Rolex Ephemera - Calendars

[Gina Marie]

My friend has a 1680 serial 2.87. The watch was sold in 1974. Which calendar should it have.....1971 (birth year) or 1974 sale year? Also, which calendars went with which watches....were there different calendars for sport or dress. I see so many variations that it is confusing. Also the watch was sold in the US. Does that mean a different calendar? Thanks.

[Fredrik]

The only two examples I personally know of from the 70s got a fresh calendar with the sale. Everything is put together at the sale, not at the factory.

[joe100]

Just get both.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by Gina Marie

My friend has a 1680 serial 2.87. The watch was sold in 1974. Which calendar should it have.....1971 (birth year) or 1974 sale year? Also, which calendars went with which watches....were there different calendars for sport or dress. I see so many variations that it is confusing. Also the watch was sold in the US. Does that mean a different calendar? Thanks.

Not sure that I'm following you..

Too many folks attempt to nail down the exact minute that a watch was made and it isn't that simple. Parts are made and warehoused, movements are built and stored, cases are allotted and stamped and so forth. When they all come together is almost meaningless as the parts may be years older than the whole. A 2.8xx serial should have a build date stamped inside the back cover and I would expect to see a 71 or 72 stamp, this practice stopped ~1974.

Generally though, a Rolex is not a loaf of bread that goes stale; if you have paperwork that states it is a 1974 watch, that's what it is. It could have parts on it that were made and stamped years earlier though.

[swish77]

If it came with a calendar originally, it would most likely have been 1974-75. All that stuff it provided by the dealer at the time of sale.

[springer]

Originally Posted by swish77

If it came with a calendar originally, it would most likely have been 1974-75. All that stuff it provided by the dealer at the time of sale.

X2. The calendar year should be close to the year that it was sold.

[Gina Marie]

I see a bunch of different styles of calendars out there....including a bunch of fakes on fleabay.....which would be the correct for a USA sold 1680 red in 74? Would it be a 1974 or a 1974/75. Are there different styles for different regions (one for Europe, Asia, Americas, etc.)?