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

[Mark020]

That, my friend, is a seriously COOL pic

[Sputnik Teal]

Absolutely Amazing! I am new to collecting and this is hands down the most informative and helpful education I have received since I've started. Thank You!!!

[Ketchumid]

Top shelf post and thank you

[Vanquish1551]

great article. It would be nice to feature some side by side comparisons of unpolished vs polished cases. Overly polished cases are pretty obvious, but many new collectors could use guidance on what constitutes a thick case, original beveled edges vs redone one during a restoration.

[Philipp]

Read & study also my recent articles on www.RolexPassionReport.com

Be Aware of High Quality Vintage Rolex Dials:

--> http://rolexpassionreport.com/15348/...e-rolex-dials/





What do you need to know, the 10 golden rules to determine a vintage Rolex!

• Buy yourself a geiger counter. It’s a must have to determine the radiation of tritium and radium!
• Examine the graphics up close, focus on the Rolex coronet and the R from Rolex.
• Check out the luminous, the Rolex dial makers always add them perfectly on the dial.
• Look from the side into the dial, you will notice that the patina is not natural.
• If possible, examine the back of the dial, the dial makers stamp is engraved by etching and not stamped as originals.
• Check the volumes of the luminous up close, you’ll notice that the structure is more closed then when naturally aged.
• Check the provenance, where did it come from? If a deal is to good to be true, walk away!
• Buy yourself a loupe that at least magnifies 10 times. Examine pictures on big screen and zoom in.
• Compare always with known originals, like you find in Goldbergers 100 superlative Rolex book / App.
• If non of the above helps you, post a picture of the Vintage Rolex Forum or send it to me by email.
• Do yourself a favor when you take vintage Rolex serious and read my “Buyers Guide I recently posted“!

[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.

[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...

[Cuba1960]

Inherited a 1960 Sub from Cuba. Sweep/ hand dial. Working. All papers, no box. Don't know if it's a J. riviera or not. Taking it to be appraised today. I think the history of a watch out of 1960 Cuba has to merit some rarity/ worth. Any ideas?

[mikeandrews]

actually i never used vintage rolex but i really like your post and site.
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i also have some other sites that where you can purchase vintage rolex

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Classifieds

[yaquith]

great information. I have an old rolex submariner (red) that I purchased overseas. Over time that watch went thru a lot of banging around such that at several points during that time, the watch crystal was severely scratched. as the watch was worn during work and play, it was necessary to be able to read the time. Does replacing the watch crystal impact the value of the value of the watch? the watch is currently stored in a safe deposit box..lest I forget.

[pts1956]

Originally Posted by yaquith

great information. I have an old rolex submariner (red) that I purchased overseas. Over time that watch went thru a lot of banging around such that at several points during that time, the watch crystal was severely scratched. as the watch was worn during work and play, it was necessary to be able to read the time. Does replacing the watch crystal impact the value of the value of the watch? the watch is currently stored in a safe deposit box..lest I forget.

Hi yaquith, I'm by know means an expert on the subject and hopefully some knowledgeable member will also pop up, but I was in the same situation. What I am given to understand is it is acceptable to replace the crystal but make sure you retain the original, store it with the watch so you can replace at a later stage to return it to original condition if you decide to sell. Regards

[spoilsofwar01]

you ought to write a book or three,

[sam1959]

Rolex used to make quartz mechanisms - could this unusual watch be a real Rolex?

[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

[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.