour power reserve. It hacks; the crown winds clockwise only. The hairspring is Parachrom Blu (paramagnetic niobium-zirconium alloy), and the rest of the movement leans on amagnetic material choices in the escapement, screws, and mainplate components. Earliest production carries Kif shock protection; later examples use Paraflex. No date wheel, no quickset, COSC chronometer certified.

The 3131 is the time-only sister of cal 3135. Same architecture, no date wheel, no quickset. It differs from the cal 3130 (in the 14060M Submariner no-date and 114270 Explorer) primarily through the Parachrom hairspring and amagnetic material choices, and from the cal 3132 (Explorer 214270) by retaining Kif rather than Paraflex on earliest production. The same cal. 3131 is fitted to the 116900 Air-King from 2016 until that reference is replaced by the 126900 with cal. 3230 in 2022.

Early 116400 production belongs to the COSC-era specification; later production should not be described as never carrying Rolex's post-2015 Superlative Chronometer ±2 seconds/day standard without a stronger Rolex-primary source.

==Sub-reference table==

Four sub-references. The split is crystal plus dial colour.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! sub-reference
! nickname
! crystal
! dial
! production
|-
| 116400-0001
| black/clear (non-GV)
| clear sapphire
| black, orange minute track, orange lume plots at 3/6/9, white batons
| 2007 – c. 2013/2014
|-
| 116400-0002
| white/clear (non-GV)
| clear sapphire
| white, orange batons at all hours, orange minute track
| 2007 – 2016
|-
| 116400GV-0001
| GV / Glace Verte / Z-Black
| green-tinted Glace Verte sapphire
| black, orange + white batons, orange minute track
| 2007 – 2023
|-
| 116400GV-0002
| Z-Blue
| green-tinted Glace Verte sapphire
| electric-blue sunburst (zirconium pigment), reads aqua/turquoise through the green crystal
| March 2014 – 2023
|}

The "116400V" versus "116400GV" cataloguing confusion is real but means nothing. Early warranty cards print "116400V" while the tag and reference plate on the same watch print "116400GV." Same production, no design difference. The "V" is shorthand the AD network used in some markets and never made it onto Rolex's later documentation.

The 116400-0001 black-dial clear-crystal is technically the rarest production-volume sub-reference because of its short c. 2013/2014 cutoff. The Z-Blue is the rarer of the two GV variants in absolute numbers because of its shorter nine-year run versus the Z-Black's full sixteen.

==Dial / crystal — Glace Verte==

[[File:Ref 116400 gv_dial.webp|thumb|right|300px|alt=Rolex 116400GV dial under Glace Verte green sapphire crystal|Rolex 116400GV dial under the Glace Verte green sapphire crystal — the only colored crystal Rolex has ever produced.]]
The Glace Verte is the only colored crystal Rolex has ever produced. Synthetic sapphire with the green tint integrated through the full thickness, not a surface coating, not an AR film tint. Rolex states the process takes weeks per piece and is one of the most difficult aesthetic operations the manufacture has attempted.

Rolex deliberately did not patent the process. Its stated reasoning: publishing a patent would only help imitators because the process is hard enough to reverse-engineer that documenting it is the larger risk. The AR coating sits on the inner surface only.

The colour reads as faint lime or eucalyptus head-on, deepening at oblique angles, with a luminescent quality under directional light. Two niche notes circulate in forum discussion. Genuine GV crystals are reportedly more fragile than standard sapphire because of the kiln cycle used to develop the green tint, and documented chipping from countertop knocks turns up in long-term ownership threads. Replica makers cannot clone the through-material tint, so most fakes use an external green AR coating that scratches off and leaves a colourless crystal underneath; the scratch test is a known authentication tell.

==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes==

===Case===

40mm Oyster, 904L Oystersteel from launch (Rolex completed the sports-line 904L transition pre-2007). Lug width 20mm, thickness around 13mm with the Faraday cage adding height versus a comparable Submariner. Water resistance is 100m / 330ft, sealed but not a dive watch. The 100m rating is the lowest in the modern Rolex sport line and the design choice that signals the Milgauss as a lab-bench tool rather than a dive watch.

The Faraday cage continues the 6541 and 1019 soft-iron shielding concept with modern ferromagnetic alloys. The cage carries a "B with arrow" engraving on the inner assembly, a manufacturing signature visible only when the caseback is removed for service. The 1,000-gauss antimagnetic rating that the 6541 set is preserved. Modern movements with paramagnetic components would arguably hit the rating without the cage, but Rolex keeps it for both nameplate continuity and the additional safety margin in extreme magnetic environments.

===Bezel===

Smooth fixed polished steel, a continuation of the 1019. The 6541's rotating engraved bezel is not revived.

===Crown===

Twinlock screw-down crown. The 116400 keeps the 100m Oyster-case water-resistance architecture rather than adopting the Triplock crown used on several other modern Professional models.

===Crystal — two variants===

The non-GV 116400 carries a clear sapphire crystal at standard production hardness, with a modern AR coating on the inner surface. The 116400GV Glace Verte uses synthetic sapphire with the green tint integrated through the full crystal thickness, detailed in the section above.

==Bracelet==

Reference 78690 Oyster three-link. Brushed centre with polished bevels on later production; earliest 2007 and 2008 examples were fully brushed. Solid end links from launch. Oysterclasp with Easylink 5mm comfort extension, the toolless quick-extension that arrived across the modern Rolex sport line in the late 2000s.

20mm lug width matches the case. Link width is 15.5mm. The 78690 reference is shared with the contemporaneous 114270 Explorer (same part number, same construction), so a 116400 wearer who shifts to a 114270 inherits a bracelet they already own.

==Serial-era transition==

The 116400 production straddles Rolex's 2010-era serial-system transition.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! prefix
! years
! engraving location
|-
| M
| 2007 – 2008
| 6 o'clock between lugs
|-
| V
| 2008 – 2009
| 6 o'clock between lugs
|-
| G
| c. 2010 – 2011
| 6 o'clock between lugs (last sequential prefix run)
|-
| random scrambled
| c. 2010 onward
| rehaut (inner crystal ring) — lug-side serial discontinued
|}

The rehaut and random-serial transition lands during the 116400 production. The market sees sequential M, V, and G-prefix examples before the random-serial transition, followed by scrambled-serial examples from around 2010 onward. (marginally collectible to some buyers as the "older Milgauss" cohort) and post-2010 scrambled-serial examples in roughly equal supply for the GV variants. The 116400-specific cutover month within the broader Rolex 2010 transition is not surfaced in published research.

==Market — 2025 to 2026 bands==

Bands from aggregated dealer-market data and the live auction record.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! sub-reference
! recent band
|-
| 116400-0002 white / clear (non-GV)
| USD 7,500 to 11,000
|-
| 116400-0001 black / clear (non-GV)
| USD 6,000 to 9,500
|-
| 116400GV-0001 Z-Black
| USD 9,000 to 14,000
|-
| 116400GV-0002 Z-Blue
| USD 11,000 to 15,000
|}

The Z-Blue commands a USD 2,000 to 4,000 premium over the Z-Black at retail-comparable condition. The non-GV clear-crystal black is the rarest sub-reference (shortest production run) but trades below the GV variants; the clear crystal is the discount, not a premium, in the modern market. Recent indices: 116400 +11.7% YoY, 116400GV +10.9% over five years.

===Recent auction lots===

Modern Milgauss does not appear in the Phillips / Sotheby's headline tiers. The vintage 6541 owns that space (one 6541 hit CHF 2,238,000 at Phillips Geneva May 2023, the reference's auction record). Modern 116400 lots track through specialist online sales. Phillips Bacs & Russo took a 116400GV Z-Blue at USD 15,240 in April 2026, and a 116400GV Z-Blue full set went for just under USD 16,000 at Phillips Geneva in 2024. Bezel Auctions placed two Z-Blue lots at USD 14,250 and USD 14,395 in March 2026. Grailzee April 2026 sat the Z-Blue band at USD 13,650 to 14,070 and the Z-Black band at USD 9,975 to 11,025. Monaco Legend Group sold a 116400 for USD 9,008 in April 2024, beating estimate by 41%.

==Collector debate==

===Milgauss without the diving baggage===

The dominant ownership reading treats the 116400 as a 40mm steel sport Oyster with everything that makes the Submariner heavy on the wrist taken out: no helium valve, no diving-rotation bezel, no Cyclops, no maxi indices. The orange minute rail and lightning-bolt seconds give the watch its personality without leaning on the dive-watch language. Raman Kalra's 2023 Quill & Pad essay names 13mm thickness as the only real complaint and wishes Rolex had shaved a millimetre, given that modern movement amagnetism makes the Faraday cage partially redundant. The cage stays because the Milgauss without it is just an Oyster Perpetual.

===Z-Blue vs Z-Black===

The Z-Blue runs hotter on the dealer market post-discontinuation. Z-Black collectors argue the black-dial GV is the more enduring choice: it carries the same green crystal but without the polarising electric-blue lacquer that some owners report reads washed-out under overcast daylight. Z-Blue collectors respond that the colour-shift behaviour through the green crystal, deep blue to aqua to green reflections depending on angle, is what makes the watch interesting, and that the Z-Black reads as a standard black-dial sport Oyster from any angle that doesn't catch the crystal's tint.

===Discontinuation as a collector pivot===

Watches & Wonders 2023 closed the Milgauss line with no successor announced. Owner discussion splits between a "future classic" reading (production is fixed, demand is stable, pricing will follow Daytona and Submariner discontinuation patterns) and a sustained-correction reading (the 2021 to 2022 peak is the high, the 2025 to 2026 mid-teens band is the new normal). Aggregate market data, single-digit-percentage YoY declines on the indices, faster-than-median time to sell, fixed inventory, supports the second reading more than the first.

==Sources==

===Primary and specialist===

* [https://www.phillips.com/article/122097700/rolex-milgauss-vintage-1019-6541-discontinued Phillips editorial, "What's the Legacy of the Rolex Milgauss?", Phillips]
* [https://quillandpad.com/2023/07/28/rolex-milgauss-review-the-most-underrated-rolex/ Raman Kalra, "Rolex Milgauss Review — The Most Underrated Rolex?", Quill & Pad, 2023-07-28]

===Editorial and market===

* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-milgauss-collection-in-depth-review/ Monochrome Watches editorial, "In-Depth: The Complete History of the Rolex Milgauss", Monochrome]
* [https://watchesbysjx.com/2014/03/baselworld-2014-introducing-the-rolex-milgauss-with-an-electric-blue-dial-and-green-sapphire-crystal-with-specs-and-price.html SJX, "Baselworld 2014 — Introducing the Rolex Milgauss with an Electric Blue Dial", SJX Watches, 2014-03]
* [https://deployant.com/review-rolex-milgauss-ref-116400gv/ Deployant editorial, "Review: Rolex Milgauss Ref 116400GV", Deployant]
* [https://www.watchpaper.com/ WatchPaper editorial, "WatchPaper Milgauss Specialist Coverage", WatchPaper]
* [https://www.watchguys.com/pages/rolex-milgauss-guide WatchGuys editorial, "Rolex Milgauss Buyer's Guide", WatchGuys]
* [https://www.watchcollectinglifestyle.com/home/insider-rolex-milgauss-z-blue-ref-116400gv-a-picture-under-natural-light-is-worth-a-thousand-words Watch Collecting Lifestyle editorial, "Insider: Rolex Milgauss Z-Blue Ref 116400GV — A Picture Under Natural Light", Watch Collecting Lifestyle]
* [https://www.fifthwrist.com/rolex-milgauss-116400gv-z-blue-review/ Fifth Wrist editorial, "Rolex Milgauss 116400GV Z-Blue Review", Fifth Wrist]
* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=731813 Rolex Forums community, "Rolex Forums Thread t=731813 — Z-Blue Long-Term Ownership", Rolex Forums]
* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=770241 Rolex Forums community, "Rolex Forums Thread t=770241 — Z-Blue vs Z-Black Dial Choice", Rolex Forums]
* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=92391 Rolex Forums community, "Rolex Forums Thread t=92391 — 116400GV vs 116400V Warranty-Card Discrepancy", Rolex Forums]
* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=559700 Rolex Forums community, "Rolex Forums Thread t=559700 — Early Scrambled-Serial 116400GV FSOT", Rolex Forums]
* [https://calibercorner.com/rolex-caliber-3131/ Caliber Corner editorial, "Rolex Caliber 3131", Caliber Corner]
* [https://millenarywatches.com/rolex-caliber-3131/ Millenary Watches editorial, "Rolex Caliber 3131 — Complete Guide", Millenary Watches]
* [https://watchbase.com/rolex/milgauss/116400gv-0002 Watchbase editorial, "Rolex Milgauss 116400GV-0002 Z-Blue — Watchbase Reference Entry", Watchbase]
* [https://www.ablogtowatch.com/rolex-milgauss-z-blue-dial-116400gv-watch/ aBlogtoWatch editorial, "Rolex Milgauss Z-Blue Dial 116400GV — Hands-On", aBlogtoWatch]
* [https://italianwatchspotter.com/the-history-of-rolex-milgauss/?lang=en Italian Watch Spotter editorial, "The History of Rolex Milgauss", Italian Watch Spotter]
* [https://www.marklittler.com/a-complete-guide-to-the-vintage-rolex-milgauss/ Mark Littler, "A Complete Guide to the Vintage Rolex Milgauss", Mark Littler Ltd]
* [https://revolutionwatch.com/rolex-milgauss-one-in-a-thousand/ Revolution Watches editorial, "Rolex Milgauss: One in a Thousand", Revolution Watches]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolex_Milgauss Wikipedia contributors, "Rolex Milgauss — Wikipedia", Wikipedia]

[[Category:Milgauss]]

Reference:1019

2026-05-29T05:05:26Z

Klaudiusz: [bot-audit] proposal #14 ref=1019 agents=researcher,auditor,image_scout (FlaggedRevs pending review)

{{#seo:
|title=Rolex 1019 Milgauss — 28-Year Long-Run Successor, Cal 1580, Phillips Black Swan CHF 150,000 Record | BezelBase
|description=The 1019 is the long-run Milgauss — 1960-1988 production on caliber 1580, Rolex's purpose-built antimagnetic variant of the cal 1530. Acrylic crystal throughout, smooth fixed bezel, straight red-arrow seconds (no lightning bolt). Dial families: matte Mk1 / Mk2, brushed silver, CERN non-luminous, gloss-black "Black Swan" (sub-five known). Phillips Geneva Watch Auction Six 2017 Lot 196 record CHF 150,000.
|keywords=Rolex 1019, Milgauss, cal 1580, Black Swan, CERN dial, Phillips Geneva Six 2017 Lot 196, Microstella, Faraday cage, matte square lume, matte round lume, brushed silver
|image=Ref 1019 hero.webp
|image_alt=Rolex Milgauss 1019 — the 28-year long-run successor to the 6541
|type=article
|og_type=article
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
}}

[[Reference:milgauss|Milgauss]] -> '''1019'''

[[File:Ref 1019 hero.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Milgauss 1019 — silver CERN-spec dial, smooth bezel, red-arrow seconds. The non-lume dial sub-variant the 1019 is now best known for. Image via Monochrome.|Rolex Milgauss 1019 — silver CERN-spec dial, smooth bezel, red-arrow seconds. The non-lume dial sub-variant the 1019 is now best known for. Image via Monochrome.]]
[[File:Ref 1019 silver dial.webp|thumb|right|300px|alt=Rolex Milgauss 1019 — brushed silver dial variant, the alternative to the more common black-dial 1019. Cal 1580 inside the soft-iron Faraday cage.|1019 brushed silver dial — the alternative-finish factory dial offered alongside the more common black variant.]]
[[File:Ref 1019 cern no lume.webp|thumb|right|300px|alt=Rolex Milgauss 1019 — non-luminous CERN dial variant. Rolex issued the non-lume 1019 directly to CERN scientists to remove the radium/tritium hour plots that would interfere with experimental radiation detectors.|1019 CERN non-luminous dial — the rarest standard-production 1019 sub-variant, issued directly to CERN scientists.]]

The 1019 is the long-run Milgauss. Twenty-eight years of continuous production, 1960 through 1988, longer than any other Milgauss reference and longer than most Rolex sport-line references in any family. It carries the soft-iron Faraday cage the 6541 introduced, and the same 38mm Oyster case (catalogued occasionally at 38.5mm depending on measurement method). Everything else is different: a smooth fixed bezel replaces the 6541's rotating engraved bezel, a plain straight seconds with a red arrow tip replaces the lightning bolt, and the dial moves through three documented matte and silver families plus the gloss-black "Black Swan" unicorn that re-anchored the entire 1019 market at the Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: Six in November 2017. The reference runs on caliber 1580 throughout, Rolex's purpose-built antimagnetic variant of the cal 1530 architecture, used in no other production watch. A commercial disappointment in its own time and a collector's prize from roughly 2010 onward.

==Core facts==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| 1019
|-
| family
| Milgauss
|-
| production
| 1960 to 1988 (28-year run); 1989-1990 retail sell-through of inventory continues after catalog removal
|-
| movement
| '''caliber 1580''' — 26 jewels, 19,800 vph / 2.75 Hz, ~48 hour power reserve, free-sprung Microstella balance, Breguet hairspring, COSC certified. Cal 1530 base architecture with ~30 antimagnetic-spec modifications; soft-iron movement cover mates to the inner Faraday cage. Used in no other Rolex production watch.
|-
| case
| 38mm three-body steel Oyster (some catalogs read 38.5mm); 20mm lug width
|-
| crystal
| '''acrylic throughout the run''' — the 1019 never received sapphire; sapphire arrived on Rolex sport refs in the late 1980s, after the 1019 closed
|-
| water resistance
| 50m — the 1019 was never marketed as a dive watch
|-
| crown
| Twinlock screw-down
|-
| bezel
| smooth fixed polished steel (no rotating engraved bezel — the 6541's signature engraved bezel does not carry to the 1019)
|-
| Faraday cage
| soft-iron inner ring around movement + bell cover (same architecture introduced by the 6541)
|-
| antimagnetic rating
| 1,000 gauss
|-
| time-only
| no date complication, no quickset, no chronograph — the simplest Milgauss complication-wise
|-
| dial families
| matte black Mk1 "square lume" (c.1960-late 1960s); matte black Mk2 "round lume" (late 1960s-mid 1970s); brushed silver (c.1965 onward); CERN non-luminous silver (c.1964-c.1969); gloss-black "Black Swan" (sub-five known)
|-
| lume
| tritium throughout (T SWISS T < 25 from c.1963 onward); pre-1963 examples can carry radium
|-
| hands
| flat straight hour and minute hands; straight seconds hand with red arrow tip — the 6541's lightning-bolt seconds is NOT carried to the 1019
|-
| seconds-hand variants
| ridged polished early hands transitioning to flat brushed hands mid-1970s
|-
| steel alloy
| 316L throughout (904L Oystersteel only enters on Rolex sport references in 1985; the 1019 was already in late-run wind-down)
|-
| serial range
| approximately 1.0M (1965) through 7M+ (1980s); period-correct serial-to-year follows the standard Rolex chart
|-
| bracelet families
| early: 7206 riveted Oyster (58 end-links) and 6636 riveted Oyster (80 end-links); transitional: 9315 + 7836/78360 folded Oyster (258 end-links); late: 78350/78360 solid-link Oyster (580 end-links) from c.1976 onward
|-
| auction record
| Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: Six, 11-12 November 2017 — Lot 196, gloss-black "Black Swan" 1019, case 1'985'480, movement M'209'980, III.68 caseback, riveted Oyster with 58 end-links. Sold for '''CHF 150,000''' against estimate CHF 70,000-100,000. One of three known Black Swan dials.
|-
| predecessor
| 6541 (1956-1960)
|-
| successor
| none from 1988 catalog pull; Milgauss line dormant 19 years until the 116400 relaunch (Baselworld 2007)
|}

==Where it sits in the line==

The 1019 is the Milgauss reference Rolex built to sell. The 6541 was a flagship test; the 1019 was the production-volume successor that took the architecture commercial. The 6541's flamboyant signatures (rotating engraved 1-5 bezel, lightning-bolt seconds, honeycomb gilt dial) are stripped back for a more conservative dress-coded silhouette: smooth fixed bezel, straight red-arrow seconds, flat matte black or brushed silver dial. The bet didn't work. The 1019 sat in jeweler display cases through the 1960s and 1970s, priced near the Submariner with none of the cultural pull. By the 1980s the watch was produced to dealer order on demand rather than to inventory. One documented example came to market new-old-stock with factory caseback sticker intact, manufactured 1979 and finally sold new in 1990, eleven years on the dealer's shelf.

Robb Report's framing captures the dynamic: "the Milgauss' orientation to engineering and science made it a Rolex for nerds, and compared to SCUBA diving (Submariner), climbing mountains (Explorer), racing cars (Daytona), or piloting jets (Air-King, GMT-Master), the Milgauss suggested one might sport a white lab coat." The smooth bezel and straight red-arrow seconds stripped the 6541's visual flamboyance, leaving the 1019 reading more like a dress watch with industrial undertones than a tool watch.

The 1019's modern collector standing inverts the period commercial reception. The Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: Six November 2017 gloss-black Black Swan sale at CHF 150,000 is the single transformative auction event that re-anchored the entire 1019 market. CERN-dial silver lots in the CHF 25,000-USD 70,000 band followed. The 1019 is now one of the most-traded vintage Milgauss references and a steady presence at major-house catalog sales.

==Production outline==

===Early run, 1960 to c. 1968===

Production opens in 1960, directly succeeding the 6541. The earliest examples (sub-1.7 million serial, "D" movement-prefix per Vintage Rolex Forum research) may carry non-hacking caliber 1580 movements; the cleanest reading is that hacking was added during early-1960s production refinement and the very earliest 1019s shipped without it. The exact transition serial is not cleanly documented. From the introduction of hacking onward, every 1019 has the seconds-stop function.

Pre-1963 dials may carry radium plots; the post-Bern-Convention 1963 transition moved Rolex to tritium across the production line. The "T SWISS T" or "T SWISS T < 25" foot marking is the dating anchor.

The matte black "Mk1" dial with square lume plots is the canonical early-run configuration. Documented examples: a 1965 Tiffany & Co. double-signed CERN (case 1065xxx, Q1 1964 caseback), a 1967 silver CERN (case 1.6xx,xxx, II.67 caseback), a 1968 gloss-black Black Swan (case 1'985'480, III.68 caseback).

===Middle run, c. 1968 to c. 1976===

The matte Mk2 dial with round lume plots takes over from the Mk1, with the brushed silver dial running as the alternative finish through this period. The CERN non-luminous silver variant continues, documented across c.1964 through c.1969 production. The matte-to-round-lume transition is the cleanest mid-run dial-mark anchor.

Hands transition from ridged polished early hands to flat brushed hands mid-1970s, a subtle but documented production refinement. Period editorial repeatedly cites this as the canonical mid-run hand-generation tell.

===Late run, c. 1976 to 1988===

The brushed silver dial dominates late-run production. Solid-link 78350/78360 Oyster bracelets with 580 end-links replace the hollow-link 78360 and earlier riveted 7206/6636 fitments, tracking the broader Rolex 20mm sport bracelet evolution c.1976.

By the early 1980s the 1019 is produced to dealer order rather than to inventory. The mechanic: dealers collected a minimum number of confirmed customer inquiries, then forwarded the batch order to Rolex, which produced and delivered the run. This explains both the production drag-out through 1988 and the relative rarity of late-run examples in fresh-to-market condition. One canonical NOS late-run example came to market with factory caseback sticker intact, manufactured 1979 and sold new in 1990, an eleven-year dealer holding period before final retail.

===Why it failed in its own time===

Multiple editorial sources converge on the same reading. Monochrome puts it bluntly: "Its purely functional design made it a slow seller at the time... priced similarly to a Submariner, the average consumer couldn't justify buying a highly specialized, somewhat plain-looking watch when they could own a culturally dominant dive watch or pilot's watch. As a result, the 1019 sat in jeweler display cases for years." Robb Report's Rolex Fails essay reaches the same conclusion from the cultural angle: "the antimagnetic Milgauss' orientation to engineering and science made it a Rolex for nerds." Italian Watch Spotter agrees: "in circa 30 anni di produzione il Milgauss non ha riscosso successo, essendo esso un modello troppo specializzato." Phillips's legacy editorial concedes the same: "despite the changes, the ref. 1019 still wasn't a hit among end consumers." Priced near the Submariner with none of the cultural pull, the 1019's white-lab-coat connotations were a poor fit for the late-Cold-War sport-watch market.

No primary documentation of an internal Rolex decision to wind the line down has been published. The 1988 catalog pull reads as a slow taper followed by a quiet end-of-cycle.

==Movement notes — caliber 1580==

The cal 1580 is Rolex's purpose-built antimagnetic variant of the cal 1530 family. Architectural specs:

* 26 jewels
* 19,800 vph / 2.75 Hz
* ~48 hour power reserve
* Self-winding bidirectional perpetual rotor
* Free-sprung Microstella regulating screws on the balance rim (the regulation system Rolex first deployed on the Day-Date cal 1055B in 1957)
* Breguet hairspring (self-compensating)
* Straight-line lever escapement, shock-absorbed, rhodium-plated
* Soft-iron movement cover integrated, mating to the inner Faraday cage
* COSC chronometer certified — every Sea-Dweller-tier 1019 dial carries the SCOC four-line text at six o'clock

The cal 1580 was used in no other Rolex production reference. The cal 1570 (the Datejust caliber of the same architectural family) is occasionally listed in auction catalogs for 1019 lots; these are catalog typos, not factory mis-fitments. Phillips New York Watch Auction Six June 2022 Lot 28 catalog text reads "cal. 1570, 26 jewels" for a 1979 1019, an auction-house typo. Antiquorum's Important Watches II Lot 288 carries the same kind of typo with "cal 1560." Treat any cal 15xx attribution to a 1019 in catalog text as a typo for cal 1580.

===Hacking-seconds transition (early 1960s, contested)===

Vintage Rolex Forum research documents non-hacking cal 1580 movements on sub-1.7 million serial 1019s with the "D" movement prefix, while later movements carry the "M" prefix and hack. Collectors use the M-vs-D prefix marker as an authentication signal. The most plausible reading: hacking was added during early-1960s production refinement, and the earliest 1960-c.1963 batch shipped without it. No specialist source has dated the transition cleanly. It remains the single biggest unresolved cal 1580 question.

===Quickset===

The 1019 is time-only. No date complication. The quickset question is moot.

==Dial map==

The 1019 dial taxonomy splits across competing schemes. Specialist editorial sometimes argues for as many as five distinct generations across the run; the Phillips and Monochrome editorial consensus compresses to three or four eras; Revolution loosely cites "six different dial versions." The cleanest load-bearing transitions across all schemes are described below.

===Gloss black "Black Swan"===

The unicorn. Gloss-black lacquered dial with silvered gilt print, distinct from the matte and brushed silver production-volume dials. Three known examples total across the entire run. The canonical documented example: Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: Six, 11-12 November 2017, Lot 196, case 1'985'480, movement M'209'980, III.68 caseback (1968 production), riveted Oyster bracelet with end-links stamped 58, max length 200mm. Hammer CHF 150,000 against estimate CHF 70,000-100,000.

Phillips's lot essay: "only three are known to date." The "Black Swan" name is collector and Phillips coinage; period Rolex marketing called it the gloss-black 1019. This is the record-setter that re-anchored the entire 1019 modern market.

===Matte black, Mk1 "square lume"===

Earliest production run, c.1960 through late 1960s. The Mk1 dial uses square (not round) lume plots at the hour positions. A canonical documented example: case 245xxxx (production 1969-1970), riveted 6636 bracelet with 80 end-links, clasp dated 2/68, period box-and-papers documenting sale in 1980. A 1969 black with serial 19xxxxx and III.68 caseback is a parallel canonical example.

===Matte black, Mk2 "round lume"===

Late 1960s through mid-1970s. The Mk2 dial replaces the square lume plots with round plots. The Phillips New York Watch Auction Six June 2022 Lot 28 (case 6'159'055, movement M'712'519, c.1979, factory caseback sticker intact) is the canonical NOS Mk2 example. Hammer USD 69,300 against estimate USD 25,000-50,000.

===Brushed silver===

Running through most of the run from c.1965 onward. Often described in auction catalogs as either silver or grey depending on light. Sources are inconsistent on whether grey-only is a distinct factory variant or a description of patinated silver. The most defensible reading: one factory brushed silver dial that reads grey or silver in different light, with patina accelerating the grey reading over time.

===CERN silver non-lume===

The 1019's CERN-specification dial is silver with no tritium lume plots, blackened indices and hands (black enamel inserts rather than luminescent compound), foot text "SWISS" or "T SWISS T" depending on production date. Documented production span: c.1964 through c.1969. No black-dial CERN 1019 has been documented; the CERN spec is silver-only.

The CERN attribution is collector lore on the dial spec rather than documented procurement. No CERN archive or staff roster naming CERN-issued 1019 serial numbers has been published. The non-luminous specification existed as a Rolex catalog option, and the operational logic is sound (tritium beta-decay would add background counts to Geiger counters, photon counters, and scintillation detectors at low-flux benches), but actual delivery to CERN scientists is documented only through circumstantial estate-sale surfacing decades on. The strongest established institutional link between Rolex and CERN is the 1956-era 6541 testing program plus Rolex's ongoing sponsorship of CERN's ''Universe of Particles'' exhibition at the Globe of Science and Innovation in Meyrin. Neither directly corroborates 1019 distribution.

Documented CERN-dial auction lots:
* Antiquorum Hong Kong, 28 May 2022, Lot 351-159 — case 1618647, movement M711979, II.67 caseback, riveted 7206 with 58 end-links (190mm). Estimate HKD 160,000-260,000. Hammer HKD 212,500.
* Antiquorum Geneva, May 2023, Lot 360-166 — case 1636703, caseback stamped 65 (1965), riveted 7206/65 with clasp dated 70. Estimate CHF 15,000-20,000. Hammer CHF 27,500 (service-replaced hands knocked down the result).
* Phillips Geneva Watch Auction XVII, May 2023 — 1967 silver CERN. Hammer CHF 57,150.
* Tiffany & Co. double-signed CERN, c.1964 — case 1065xxx, Q1 1964 caseback, riveted 7206 with 58 end-links (Q1 1965 clasp). Single documented example. Earliest known double-signed CERN 1019.

===Hands===

The 1019's hand set is the straight-set inherited from the 1530-family architecture: flat hour and minute hands, straight seconds hand with red arrow tip. The 6541's lightning-bolt seconds is not carried to the 1019. Mid-1970s refinement transitions the hands from ridged polished early hands to flat brushed late hands.

The claim circulating in tertiary collector summaries that "some 1019s were released without the lightning-bolt second hand, though many had it added later" is wrong twice over: the 1019 was never released with a lightning bolt, and aftermarket additions are not "many." A lightning-bolt seconds on a claimed 1019 case is a service or aftermarket substitution.

==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes==

===Case===

38mm (some catalogs read 38.5mm) three-body steel Oyster, polished plus brushed finishes, 20mm lug width, screw-down Twinlock crown, screw-down caseback. Caseback stamps follow Rolex's quarter-and-year convention: II.67 = Q2 1967, III.68 = Q3 1968, III.79 = Q3 1979. The half-millimeter case-diameter variation between sources is measurement-method noise (across bezel vs across midcase).

Antiquorum's Important Watches II Lot 288 catalog-listed a "Mark IV" caseback stamp for a 1979 1019. This is almost certainly a catalog misreading of the Roman-numeral quarter stamp ("IV.79" = Q4 1979) as a Mark sub-variant designation. The Mark generational vocabulary is a 6541, GMT, and Submariner conceit, not a 1019 one. The 1019's only "Mk" taxonomy is the Mk1 (square lume) vs Mk2 (round lume) collector shorthand for dial generations.

===Bezel===

Smooth fixed polished steel bezel throughout the run. The 6541's rotating engraved bezel (with 1-5 graduations across six 10-minute sectors, red triangle at 12) is not carried to the 1019. The 1019's smooth bezel is one of the visual signatures that pushed the reference toward a dress-watch silhouette rather than a tool-watch presentation.

===Crystal===

Acrylic throughout the entire run. The 1019 never received sapphire. Sapphire crystal arrived on Rolex sport references in the late 1980s (the Sea-Dweller 16660 was the first Sea-Dweller with sapphire in 1978; the broader Rolex sport-line transition to sapphire happened across the late 1980s). By the time sapphire reached the broader Rolex line, the 1019 was already in catalog wind-down.

Some database-tier sources list the 1019 with a sapphire crystal. That is a data error. Treat acrylic as the correct attribution across every production year.

===Crown===

Twinlock screw-down. The 1019 was never marketed as a dive watch and the Twinlock architecture (rather than the Triplock the contemporary dive references carried) is consistent with the 50m water resistance rating. Database-tier sources occasionally list the 1019 at 100m, a data error. 50m is the consensus across every editorial source.

==Bracelet, end-links, clasps==

The 1019 cycles through Rolex's standard 20mm Oyster bracelet generations across its 28-year run, with end-link codes specific to the Milgauss case geometry:

* 7206 riveted Oyster with 58 end-links — earliest production through c.1967. Documented across Antiquorum HK 2022 Lot 351-159 (1967), Antiquorum Geneva 2023 Lot 360-166 (1965, clasp dated 70 = period service), the Tiffany double-signed CERN 1964 (clasp Q1 1965).
* 6636 riveted Oyster with 80 end-links — overlapping with the 7206 in the mid-1960s. Documented on a 1970 canonical example (case 245xxxx, clasp 2/68). The 6636 is shared with several Rolex sport references of the era.
* 9315 folded-link Oyster — late 1960s through early 1970s. Standard transitional bracelet for the period.
* 7836 / 78360 folded-link Oyster with 258 end-links — late 1960s through mid-1970s. The 258 end-link designation distinguishes Milgauss-specific end-links from the Explorer's 280/580 and the GMT's 358/580.
* 78350 / 78360 solid-link Oyster with 580 end-links (sometimes cited as 558) — mid-1970s through 1988 end of production. The hollow-link to solid-link transition aligns with the broader Rolex 20mm sport bracelet timeline c.1976.

Period-correct combinations: a 1965-1967 1019 should wear a riveted 7206 with 58 end-links; a 1979 example should wear a 78360 with 580 end-links. Clasp two-letter date codes date the bracelet, not the watch head, and service replacements often run years ahead of the case.

The "6251H Jubilee as an early-only option" attribution that circulates in some dealer summaries is not corroborated by the auction record; treat as unverified until a documented Jubilee 1019 surfaces in a major-house catalog.

==Auction record==

The 1019 auction record splits cleanly. A single transformative event (Phillips Geneva Six 2017 Black Swan) re-anchored the entire modern market, followed by a steady stream of CERN-dial and NOS-black lots in the CHF 25,000-USD 70,000 band.

===Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: Six, 11-12 November 2017, Lot 196 — the record===

Gloss-black "Black Swan" 1019, case 1'985'480, movement M'209'980, III.68 caseback (1968 production), riveted Oyster bracelet with end-links stamped 58 (max length 200mm). Estimate CHF 70,000-100,000. Sold for CHF 150,000. The only six-figure 1019 result on the public record and the lot every other 1019 auction essay benchmarks against. Phillips's lot essay: "only three are known to date."

===Antiquorum Hong Kong, 28 May 2022, Lot 351-159 — CERN silver===

Case 1618647, movement M711979, II.67 caseback (1967), riveted 7206 with 58 end-links. Estimate HKD 160,000-260,000. Hammer HKD 212,500.

===Phillips New York Watch Auction Six, June 2022, Lot 28 — NOS Mk2 black===

Case 6'159'055, movement M'712'519, c.1979, factory caseback sticker intact. Estimate USD 25,000-50,000. Sold for USD 69,300. The cleanest documented NOS-black result and proof that factory-fresh 1019s pulled premium pricing in the modern market.

===Phillips Geneva Watch Auction XVII, May 2023 — CERN silver===

1967 silver CERN. Hammer CHF 57,150.

===Antiquorum Geneva, May 2023, Lot 360-166 — CERN silver, service-replaced hands===

Case 1636703, caseback stamped 65 (1965), riveted 7206/65 bracelet with clasp dated 70. Estimate CHF 15,000-20,000. Hammer CHF 27,500. The service-replaced hands knocked down the result against expectations for a clean CERN.

===Artcurial 2009 — pre-vintage-Rolex-boom benchmark===

Sale 1652 lot 480, c.1965 standard. Hammer EUR 4,463. The pre-2014 dealer-market floor, useful as a 10-year vintage Rolex market-lift anchor against the 2023-2024 CHF 25-70k clearing band.

===Standard non-CERN, non-NOS lots===

Routine 1019 lots in clean played-with condition trade in the USD 15,000-25,000 band at major-house catalogs (Antiquorum Important Watches II Lot 288 c.1979 estimate USD 13,428-20,142; Sotheby's Fine Watches III c.1979 estimate USD 20,000-30,000). The CERN-dial premium runs roughly 2x the standard market; the NOS premium runs roughly 3x; the Black Swan premium sits in its own tier.

No CERN-provenance 1019 lot, meaning a lot with documented CERN-employee ownership chain, has appeared in the public auction record. CERN-dial lots are sold on the strength of the dial spec, not provenance.

==CERN provenance==

The 1019's CERN association lives at the dial-specification level, not at the documented-procurement level. The non-luminous silver dial existed as a Rolex catalog option and the operational rationale is sound: radium and tritium beta-decay produce scintillation noise in radiation-sensitive equipment, and a non-lume dial removes the source from the wearer's wrist. The CERN-spec dial sits across c.1964-c.1969 production in the documented record; no documented CERN-spec 1019 from the 1970s or later has appeared, suggesting the spec petered out after the first decade as CERN's instrumentation evolved.

The closest documented institutional CERN-Rolex link is the 1956-era 6541 testing program, in which CERN independently verified Rolex's 1,000-gauss anti-magnetic rating. CERN was established in 1954, with the laboratory site under construction from 1955. and the Rolex relationship is well-attested through Phillips's editorial chain. The 1019's CERN association is downstream from this institutional history. The same Rolex-CERN relationship that produced the 6541 testing partnership continued, with the CERN non-luminous spec carried over into the 1019 dial menu, but no individual CERN-issued 1019 has been documented with procurement records.

Defensible prose framing: "CERN-specification dial offered as a Rolex catalog option through c.1964-c.1969, with operational logic consistent with radiation-detector environments, but no documented CERN procurement of specific serial numbers."

==Documented historical wearers==

The 1019 has thinner celebrity and institutional provenance documentation than the 6541. Three persistent attributions need flagging or stripping.

The Einstein attribution is debunked by chronology. Einstein died April 1955; the Milgauss line launched in 1956 with the 6541; the 1019 didn't exist until 1960. He never owned, wore, or could have worn any Milgauss reference. Tertiary editorial sometimes uses the Einstein attribution rhetorically ("the perfect watch for Einstein"), but no source has produced a provenance claim. Strip the Einstein attribution from any 1019 prose on sight.

The Daytona Continental racing-prize tradition belongs to the 6541, not the 1019. Pedro Rodriguez, Ken Miles, Lloyd Ruby, Edward "Fireball" Roberts, and Bobby Allison are all documented (in Jake Ehrlich's Rolexmagazine archive) as 6541 recipients from the 1962-1965 Daytona Continental era. No racing-driver 1019 ownership has been documented.

No named CERN scientist, NASA astronaut, race-team mechanic, or university physics chair has been documented as a 1019 owner with primary-source provenance. The CERN association is dial-spec lore, not documented institutional roster.

The documented 1019 owners with established provenance sit at the surgeon and engineer tier: Dr. Antonio Borjas Romero, a Venezuelan surgeon whose c.1969 example was kept in the family of the original owner and documented as worn in the operating room during the 1970s; and an anonymous electrical engineer whose one-owner 1019 was documented in specialist sales material, purchased new for occupational antimagnetic need. The 1019 is a working professional's antimagnetic tool watch with no marquee celebrity provenance comparable to the 6541's race-prize tradition or the 1665 Comex hero lots.

==Cataloging corrections — wrong claims that the canonical record corrects==

* "Einstein wore a Milgauss" — chronology-debunked. Strip on sight.
* "The 1019 has a lightning-bolt seconds hand" — false. The lightning bolt is a 6541 and 6543 signature. The 1019 always carried the straight seconds hand with red arrow tip.
* "Caliber 1570 on the 1019" — auction catalog typo. Cal 1570 is the Datejust caliber; the 1019 always ran cal 1580. Similar typos appear as "cal 1560" in other catalogs.
* "Mark IV caseback stamp on a 1979 1019" — almost certainly an Antiquorum catalog misreading of "IV.79" (Q4 1979 quarter-year stamp) as a Mark sub-variant designation. The 1019's only "Mk" taxonomy is the Mk1 (square lume) vs Mk2 (round lume) dial-generation collector shorthand.
* "Daytona Continental prize tradition includes the 1019" — wrong. The race-prize tradition belongs to the 6541. Lloyd Ruby, Ken Miles, Pedro Rodriguez, Fireball Roberts, Bobby Allison received 6541s, not 1019s.
* "CERN-issued 1019 serial roster" — never published. The CERN-dial spec is documented as a catalog option; CERN-issued individual provenance for specific watches is collector lore. The load-bearing caveat: there is no guarantee that all CERN-spec 1019s went to CERN.
* "904L Oystersteel on the 1019" — wrong. 904L Oystersteel arrived in 1985 on contemporary Rolex sport references; the 1019 ran 316L throughout production.
* "1019 launch year 1963" — Watch Boutique outlier. The dominant consensus across Phillips, Monochrome, Italian Watch Spotter, Mondani-tier sources, Wikipedia, and every auction catalog is 1960.
* "Sapphire crystal on the 1019" — database-tier data error. The 1019 ran acrylic throughout the entire 28-year run.
* "100m water resistance" — database-tier data error. The 1019 was rated to 50m, never marketed as a dive watch; the Twinlock crown and case design support 50m, not 100m.
* "Five distinct dial generations" — specialist editorial count that Phillips and Monochrome compress to three or four eras. Mondani's 2011 Milgauss / Yacht-Master / Turn-O-Graph / Explorer volume is the single most authoritative source for dial-generation imagery and serial bands but does not lock the count cleanly at five.

==Print bibliography==

* Mondani, Guido + Vittozzi, Gabriele + Spinello, Paolo. ''Collezionare orologi Rolex: Milgauss · Yacht-Master · Turn-O-Graph · Explorer.'' Mondani Editore, 2011. ISBN 9788890372384. 276 pages, format 31×41 cm, bilingual Italian + English hardback, limited edition of 2,000 copies, cover price EUR 620. The primary book-level authority on 1019 dial-generation imagery and Milgauss line history. The Black Swan, CERN silver, and matte Mk1 / Mk2 progressions are documented in the dial-generation chapter.
* Goldberger, John + Negretti, Giampiero. ''100 Superlative Rolex Watches.'' Damiani Editore, 2008. ISBN 9788862080316. Covers the Milgauss line generally; specific 1019 inclusion in the 100 watches not confirmed in this research pass — Goldberger's selection is heavily 1940s-1960s weighted.
* White, Colin A. ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual.'' Morningtundra, 2020. ISBN 9780578630823. Covers 1,483 references; 1019 entry present at the standard Field Manual depth.
* Skeet, Martin + Urul, Mehmet. ''Vintage Rolex Sports Models.'' Schiffer Publishing, 4th edition 2014 (ISBN 9780764346330) and 5th edition 2019/2020 (ISBN 9780764358449). 1019 coverage present in the Milgauss chapter.

==Sources==

* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-milgauss-collection-in-depth-review/ Monochrome Watches editorial, "In-Depth: The Complete History of the Rolex Milgauss", Monochrome]
* [https://www.phillips.com/article/122097700/rolex-milgauss-vintage-1019-6541-discontinued Phillips editorial, "What's the Legacy of the Rolex Milgauss?", Phillips]
* [https://hairspring.com/blogs/finds/cern-dial-1019-rolex-milgauss Hairspring editorial, "CERN-Dial 1019 — Rolex Milgauss", Hairspring]
* [https://hairspring.com/blogs/finds/1019-rolex-milgauss Hairspring editorial, "Rolex 1019 Milgauss — Black-Dial Essay (Black Swan Reference)", Hairspring]
* [https://www.windvintage.com/rolex-milgauss-ref-1019 Eric Wind, "Rolex Milgauss Ref 1019 — CERN Dial", Wind Vintage]
* [https://revolutionwatch.com/rolex-milgauss-one-in-a-thousand/ Revolution Watches editorial, "Rolex Milgauss: One in a Thousand", Revolution Watches]
* [https://www.marklittler.com/a-complete-guide-to-the-vintage-rolex-milgauss/ Mark Littler, "A Complete Guide to the Vintage Rolex Milgauss", Mark Littler Ltd]
* [https://italianwatchspotter.com/the-history-of-rolex-milgauss/?lang=en Italian Watch Spotter editorial, "The History of Rolex Milgauss", Italian Watch Spotter]
* [https://www.matthewbaininc.com/post/almost-unicorn-1964-rolex-milgauss-ref-1019 Matthew Bain, "Almost Unicorn: 1964 Rolex Milgauss Ref 1019 Tiffany & Co. CERN Dial", Matthew Bain Inc.]
* [https://www.hashtagwatchco.com/products/copy-1964-rolex-milgauss-1019-tiffany-co-cern-dial-stainless-steel-wristwatch HashtagWatchCo editorial, "1964 Rolex Milgauss 1019 Tiffany & Co. CERN Dial", HashtagWatchCo]
* [https://www.watchprosite.com/rolex/rolex-milgauss-1019--cern--dials-basic-or-double-signature-/732.1122163.8533498/ WatchProSite community, "Rolex Milgauss 1019 CERN Dials — Basic or Double Signature?", WatchProSite]
* [https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/vintagerolexforum/cern-dial-milgauss-question-t15621.html VRF community ('aakviper' and others), "Vintage Rolex Forum: CERN-Dial Milgauss Question (M vs D Movement Prefix)", Vintage Rolex Forum]
* [https://www.parisheure.com/en/buy-watch/rolex-milgauss-ref-1019-acier-black-mk1-square-lume-from-1969/ Paris Heure editorial, "Rolex Milgauss Ref 1019 — Black Mk1 Square Lume from 1969", Paris Heure]
* [https://bulangandsons.com/products/rolex-milgauss-1019-black-dial-square-lume-box-and-papers-w1580 Bulang & Sons editorial, "Rolex Milgauss 1019 Black Dial Square Lume — Box and Papers", Bulang & Sons]
* [https://loupethis.com/auctions/rolex-milgauss-1019-black-dial-nos-box-and-papers Loupe This editorial, "Loupe This Lot #1287 — NOS 1019, mfg 1979 sold-new 1990", Loupe This]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-1019-milgauss-cern-dial-lot-351-159 Antiquorum, "Antiquorum Hong Kong May 2022 — 1019 CERN dial lot 351-159", Antiquorum, 2022-05]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-1019-milgauss-lot-360-166 Antiquorum, "Antiquorum Geneva May 2023 — 1019 CERN lot 360-166", Antiquorum, 2023-05]
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080217/196 Phillips, "Phillips Geneva Watch Auction Six November 2017 — 1019 Black Swan lot 196", Phillips, 2017-11]
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/vintage-1967-rolex-milgauss-1019-cern-dial.html Bob's Watches editorial, "1967 Rolex Milgauss 1019 CERN Dial", Bob's Watches]
* [https://www.greyandpatina.com/ Grey and Patina editorial, "1968 Rolex Milgauss 1019 CERN Dial with Papers", Grey and Patina]

[[Category:Milgauss]]
[[Category:working-draft]]
[[Category:References]]