Reference:5502

Air-King -> 5502

The 5502 is one of two gold-capped Cal 1530 Super Precision Air-King references that ran in parallel from approximately 1958 through 1965 (the other is the 5506). 34mm Oyster case with 40 microns of yellow gold electroplate over a steel base, smooth gold-capped bezel, gold-capped Twinlock crown, acrylic plexiglass crystal. Cal 1530 Super Precision throughout — 25 jewels at 18,000 vph, "AIR-KING / SUPER PRECISION" dial text, alpha hands and applied yellow gold indices. The case construction is supplied by Kessi Frères SA in Biel with the characteristic KB tombstone hallmark inside the caseback.

The 5502 sits as one of three gold-toned Air-King references that run in or around the long-life 5500's catalog window. The solid-gold Rolesor 5501 (1959–1986) carries solid 18k yellow gold for the bezel and crown — actual gold by mass. The 5502 and the 5506 (both 1958–c.1965) carry 40-micron yellow gold electroplate over steel — gold by appearance only. The later 5520 (1974–1986) carries the same 40-micron gold-cap construction but on the Cal 1520 "Precision" architecture rather than the Cal 1530 "Super Precision" the 5502 / 5506 ran on. The visual tell that distinguishes 5502 / 5506 from 5520 is the dial text ("Super Precision" vs "Precision") and the hand style (alpha hands vs baton).

Rolex Air-King 5502, gold-capped 40-micron yellow gold over steel, c.1962

Core facts

detail	value
reference	5502 (sister 5506 = parallel production for different distribution channel)
family	Air-King
common name	"the gold-capped Super Precision Air-King," "the alpha-handed gold-capped Air-King"
production	c.1958–1965; Robb Report and Marcus Siems narrow the catalog window to 1960–1965, with pre-catalog Commonwealth distribution suggested for 1958–1960
case	34mm × ~12mm × 43mm L2L stainless steel base with 40 microns yellow gold electroplate
caseback	stainless steel (not gold-capped — standard gold-cap construction)
bezel	smooth, gold-capped (40-micron electroplate over steel)
crown	Twinlock screw-down, gold-capped to match
crystal	acrylic plexiglass, domed
movement	Cal 1530 throughout — 25 jewels, 18,000 vph, ~44h reserve, butterfly rotor, Breguet overcoil
chronometer	no — "SUPER PRECISION" dial text (Cal 1530 era's marketing tier; the chronometer-rated Cal 1560 / 1570 sit on Submariner / Explorer references)
dial text	"AIR-KING" + "SUPER PRECISION"
hands	alpha-style gold hands (the key visual tell distinguishing 5502/5506 from later 5520)
hour markers	applied yellow gold faceted indices with luminous dots
bracelet	78351 gold-capped Oyster (riveted transitioning to folded link); same bracelet reference fits 5502 / 5506 / 5520 across the gold-capped Air-King family
caseback supplier	Kessi Frères SA, Biel — KB tombstone hallmark inside caseback
sister	5506 (parallel-production gold-capped 1958-1964 distributed via different channel)
also-sister	5500 (steel only), 5501 (solid-gold Rolesor), 5520 (later gold-capped Cal 1520 Precision)
successor	no direct 5502 successor; the gold-capped Air-King line resumes a decade later with the 5520 in 1974

Where it sits in the line

The 5502 opens the gold-capped Air-King chapter alongside the 5506 in 1958. Rolex catalogued two parallel gold-capped Air-King references — the 5502 and the 5506 — for what appears to have been a distribution-channel split rather than a functional spec difference. Both run the same Cal 1530 Super Precision architecture, both wear the same 40-micron yellow gold electroplate over steel, both ship on the same 78351 gold-capped Oyster bracelet. The reference-number split appears to track US and UK / Commonwealth retail channels respectively (per Robb Report's gold-capped framing), but no single source firmly attributes which reference went to which market. The 5502 is more commonly catalogued in the US dealer market; the 5506 surfaces more often at UK auction houses.

The architectural relationship to the broader Air-King line is the cleanest framing. The 5500 (1957–1989) is the 32-year-running steel-only no-date workhorse. The 5502 / 5506 (both 1958–1964/65) are the gold-capped variants of the same case + movement at the same point in the Cal 1530 Super Precision era. The 5501 (1959–1986) is the solid-gold Rolesor variant — meaningfully more expensive in period and meaningfully more expensive on the secondary market today. The 5504 (1957/58–1963/64) is the 36mm Explorer-case Super Precision sister. The 5520 (1974–1986) is the gold-capped successor on the later Cal 1520 Precision architecture, separated from the 5502 / 5506 pair by a roughly decade-long gap in gold-capped Air-King production.

The 5502 / 5506 references run on the Cal 1530 era's Super Precision marketing tier — the same Cal 1530 that powers the early 5500, the early 5504, and the early 5512 / 5513 Submariner. The chronometer-rated equivalent in this generation is the Cal 1560 (Submariner / Explorer chronometer), not a gold-capped Air-King. The 5502 / 5506 stay on the Air-King's sub-COSC tier despite the gold-capped trim's price premium; the chronometer paperwork sits with the Datejust line in this era.

Production outline

The introduction year is contested. RolexMagazine and Monochrome push the 5502's introduction back to approximately 1958, consistent with pre-catalog distribution to Commonwealth retailers in advance of formal catalog entry. Robb Report and Goldammer narrow the formal catalog window to 1960–1965. The most defensible reading: pre-catalog Commonwealth distribution from approximately 1958, formal catalog presence from 1960 onward, retirement around 1965. Treat 1958–1965 as the active window with the 1958–1960 segment as pre-catalog distribution.

The retirement is firmer at approximately 1965. No documented 5502 dated post-1965 has surfaced in the corpus. The Cal 1530 Super Precision movement begins phasing out across the broader Air-King line around 1963; by 1965 the 5500 is firmly on Cal 1520, and the 5502 / 5506 references retire alongside the broader Cal 1530 era retirement rather than continuing onto the Cal 1520. The gold-capped Air-King line then sits dormant for approximately a decade until the 5520 picks it up in 1974.

Total production output is not published. The 5502 is meaningfully scarcer at major-house auction than the contemporary 5500 or the later 5520. The gold-capped catalog-tier positioning narrowed the buyer base in period, and the parallel 5506 reference split production further. Direct 5502 lot essays at Phillips, Sotheby's, Christie's, Bonhams, and Antiquorum are scarce in the auction record through 2025. Antiquorum's 5516 lot 240-49 (Super Precision gold-capped, NY 15 September 2010, hammered USD 1,250 against estimate USD 1,000–1,500) is the closest sister-reference price proxy for 5502 valuation context.

Movement notes

The 5502 runs Cal 1530 throughout — no Cal 1520 era on this reference. The 1530 is the early generation of the 1500-family base architecture: 25 jewels, 18,000 vph (2.5 Hz), approximately 44 hour power reserve, butterfly rotor, Breguet overcoil hairspring, Microstella regulation from 1959. Same caliber that powers the early 5500, the early 5504, the early 5512 / 5513 Submariner, and the early 1016 Explorer.

The dial reads "AIR-KING" + "SUPER PRECISION" — the Cal 1530 era's marketing-tier text, sub-chronometer. Same convention as the 5500 era and the 5504 wear in their early Cal 1530 production. The 5502 is not COSC chronometer rated. The chronometer-rated equivalent in the 1500-family generation is the Cal 1560 / 1570, which sits on the Submariner and Explorer references rather than on the Air-King line.

The 5502's catalog window does not extend into the Cal 1520 era. Rolex retired the 5502 around 1965 rather than transitioning it onto Cal 1520 the way the 5500 was transitioned. The gold-capped Air-King line then sits dormant until the 5520 picks it up in 1974 with the Cal 1520 Precision architecture and baton hands.

Case and construction

34mm × approximately 12mm × 43mm L2L. Stainless steel base case with 40 microns of yellow gold electroplated over the bezel, crown, and exterior surfaces. The caseback remains stainless steel — same standard gold-cap construction as the later 5520 inherits. The bezel is fixed and smooth, gold-capped to match. Lugs are 19mm with drilled spring-bar holes. The crown is Twinlock screw-down, gold-capped.

The case is supplied by Kessi Frères SA in Biel. The KB tombstone hallmark inside the caseback is the supplier mark and is consistent across documented 5502 examples per Marcus Siems' case-supplier research. The hallmark is a useful authentication anchor — counterfeit 5502 cases are unlikely to carry the period-correct KB stamp.

The 40-micron specification is documented across Marcus Siems, Robb Report, and secondary aggregators for the gold-capped Air-King line. Monochrome cites a 14-micron figure for the 5506 sister, contradicting the 40-micron consensus. The 40-micron figure is the canonical specification across documented examples; the Monochrome 14-micron reading is a contradiction worth flagging but is not the dominant reading. The 40-micron thickness is meaningful: thicker than standard gold plating (typically a few microns), thin enough to wear through over decades of service, and the standard for Rolex's gold-capped catalog line.

The crystal is acrylic plexiglass, domed. Sapphire arrives on the Air-King line only with the 14000 in 1989, well after the 5502's retirement.

Bracelets, end-links, and clasps

19mm Oyster across the production. The standard delivery configuration is the 78351 gold-capped Oyster bracelet — riveted construction on early production transitioning to folded-link on later examples. Same bracelet reference fits the 5506 sister, the later 5520, and (across the production gap) the gold-capped Air-King line as a whole. Rolex's gold-capped 19mm Oyster bracelet platform stayed consistent across the references and the production gaps.

Gold-capped expansion bracelets surface on a small subset of early 5502 examples (parallel to Antiquorum's 5516 lot description), but the standard period-correct configuration is the matching gold-capped Oyster. The expansion-bracelet examples are uncommon enough to be worth flagging at sale.

Dial map

The 5502's dial palette is narrow. Three documented configurations:

Silvered AIR-KING SUPER PRECISION

The production-volume dial. Silvered or matte-grey ground, applied yellow gold faceted hour indices with luminous dots, alpha gold hands. "AIR-KING" + "SUPER PRECISION" text. The standard 5502 across the run.

Black gilt with applied gilt indices

Black ground with applied gilt indices and "Air-King" in large script above six (Monochrome). The black-gilt 5502 is rarer than the silvered configuration and trades at a premium to the standard.

Champagne

Champagne or warm gold-tone ground with applied gold markers — pairs naturally with the gold-capped trim. Less commonly encountered than silvered or black on the 5502 but documented.

The 3-6-9 Explorer, Roman, Arabic, and tropical dial configurations that surface elsewhere on the Air-King line are not documented on the 5502.

Special branches

The 5502 carries no documented retailer-signed (Tiffany / Cartier / Beyer), corporate-gift (Domino's), or government-crest configurations in the surfaced corpus through 2025. The Domino's program (1977 onward) post-dates the 5502's production window entirely. The Tiffany retailer-signed program existed across 1958–1965 but no Tiffany 5502 has surfaced. The 5502's narrow catalog visibility plus the gold-capped pricing premium kept it outside most of the corporate-gift and retailer-signing programs that defined other Air-King references.

The 5506 sister reference is the closest "branch" the 5502 has — same architecture, parallel production, distinct reference number tracking distribution channel rather than spec.

Historical market and auction record

Direct 5502 auction-house lots are scarce in the auction record. Antiquorum's 5516 Super Precision gold-capped (NY 15 September 2010, lot 240-49, hammered USD 1,250 against estimate USD 1,000–1,500) is the closest sister-reference price proxy. Bonhams's 5506 lot 51 (auction 29125, May 2023, c.1960, sold USD 2,550 with premium) anchors the parallel 5506 reference and serves as the cleanest 5502 valuation guide.

The 5502 trades primarily through dealer markets at the USD 2,000–4,500 band depending on dial configuration and condition. Standard silvered Cal 1530 examples in clean condition sit at the lower end (USD 2,000–3,000); black-gilt examples push into the USD 3,500–4,500 range with provenance. Major-house auction visibility is light — Phillips, Sotheby's, Christie's have no documented standalone 5502 essay-grade lots through 2025.

Authentication

The 5502 is 60–65 years old. The dial restoration question applies the standard Air-King-era restoration window (1980s–2000s); original dials with even minor period patina are the originality positive.

The case-trim authentication is the cleanest single anchor. The bezel and crown should be 40-micron gold electroplate over steel — not solid gold (which would put the watch on the 5501 reference). Hallmark stamping on the underside of the bezel (where accessible) confirms gold-cap construction. Gold-cap wear-through on heavily-worn 5502s reveals the steel base underneath at the bezel edges and crown — a service-or-restoration consideration but not a counterfeit flag.

The KB tombstone hallmark inside the caseback is a strong authentication anchor — Kessi Frères SA case construction is documented across the 5502 production. A 5502 caseback without the KB stamp is unusual and worth examining.

The dial text should match the caliber: "SUPER PRECISION" on the Cal 1530 era is correct. A 5502 with "PRECISION" dial text (no "Super") is service-replacement (likely a 5520 dial swap applied during service) or a misattribution; a 5502 with "OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED CHRONOMETER" text is service-replacement and is not original.

The hands should be alpha — distinct from the 5520's baton/stick hands. A 5502 with baton/stick hands is service-era replacement. The applied yellow gold faceted indices should sit flat against the dial without lift; refinished dials sometimes betray themselves at the index baseplates.

The movement should be Cal 1530 with 25 jewels at 18,000 vph. A 5502 with Cal 1520 (5520-era variant) is service-replacement and is not original-delivery. The Cal 1530's butterfly rotor and Breguet overcoil are visible inside the case and provide cleaner architectural authentication than the dial-text reading alone.

The bracelet should be 78351 gold-capped Oyster. All-steel bracelets on a 5502 are service-era refits; the original retail configuration was always gold-capped Oyster matching the case construction.

Sources

• The Vintage Rolex Field Manual — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
• Tony Traina, "Rolex Air-King History: The Forgotten King", Rescapement
• Erik Slaven, "History of the Rolex Air-King, the underrated pilots watch", Monochrome Watches, 2025
• Marcus Siems, "Rolex Air-King Origin History and Design Evolution", Goldammer
• "The Complete Guide to Rolex Air-King Watches From 1945 to Present", Robb Report
• Jake Ehrlich, "The Complete History Of The Rolex Air-King", Rolex Magazine, 2013
• "Rolex Air-King Ref 5506 Gold-Plated c.1960 Bonhams", Bonhams, 2023
• "Rolex Air-King Ref 5506 Oyster Perpetual Super Precision c.1959 Heritage", Heritage Auctions
• "Rolex Air-King", Watch-Wiki