Rolex 5500 Explorer

[spangelsaregreat]

Found my way onto this forum after I inherited a 5500 Explorer from my Dad late last year. He has the original service booklet and a receipt for a Rolex Service where the crystal and hands were replaced and the original receipt. No box and the original bracelet had been replaced with a cheap metal one.

After a bit of Internet research and trawling of eBay I managed to source an original rivet bracelet from the same year of manufacture.

Great to get it back to its original state, just waiting on a box to arrive to compete the set.

Watch runs well if a little fast. Will be kept for special occasions but will sit on display in our study doubling as a small clock!

Can't post photos yet but will put some on when I get past 10 posts.

Regards

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

[cop414]

Welcome. You can post pictures now but not links.

[cardiel]

lets see it! I'm in Scotland too and have always been curious about this reference...is this the one that Martins had in for a service recently?

( make some nice comments in other threads to get you count up )

[AJMarcus]

Fantastic. But you must wear that watch. To me the best testament is to use that watch what it was made for and bought to do. Pics?

[WCHROLX]

Amazing, we waiting for the pictures and congrats also

[spangelsaregreat]

Cop414 can't see an option to add photos directly so will need to get the post count up to 10. Will sort that out over the next few days and post some photos up then.

Cardiel, no the watch has not been serviced. However, it is running about 15 seconds a day fast so probably needs a service (last one was in 1995 according to the service booklets). Not sure where to go with the service, as I understand official Rolex services are not recommended for Vintage watches as they can replace things which you may want to keep. Happy to take any advice on this.

It was bought in April 1964 according to the original receipt (Watches of Switzerland in Glasgow) and actually picked up from the shop in June 1964 according to the date stamp on the service book guarantee. The serial number is 867XXX so I am guessing it would have been built in 1963.

The bracelet is a 6635 with 57 end links. There is some stretch one sides links (visible in the picture) but the other side are all pretty tight. It is also a 1963 build so matches the watch well.

From my research it appears to be a gilt dial and still has the original radium dial but as stated above with replacement hands and crystal.

AJMarcus I do wear it every few days when my Samsung Gear S3 is charging (my everyday watch, for which I have Explorer, Air King, Explorer 2, Sea Dweller, Submariner, Sky Dweller and Omega Sea Master faces) and will wear it every so often when out and about.

Not sure of a value, I guess around the £5000 mark based on others I have seen for sale.

[cop414]

You can attach you pics if you go below where you’ve made your post.

[spangelsaregreat]

Ah, I see. Photos attached.

Regards

[Just0neMore]

Awesome!

[offrdmania]

Very nice OP, would love to see the receipt and service paperwork too. I would remove that sticker from the case back too, it will get grimey over time and leave a sticky mess.

[spangelsaregreat]

These are the Service Booklets (one from the original purchase, the second I assume from when the hands and crystal were replaced), guarantee, receipt and service table.

Interesting that the Receipt is written as an Air King I guess they did differentiate it as the slightly different model. The official Rolex service document from the crystal and hand replacement in 1995 confirms it as a 5500 Explorer though.

Regards

[cardiel]

can we see another photo showing the text on the dial please? Great to see some documentation!

[Dan S]

So this would be a radium dial with no underline or T<25? The lume is remarkably pristine.

[Juhuatai]

Nice example OP.

[spangelsaregreat]

Here is one with the dial text visible.

[BisonHead]

Welcome to the forum, very nice watch. That would be getting some serious wrist time for me.

[offrdmania]

Originally Posted by spangelsaregreat

These are the Service Booklets (one from the original purchase, the second I assume from when the hands and crystal were replaced), guarantee, receipt and service table.

Interesting that the Receipt is written as an Air King I guess they did differentiate it as the slightly different model. The official Rolex service document from the crystal and hand replacement in 1995 confirms it as a 5500 Explorer though.

Regards

Its too bad that the original receipt lists the watch as an Air King since the 5500 could have come either way with no difference in model number. If you were to ever sell it, the documentation would not be in your favor when it comes to value. Most likely in 1995 when the service was completed, Rolex didnt check for its original setup, they only checked that the parts in the watch were real.
Was the work done by Rolex itself or just an AD? A Rolex AD wouldnt have access to original documents to verify if the dial was original to the watch.

[spangelsaregreat]

I am pretty confident, regardless of the receipt, that it is a 5500 Explorer as the service booklet shows the all the work that has been done on it including the change of the hands in 1995. This work was done at Rolex's own service centre in Bexley in Kent which is shown on the Service document (including the watches serial number). I would have thought they would be able to tell if it was a re-dialled Air King.

Also as far as I have gathered from research is has a radium dial (the Swiss wording at the bottom) which would have been correct for the time of manufacture in 1963. I believe they changed it to tritium dials which would have the T<25 text in the following years. Don't have a gieger counter to verify this however.

It would have been highly unlikely my father would have had the dial changed and as the watch has been his from new there would not have been another owner who would have done this.

Regardless I have no intention of selling it so it is a mute point other than as a little bit of a talking point.

Regards

[Gee2789]

All that and no wrist shot? A travesty!

But a great looking watch with sentimental value. Thanks for sharing a part of your history with the forum.

How hard was it to source those early bracelets?

[Woody]

That is a very nice watch and you are one lucky chap. For a short period I owned an Explorer ref 5504, which was a 36mm version with the "Super Precision" dial. Should never have let that one go!!. Enjoy the watch and thanks for sharing all the documentation. That purchase receipt is superb.

[Lol-x]

Very nice piece, it looks 100% to me.
The bracelet looks great too

[spangelsaregreat]

Gee2789, apologies for the missing the wrist shot, here you go (here is also a shot of the daily driver Samsung Gear S3 in Air Dweller mode).

Re the bracelet I spent a month or so searching eBay for bracelets (initially was looking at the later non rivet bracelet) until I found a good one at a decent price. The biggest issue was getting one with minimal link wear and stretch. I also wanted to try and get one as close to the year of manufacture of the watch itself and got lucky on that count.

As I said above this one does have some stretch on one side of the bracelet and none on the other so probably as good as you will get it before you have to enter into the + £1500 cost.

I know there is the guy in Hong Kong who does refurbs of these bracelets so might consider sending it for a full refurb in the future.

Regards

[77T]

Originally Posted by spangelsaregreat

I am pretty confident, regardless of the receipt, that it is a 5500 Explorer as the service booklet shows the all the work that has been done on it including the change of the hands in 1995. This work was done at Rolex's own service centre in Bexley in Kent which is shown on the Service document (including the watches serial number). I would have thought they would be able to tell if it was a re-dialled Air King.



Also as far as I have gathered from research is has a radium dial (the Swiss wording at the bottom) which would have been correct for the time of manufacture in 1963. I believe they changed it to tritium dials which would have the T<25 text in the following years. Don't have a gieger counter to verify this however.



It would have been highly unlikely my father would have had the dial changed and as the watch has been his from new there would not have been another owner who would have done this.



Regardless I have no intention of selling it so it is a mute point other than as a little bit of a talking point.



Regards

£43 and 10
Wow!

Of course you’d never sell it.

The issue of the receipt is likely down to a sales clerk writing up the sale for a 5500 and a small mental error.

One day you’ll hand it down and some future evaluator (for whatever reason) could become curious. I’d eliminate that ambiguous receipt because the warranty papers and service history are key.

There is no financial value for that receipt since the date is different, there is no serial number on it, and the Air King description doesn’t add value. JMO



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[cardiel]

a very similar watch turned up at my local repairers in Glasgow

https://www.instagram.com/p/B84KyLpH..._web_copy_link

[spangelsaregreat]

cardiel with the original hands too.

[spangelsaregreat]

All sorted now for display purposes, a great heirloom, thanks Dad.