Mistake on my 1570 movement?

[TomGrimes]

Today I noticed an apparent mistake in the stamped "1570" on my 5512 movement. The photo was taken during my watch being serviced several years ago. What do you think about this? The number "5" is upside down.

[TomGrimes]

I'm wondering if the upside down 5 is evidence that this watch was one of the last "handmade" Rolexes. It seems unlikely that such an error would occur otherwise.

[watchmaker]

Errors happen, Rolex have been known to make mistakes.

Your watch was hand assembled and machine made, just like they are today.

[TomGrimes]

Thank you for responding, Scott. You're saying that a machine flipped a 5 upside down on it's own? Not that it matters, but I am just curious how such a thing could happen.

[Dan S]

A batch of bridges was probably stamped this way by mistake and they decided to use them instead of throwing them away. Purely speculation on my part.

[springer]

Originally Posted by TomGrimes

Thank you for responding, Scott. You're saying that a machine flipped a 5 upside down on it's own? Not that it matters, but I am just curious how such a thing could happen.

Yes misspellings or mistakes occurred. Look no further than the vintage Submariner diver's extension that had patented misspelled. Or the batch of cases which were marked in quarters on the case back - some had V (five) as one of the quarters.

[dhknola]

In the upcoming Philips auction in Hong Kong they one lot is a 3-9-9 error dial modern Air King. Estimate is 5-10k usd; my bet is the over.

[watchmaker]

Originally Posted by TomGrimes

Thank you for responding, Scott. You're saying that a machine flipped a 5 upside down on it's own? Not that it matters, but I am just curious how such a thing could happen.

The numbers are not hand engraved so it is a machining error but the fault of the human that set the machine up. Whether it was die stamped or engraved using a pantograph guide I’m not sure but something went wrong. There will be others out there due to the quantity of parts produced.