Vintage Rolex Buyer's Guidance to determine the originality of your watch..

[Philipp]

Study more about determine vintage Rolex with my In Depth article about:

The Evolution of Rolex Luminous:

--> http://rolexpassionreport.com/15606/...olex-luminous/





At first I like to start with the overview of the approximate date of luminous used by the Rolex Company:

* Prior – 1953, The early age of Rolex luminous, used on their pocket watches, early oyster cases, bubble backs and radiomir Panerai’s.
* 1953 – 1956, When Rolex introduced the world their sports / utility / tool watch concept with radium Submariner, TOG, Explorer & GMT Master.
* 1957 – 1960, When Rolex lowered radiation and chanced dial printing from 1 to 2 colored print and enhanced the lacquer to a more glossy variant.
* 1960 – 1963, The pre ‘Transitional” period with “Exclamation” mark and due to the starting international regulation, again less radioactive luminous.
* 1963 – 1964, “Transitional” underline of which Rolex switched from Radium to Trtium, delivered dials are “swiss” signed but laminated with tritium.
* 1964 – 1967, The new generation tritium luminous got added on glossy dials, signing chanced from “Swiss” to “Swiss – T<25″ & “T-Swiss-T”.
* 1967 – 1983, The matte dial with tritium luminous got introduced by Rolex. We see tritium signings variations like T Swiss T<25 or σ T-Swiss-T σ.
* 1983 – 1997, The last era of the tritium dials when the glossy dial surface came back, now the luminous was added in a added white gold surround.
* 1998- 2000, LumiNova was invented in 1993 and patented in 1995; Nemoto & Co. Ltd. was contracted in 1998 to provide LumiNova to Switzerland.
* 2000 – 2008, Super Luminova, a improved version of Luminova, a material that has the same properties as tritium but is not radioactive.
* 2008 – now, Chroma Light, the new blue-ish colored Super Luminova thats been in use since Rolex patented it.

Read it over here: http://rolexpassionreport.com/15606/...olex-luminous/

[chris duggan]

hi there came accross this watch not sure what to make of it hope someone can help, thanksScreen shot 2014-09-22 at 22.23.05.jpg

[steeldreams]

Thank you for such a splendid and educational post here. It is very obvious that so much effort was put into creating this. Very authoritative as well, I find myself trying to absorb such a voluminous mountain of data.

I think my GMT Master II bought in 1989 is already considered "vintage".

[nbTimes]

Great post!!

[Jrh2828]

Hi can anyone give me some information on this please. Serial # 6107**. Case 5029. Gold bezel

[banjo888]

Great post thanks for sharing!

[edieee]

boys comments?


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[xvmhj]

[img]http://*********.com/ipad/images/22.gif[/img]Excellent post! Thanks for sharing. This should be a sticky in the vintage sub forum. [img]http://*********.com/ipad/images/34.gif[/img]

[xcgnxg]

I can't express my thanks adquately for this most excellent post regarding vintage. [img]http://*********.com/ipad/images/22.gif[/img][img]http://*********.com/ipad/images/70.gif[/img]

[xcgnjjhj]

Excellent post! Thanks for sharing. This should be a sticky in the vintage sub forum. [img]http://******.com/paea6[/img] [img]http://******.com/j6k84[/img]

[MDEE]

That's an outstanding post!

Thanks Philipp

cheers

[bionetix]

Hello All,

I have just joined this Forum, and I am posting here, as I wished to acknowledge the motivating factor for joining: i.e. Phillips Guide to Vintage Rolex. Many thanks for this informative thread, a newbie like me can pick up such valuable lessons.

[sdelliott58]

Much like antique Japanese swords (Nihonto) there is always so much to learn from those who have been at it for awhile. Information along these lines is incredibly valuable.

Big thanks from my end.

[bionetix]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this, but seeing Phillips detailed information on vintage Rolex, perhaps I might get the right answer. Have a vintage Datejust presented to my father by Rolex in 1954, he was a jeweller. The dial doesn't have the cyclops eye, and as this watch has never left our possession I'm sure it can't have been changed. Help!?

[VetteBandit]

What a great post with tons of great info - TY Philipp!

[Kapalua1]

Great informative post. Thank you.

[xcfghsf]

Now I know what this amazing site is all about. Incredible knowledege fascinating read

[The Watchology]

Wow... Excellent writeup.

[themaninblack]

Had not read this before, thanks for this post.

6204 and 6538 the minute and second hands extend all the way to the perimeter of the chapter ring marking and the tip touches the perimeter circle. This is not the case on 5508's where the minute and second hands tip the chapter ring track but don't extend as far as the perimeter ring circle marking.

[rafaelidj]

Hi my name is Rafael. I am new around here.
What do you think about the following engraving? The third number (7) is quite irregular and different to the next one. I do not know if it may be due to the hand-made process or if it is a fake.

[honhjf]

Excellent post! Thanks for sharing. This should be a sticky in the vintage sub forum.

[iamthesuit]

I need help with a 5513 that seems to have a relumed dial and an odd bezel insert. How can i send pics? I am new to this

[iamthesuit]

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[Palmbay]

I have recently acquired this vintage Rolex from a dentist in Germany. He tells me that about 30 years ago a friend of his gave this to his daughter for her 18th birthday, she said she would prefer something more up to date, and so he sold it to the dentist to pay for a more modern looking watch. It has sat in storage since then and still has the original dial. I am told it is 100% genuine and at that time, around 1930, there was no serial numbers, or indeed any standardisation of these watches. It measures 32mm across the case. It looks and feels genuine enough, with a lovely sweep of the small second hand. Please could someone that knows these watches tell me firstly anything about it? Secondly, if it was a good buy from a collectors point of view, and if possible, what value I should insure it for? I will of course send this off for a proper valuation if expert members think it worthwhile. Thank you for your time...

[tinjin]

Wow, Philipp...Big thanks. I'm just getting into vintage Rolex here in Hong Kong, and your posts as well as your site & fb page are invaluable. Great work

[cvbhchj]

The R in Rolex font. Are there any cases where the original dial displays the R not elongated ? or is that an automatic giveaway the dial has been refinished ?

[Milgauss_engineer]

As a new member around here, I am tottally blown out by this thread! :O

[Superfly10]

Hi Guys, new here! Just need help I might be purchasing a rolex from a contact and I want to know exactly what the specifications of it are. I know it's Rolex 1680 Red Submariner with serial #2879604, what exactly is the exact name and year of it? Is this real? The band is aftermarket, but the head seems to be legit, what should the pricing be with just the head and the all the paperwork? [IMG][IMG][IMG][/IMG][/IMG][/IMG]

[dianariesta]

wow, fantastic sir! how about this, is this a vintage or fake vintage? i am new to Rolex, so please help. thank you

[Observor]

Thanks for all the work that went into posting this. What a great resource.