Rolex Datejust Ref. 1601/8 - Early Non-Luminous Silver Dial w/ Patina

Hard to believe - but the Datejust has been around since 1945. It is far older than its bigger and attention-hogging Submariner brethren. The Datejust was Rolex’s idea of the perfect everyday watch. The robustness of the Oyster case, combined with the elegance of an Oyster Perpetual. The ‘4 digit’ series of Datejust are particularly attractive for their pie-pan dials which offer a layer of three-dimensionality to the dials that went away with the advent of quickset date and 5-digit Datejusts. These early Datejusts were available as the 1601, with a fluted white gold bezel, or the 1603, with an engine-turned steel bezel. The 4-Digit Datejusts wear also the first series to become available with a myriad of dial colors and case and bracelet materials.

This particular piece, for starters, is a solid-gold Datejust, which are rare to begin with, full stop. Rolex did not make a lot of these so it didn’t compete with its more expensive sibling, the Day-Date, which were exclusively produced in solid gold.

Dating to circa 1961, this early example and has a few features that we love found only on examples from the first few years of the Reference. The yellow gold bezel is more finely 'fluted' than later examples, and the dial has more stylistic applied 'dart' indices and are paired with a 'dauphine'-style handset. Though not the only combination of dial and hands offered at this time, these small details amount to, we think, a special and elegant wearing experience relative to subsequent variants within the reference.

It comes to us with a strong, thick case and a correct, early 'finely-fluted' yellow gold bezel. Both show signs of a very light previous polishing and normal signs of wear from age and use. Inside, the sunburst silver dial is an uncommon non-luminous unit, with applied 'dart' indices and a 'dauphine' handset to match. The dial itself exhibits an attractive patina throughout, having changed to a champagne-color with 'specks' scattered throughout which are reminiscent of a desert landscape or perhaps beach.

We think that this fresh-to-market is a looker, and fit for a collector looking for something thats one of a kind. Thats what vintage is all about isn't it?