Rolex Datejust Ref. 1601 - Rose Gold Olive Green Prototype Dial

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. And then, there are sold rose gold Datejusts, like the one that we have here — rarer still!

But the real story here, is the dial that this piece bears within...

Seldom surfacing on the open market, it features an absolutely stunning olive green prototype dial with vertically-brushed finishing, applied rose gold indices, brown printed text and minute markers on the outside edge, and a matching rose gold handset. Color aside, the dial has a few interesting things to note: It does not feature the “Superlative Chronometer” text found on the lower half of the dial and it is devoid of the “SWISS” signature almost always found at the bottom of the 6 o’clock position. It is also worth noting that the back of the dial features the usual Singer stamp — the hallmark of the Singer Dial company that was producing Rolex dials during this era.
The case and Jubilee bracelet have got to be one of the most stunning examples that exists in rose gold. Both case and bracelet remain in unpolished condition and show light signs of wear throughout, with thick, symmetrical lugs all around and well preserved factory finishing on the tops of them.

This is an extremely rare opportunity to grab a piece of Rolex history as ultimately, this dial never made it into production.

To read a little more about the Rolex prototype dials produced by Singer, check out this excellent write-up from Phillip at Rolex Passion Report.