Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date Ref.6518 1954

Rolex

Founded in 1905 in England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, the partnership became known as the Rolex Watch Company in 1915 and moved to its new Geneva headquarters in 1919. The success of the wristwatch can be largely attributed to many of Rolex’s innovations which made the company one of the most respected and well-known of all luxury brands. These have included its famous “Oyster” case — the world’s first water-resistant and dustproof watch case, invented in 1926 — and its “Perpetual” — the world’s first reliable, self-winding movement for the wristwatch, launched in 1933. These would form the foundation for Rolex’s Datejust and Day-Date, respectively introduced in 1945 and 1956. Also and equally importantly, Rolex is known for its sports watches, such as the Explorer, Submariner and GMT-Master launched in the mid-1950s.

Description

An incredible, fully restored Rolex Oyster Perpetual date stainless steel wristwatch, with a restored white dial with a wonderful steel furnishings. The 34mm stainless steel case has thick straight lugs and a screw-down case-back, overall, giving this stylish watch a confident, yet not overstated wrist presence.

The Dial

This classic mid 1940s Rolex Oyster Perpetual date dial is beautifully simple and elegant. The original steel ‘spearhead’ hour indices are matched by the steel ‘dauphine’ hands. The design is beautifully balanced and perfectly symmetrical. This dial also carries the perfect date window at 3 which carries a cyclops bubble.

The dial carries the applied Rolex Coronet and is signed ‘Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date’,  ‘Officially Certified Chronometer’ with ‘Swiss’ at the very bottom.

The original dial has been restored to the very highest standards and now looks almost new. The hands are also in wonderful condition considering these remain original, unrestored and untouched.

The Watch Movement

The original high grade “Officially Certified Chronometer” 25 Jewels, 1030 calibre ‘butterfly’ movement is very highly regarded for being particularly accurate, reliable and strong. This movement is known as a ‘butterfly’ movement, due to the lightened rotor which resembles a butterfly wing. Here, it is in sparkling condition and working perfectly following a thorough overhaul and service by our vintage Rolex specialist watchmaker. This includes dismantling the watch to all its component parts and careful inspection under high magnification, replacement where necessary with only genuine Rolex parts, then careful reassembly and adjustment before final calibration in 5 positions. The watch winds, sets and runs accurately and reliably and after final testing and calibration, is running strongly and accurately within +9 seconds/day, which is outstanding for a watch movement of this age! The power reserve of this watch is 48 hours.

The movement is signed ‘Rolex Perpetual Patented’, ‘Montres Rolex S.A’, ‘Adjusted to Five Positions’ and carries the Calibre number 1030 along with the movement serial number 474670.

This watch movement is now ready for many more years of faithful service and is perfectly suited for everyday use. We are therefore very confident in offering this watch with our extendable 12-month warranty on the movement*.

This watch is perfect suited for everyday use, should you so wish.

*Please note – our 12 months’ warranty is only applicable if the full list price is paid.

The Watch Case

The steel watch case measures 34mm, excluding the correct Rolex signed winding crown, this makes this an oversized watch for the 1940s. The heavy Rolex Oyster Perpetual case with a wide plain bezel has quite a bold character, with strong straight lugs. It is in excellent condition, having received a very gentle and sympathetic clean and polish, although the watch has obviously been very well cared for, as there are no dings, scratches or marks visible to the naked eye. The case-back is of full thickness and has never been engraved.

Inside the case-back, the markings are all correct for a Rolex Swiss-made case and it is signed ‘Montres Rolex SA’ with the correct Swiss hallmarks and the model number 6518. This model number can also be clearly found on the outside of the case between the lugs at 6 o’clock. The case serial number 33807 is found on the outside of the case between the lugs at 12 o’clock and dates the watch to 1954.

The case has the screw-down Rolex Oyster crown and screw-down case-back, each complete with new rubber seals, however, although the watch was specified as waterproof when new, this has not been tested and it is not guaranteed.

As ever, our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.

The Bracelet

The  original, expandable Rolex rivet stainless steel bracelet is very close to perfect condition. The bracelet has simply been cleaned and lightly polished to bring it back to the condition you see here. Setting the catch to the shortest adjustment the bracelet will fit a 17.1cm wrist, then when setting the catch to the longest adjustment the bracelet will fit a 19.1cm wrist

Box and Papers

Although there are no original papers with this watch, the reference numbers, markings, signatures and hallmarks are all correct and indicate the date of manufacture as 1954.

Detailed particulars will be included with our purchase receipt for your interest and security. A separate insurance valuation for the replacement value of this watch will be provided at the time of sale along with our unique ‘Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee’ which states: “If this watch proves to be anything less than 100% genuine, authentic and original, a full refund will be given at any time”.

This watch comes complete with a green Rolex suede pouch.

Payment and Delivery

If you would like to pay by bank transfer, we will be pleased to assist you with this and pass on a 3% saving to you. Paying by bank transfer for a 3% saving will not affect your 12 months warranty. Similarly, if you wish to pay by International SWIFT or Bank Wire Transfer we will provide you with our BIC / Swift number and our IBAN number.

Please check the import duties and any taxes your government may apply, these are different for each country and, unfortunately, out of our control.

We understand there may be some ‘loopholes’ that may help you avoid these charges; however, attempting to use these could impact our ongoing ability to serve our growing international customer base.

For those who happen to visit London on occasion, we are, of course, more than happy to store your watch until we can meet you in our offices in Kensington, London, and hand your watch directly to you there.

As with all our watches, this watch will be sold under our 14 days no-quibble sale or return policy.