Rolex 1005 Oyster Perpetual

Oyster Perpetual -> 1005

The 1005 is the fluted-bezel 4-digit Oyster Perpetual, the dress end of a line whose other members wear a plain or milled surround. The case is the same 34mm three-body Oyster as the 1002 and the 1007, with 19mm lugs, a screw-down back and Twinlock crown, an acrylic crystal and a chronometer-rated no-date automatic. The bezel is the whole difference, and it is always gold. Yellow on the gold watches, and on the steel and two-tone examples a gold fluted bezel over a steel case, because Rolex never cut the fluting into steel on this reference.

What that does to the reference's population is unusual for the family. The 1005 is the one 4-digit no-date Oyster Perpetual whose auction record is dominated by precious metal: 14k and 18k yellow gold, 18k pink gold, two-tone, and only occasionally a steel case wearing a gold bezel. It reads as a Datejust without the date, which is close to what it was for.

Core facts

detail	value
reference	1005
family	Oyster Perpetual
production	c.1959 into the early 1980s
case diameter	34mm
lug width	19mm
thickness	c.12mm
case material	14k and 18k yellow gold; 18k pink gold; steel with a gold fluted bezel; steel and gold two-tone
bezel	fluted, always cast in gold
crystal	acrylic
movement	caliber 1560 (to c.1965), then caliber 1570; one lot catalogued as caliber 1550
certification	Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified
date complication	none
bracelet	gold and two-tone Oyster, riveted then folded; gold fold-over; leather with a signed buckle
caseback	screw-down, inside stamped 1005 with a Roman-quarter date code
paired designations	catalogued as 1002/1005, 1003/1005 and 1005/1035
sibling references	1002 (smooth), 1003 / 1006 / 1007 / 1008 (engine-turned)
oversized relative	[[Reference:1018	1018]], the 36mm case

Where it sits in the line

The 4-digit no-date Oyster Perpetuals are one watch offered with a choice of bezel, and the 1005 takes the most formal one. Nothing behind the bezel changes: the case, the calibers, the crown, the crystal and the chronometer rating are shared with the 1002 and the engine-turned references. The fluting is what buyers were paying for, and it moved the watch out of the tool-watch tier and into the same visual register as the Datejust, which by the 1960s had made the fluted bezel a Rolex signature.

That positioning explains the case-material spread. Where the 1002 is overwhelmingly steel, the 1005 turns up in 14k gold, 18k gold, 18k pink gold and two-tone far more often than in plain steel, and the gold bezel is present in every configuration. The 1005 also lends its number to other references in the family: gold cases across the group carry a 1005 stamp inside the caseback, which is why paired forms like 1002/1005 and 1003/1005 recur in catalogue text on watches whose engraved reference is something else entirely.

Production outline

Caliber 1560 sets the practical start at 1959, and the earliest documented 1005s follow within three years. Case number 826,301 is dated to 1962 by Sotheby's and to circa 1963 by Bonhams, which sold the same pink-gold watch a decade later. Case number 903,017 is catalogued circa 1962 and case number 926,416 circa 1963. Case number 1,050,796 sits at circa 1964, and case number 1,176,167 carries a caseback stamped II.65, the cleanest quarter-code anchor on the reference.

The middle of the run runs through case number 1,177,843 in about 1966, 1,586,108 in 1971 with a guarantee booklet dated 22 December 1971, 1,801,509 in 1968, and 3,021,909 in about 1971. A London import mark for 1973 dates an 18K example whose case number is 3,367,203, and case number 3,921,444 is catalogued circa 1974.

The end is less firmly drawn than the beginning. Sotheby's catalogued a steel-cased example with a gold fluted bezel, case number 7,126,615, as circa 1995, a date the case number contradicts by more than a decade; a serial in that band belongs to the early 1980s, which is where the rest of the record puts the close of the reference. No production figure has been published.

Movement notes

Caliber 1560 powers the reference from the start of the run to about 1965: a rhodium-plated automatic of 25 or 26 jewels at 18,000 vph, adjusted to temperature and five positions, with a free-sprung balance carrying Microstella screws and a self-compensating Breguet balance spring. Caliber 1570 takes over from 1965, lifting the rate to 19,800 vph and the power reserve to around 48 hours on the same architecture, and hacking seconds arrived across the 1500 family in 1972.

One lot sits outside that pair. Artcurial catalogued an 18K rose gold 1005 sold with its box and guarantee as carrying caliber 1550, the non-chronometer sibling of the 1560. The dial on that watch is described as chronometer-certified, which does not sit comfortably with a 1550, and no second example has surfaced to support the attribution. Treat it as a catalogue reading rather than a documented movement variant. The movement reference carries the caliber lineage in full.

Dial map

Champagne is the reference's signature dial and appears on more documented examples than everything else combined, which follows from the gold cases. The finish is a warm sunburst with applied gilt or gold baton markers, black or gilt outer minute divisions, and luminous five-minute dots on the examples that carry lume. Bonhams describes the standard configuration precisely on the 1973 London-import watch: pale champagne, applied gilt baton hour markers with black accents, black outer minute divisions with luminous dot five-minute markers, and gilt baton hands with luminous inserts.

Gilt and gold-toned dials sit alongside champagne on the 14k and 18k gold cases, usually with dauphine hands on the early examples and baton hands later. Silvered dials appear across the run, and on the pink-gold watches the markers and hands are matched to the case: Artcurial's 1966 rose-gold example has applied rose-gold markers and rose-gold leaf hands.

Two colour branches break the pattern. Gloss black is documented on 18K gold by Christie's, on a 1964 watch with luminous hands and sweep centre seconds, and again on a gold-and-steel example whose Artcurial condition report records the dial as refinished. That second entry is the useful one: black dials on this reference are worth a hard look, because a refinished black dial is a common way to make an ordinary champagne watch more interesting. White with black Roman numerals appears on the two-tone watches, alongside applied luminous-tipped gilt batons, on a configuration that reads much closer to a Datejust than the rest of the reference does.

Diamond-set markers turn up on gold examples, and Christie's sold a 1973 yellow-gold 1005 with a gold dial and diamond-set hour markers. Factory gem-setting on this reference is not documented in Rolex material, and aftermarket diamond dials on 34mm Oysters are common, so the setting on any given example is worth establishing before paying for it.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

The case is the shared 34mm Oyster, three-body, brushed and polished in a tonneau profile, with a screw-down caseback, Twinlock screw-down crown, drilled 19mm lugs and an acrylic crystal throughout the run. House measurements vary between 33mm and 34mm on the same case; 34mm is the figure that agrees with the bulk of the record.

The bezel is cast in gold in every documented configuration. On gold watches it matches the case, yellow on yellow and pink on pink. On steel and two-tone watches the fluted bezel is gold over a steel case, which Sotheby's states directly on a steel Oyster with an 18k yellow gold fluted bezel, and Bonhams confirms on a two-tone example whose fluted gold bezel sits over a steel middle on a steel-and-gold Oyster bracelet. The published family survey makes the same point for the whole line, noting that fluted bezels in this group are always cast in gold, yellow on the gold watches and white on the steel ones. White-gold fluted bezels on steel 1005 cases are recorded in that survey rather than in any lot located here, so the yellow-over-steel combination is the one with photographic backing.

Two lots show what happens when the bezel and the reference disagree. Heritage catalogued an 18k gold 1005 with a smooth bezel, and Artcurial catalogued a 14k Coca-Cola award example whose bezel photographs as plain polished. Neither is a documented variant. Both are more likely a bezel swapped at service or a reference read from the caseback stamp rather than from the engraving between the lugs, and on this reference the caseback stamp is the least reliable of the two numbers, because gold cases across the whole family carry a 1005 mark.

Case material spans 14k yellow gold, 18k yellow gold, 18k pink gold, steel with a gold bezel, and steel-and-gold two-tone. Gross weights give a sense of the difference: a 14k gold watch on a strap runs around 40 to 49 grams, an 18k rose gold one about 52 grams, and a two-tone watch on its bracelet about 71 grams.

Bracelets, end links, and clasps

Gold delivery through the 1960s was a gold riveted Oyster bracelet with a folding clasp, and Sotheby's recorded one such bracelet on a 1962 pink-gold watch stamped by Gay Frères, the Geneva bracelet maker Rolex used before bringing production in-house. Folded-link gold Oyster bracelets follow, and two-tone watches came on steel-and-gold folded Oyster bracelets with signed folding clasps. Gold fold-over bracelets and leather straps with signed gilt or gold buckles are both original fitments, and a large share of surviving 1005s come to auction on associated leather.

Mixed-carat deliveries are documented rather than assumed: Bonhams sold a 14K gold 1005 fitted with an 18K gold bracelet in September 2024. One 18K watch, catalogued under the paired designation 1005/1035, wears an integrated textured-gold bracelet rather than an Oyster at all. A clasp date code dates the bracelet and not the head, and the cross-family detail sits on the bracelet and clasp guide.

Special branches

Pink and rose gold

The 1005 is the reference in this group where pink gold is a real branch rather than a curiosity. Bonhams sold an 18k pink gold example in Hong Kong in December 2022, case number 826,301, on an 18k gold bracelet; Sotheby's had sold the same watch in Geneva in June 2020 with the bracelet identified as Gay Frères and the case number matching. Artcurial sold an 18K rose gold watch, case number 1,177,843, with its box and guarantee, silver dial, rose-gold markers and rose-gold leaf hands. Bonhams catalogued a further 18K rose gold example with caliber 1560 in February 2019. The pink-gold watches produce the strongest results on the reference.

The two-tone 1005

Steel-and-gold 1005s pair a steel case and steel-and-gold Oyster bracelet with a gold fluted bezel and gold-toned dial furniture. Bonhams sold a 1971 example in Paris with a white dial carrying black Roman numerals and applied luminous-tipped gilt baton markers, gross weight 71.30 grams. The configuration is the closest the reference comes to a Datejust, and it is the one where the gold-bezel-on-steel rule is most visible.

Coca-Cola service awards

The Coca-Cola twenty-five-year service programme, which is best documented on the 1003, reached the 1005 as well. Artcurial sold a 14k yellow gold example delivered to the American market, case number 3,921,444, circa 1974, with the caseback engraved "Th. Rummens 25 years service Coca-Cola" on the outside and "RWC LTD" for Rolex Watch Company Limited on the inside. Heritage catalogued a separate 14k example with a hand-painted Coca-Cola inscription on a silver dial. Between them the two lots show the award appearing as a caseback engraving on one watch and as dial printing on another, which matches the pattern across the family.

Auction record

Gold cases keep the 1005 in a higher band than its plain-bezel siblings, and results cluster in the low-to-mid four figures across yellow gold, two-tone and steel-with-gold-bezel examples. Pink gold is the exception and roughly doubles it. The strongest documented result is an 18k pink-gold watch with a champagne dial and a matching gold bracelet, which has now traded twice at major houses two years apart. Complete sets carry a premium here as elsewhere, and two of the reference's more interesting lots, the Coca-Cola award and an early yellow-gold example, both failed to sell on estimates that sat above where the market has been settling.

date	house	configuration	result
Dec 2022	Bonhams Hong Kong, Hong Kong Watches, lot 940	18k pink gold, champagne dial, cal 1560, case 826,301, c.1963	HKD 63,750
Nov 2022	Christie's, Watches Online: The Geneva Edit, lot 256	yellow gold, gold dial with diamond-set hour markers, c.1973	CHF 7,560 (est. CHF 4,000–8,000)
Sep 2022	Bonhams London, lot 70	18K gold, ref 1005/1035, cal 1570, integrated textured-gold bracelet	GBP 7,012
Sep 2024	Bonhams London, Watches and Wristwatches, lot 58	14K gold head on an 18K gold bracelet, cal 1560, champagne dial	GBP 4,864
May 2022	Artcurial Monte-Carlo, Modern & Vintage Watches Online, lot 33	14k yellow gold, gilt dial, cal 1560, case 903,017, c.1962	EUR 4,723 (est. EUR 2,000–3,000)
Feb 2024	Bonhams London, Watches and Wristwatches, lot 74	18K gold, London import mark for 1973, pale champagne dial, case 3,367,203	GBP 4,480
May 2022	Bonhams Paris, Montres de Prestige, lot 117	steel and gold, white Roman-numeral dial, fluted gold bezel, case 3,021,909, c.1971	EUR 2,805
May 2022	Artcurial Monte-Carlo, Modern & Vintage Watches Online, lot 32	gold and steel, refinished black dial, caseback stamped 1005 and II.65, case 1,176,167	EUR 2,624
Jul 2023	Artcurial Monaco, Vente Horlogerie de collection, lot 286	14k yellow gold Coca-Cola award, caseback engraved for its recipient, case 3,921,444, c.1974	not sold (est. EUR 5,000–7,000)
May 2024	Christie's, Watches Online, lot 315	yellow gold, champagne dial, case 926,416, c.1963	not sold (est. CHF 3,000–5,000)

Related references

Oyster Perpetual 1002 — 34mm, smooth bezel
Oyster Perpetual 1003 — 34mm, engine-turned bezel
Oyster Perpetual 1007 — 34mm, engine-turned bezel
Oyster Perpetual 1018 — the 36mm case in the same line
Air-King 5500 — the same case, non-chronometer
Explorer 1016 — same calibers, 36mm Explorer dial

Sources

Watch Wiki, "Rolex calibres — reference index", Watch Wiki (watch-wiki.net)
BeckerTime, "Review: The Rolex Oyster Perpetual ref. 1005", BeckerTime, 2022-09-11
Bonhams, "Bonhams Hong Kong Watches Lot 940 — Rolex ref 1005 pink gold circa 1963", Bonhams, 2022-12-01
Sotheby's, "Sotheby's Geneva Watches Weekly Lot 263 — Rolex ref 1005 pink gold circa 1962", Sotheby's, 2020-06-18
Artcurial, "Artcurial Monaco Fine Watches Lot 119 — Rolex ref 1005 18K rose gold with box and papers", Artcurial, 2016-01-18
Christie's, "Christie's Watches Online: The Geneva Edit Lot 256 — Rolex yellow gold and diamond-set ref 1005", Christie's, 2022-11-01
Christie's, "Christie's Watches Online: Geneva Edit Lot 315 — Rolex yellow gold ref 1005 circa 1963", Christie's, 2024-05-07
Christie's, "Christie's Geneva Rare Watches Lot 23 — Rolex ref 1005 18K gold with black dial", Christie's, 2016-11-14
Bonhams, "Bonhams London Watches and Wristwatches Lot 74 — Rolex ref 1005 18K gold, London import 1973", Bonhams, 2024-02-21
Bonhams, "Bonhams London Watches and Wristwatches Lot 58 — Rolex ref 1005 14K gold on 18K bracelet", Bonhams, 2024-09-11
Bonhams, "Bonhams London Montres et montres-bracelets Lot 70 — Rolex ref 1005/1035 18K gold on integrated gold bracelet", Bonhams, 2022-09-14
Bonhams, "Bonhams Paris Montres de Prestige Lot 117 — Rolex ref 1005 steel and gold, Roman-numeral dial", Bonhams, 2022-05-24
Sotheby's, "Sotheby's Fine Timepieces Online Lot 140 — Rolex ref 1005 steel case with 18k gold fluted bezel", Sotheby's, 2018-03-02
Artcurial, "Artcurial Monaco Vente Horlogerie de collection Lot 286 — Rolex ref 1005 Coca-Cola 25 years service", Artcurial, 2023-07-16
Artcurial, "Artcurial Monte-Carlo Modern & Vintage Watches Online Lot 33 — Rolex ref 1005 14k gold circa 1962", Artcurial, 2022-05-03
Artcurial, "Artcurial Monte-Carlo Modern & Vintage Watches Online Lot 32 — Rolex ref 1005 gold and steel, refinished black dial", Artcurial, 2022-05-03
Heritage Auctions, "Heritage New York Watches & Fine Timepieces Lot 54225 — Rolex ref 1005 14k gold Coca-Cola service dial", Heritage Auctions, 2016-10-27
Antiquorum, "Antiquorum Geneva Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces Lot 140 — Rolex ref 1005 18k gold 1968", Antiquorum, 2018-05-13
Sotheby's, "Sotheby's New York Watches Weekly Lot 553 — Rolex ref 1005 steel and yellow gold circa 1971", Sotheby's, 2020-10-20
Bonhams, "Bonhams London Watches and Wristwatches Lot 65 — Rolex ref 1005 18K rose gold", Bonhams, 2019-02-19
Heritage Auctions, "Heritage New York Watches & Fine Timepieces Lot 54187 — Rolex ref 1005 18k gold catalogued with a smooth bezel", Heritage Auctions, 2016-10-27
Collector Square, "Rolex Oyster Perpetual ref. 1005 — auction and second-hand price index", Collector Square