Thegr8one
Silver Member
Hi,
Up for sale is a very cool 1966 Datejust 1600/1603, 36mm, black matte dial, smooth bezel, oyster bracelet, serial # 1,5XX,XXX. In my opinion, the sportiest datejust out there.
The watch is stamped 1603, which we know usually comes with an engine turned bezel. At some point in it's life, the bezel was changes to a smooth, usually found on the 1600. This was pretty common in the old days and bezels were freely swapped on datejusts. What I found interesting is, on both of the Rolex service documentation, Rolex themselves acknowledge the bezel was smooth but also listed the model as 1603, indicating they accept the bezel as smooth on this 1603.
During the service from 2005, the owner at that time decided to replace the dial, hands and purchase a new bracelet. Usually on vintage watches, this decision is blasphemy. For me personally, I didn't mind this at all as this watch still retains it's vintage charm, but has some modern benefits, such as lume on the dial and hands. The matte dial and hands are flawless and all lume plots are perfect, which I am a stickler for. The silver date wheel appears to be original and has the sought after open 6 & 9's. The bracelet is a ref # 78360 and the end links are ref # 558. The caseback sticker is still on the watch from the 2015 service.
Overall the watch is in fantastic shape. It's hard to believe this case is from 1966. One of the service papers does indicate the case was refinished but whoever did it at Rolex did an amazing job. Each lug hole retains a concentric circle with no deformation, which is usually an indicator of over polishing.
I'm not a stickler for pinpoint accurate time, so I have not measured it's accuracy. It is running slightly fast but for my preference, was completely acceptable.
Without further ado, here are some close up pics. Everything that you see in the pics will come with the watch...
-1966 Datejust
-Service Box
-Cleaning Cloth
-Service Paper from 2005
-Service Paper from 2015
-Rolex Booklet & Warranty Card from 2015
Asking price: $4,950 shipped via Parcel Pro across Canada or FTF in the Durham Region, East GTA or Markham area with well known CWC members with positive feedback.
Up for sale is a very cool 1966 Datejust 1600/1603, 36mm, black matte dial, smooth bezel, oyster bracelet, serial # 1,5XX,XXX. In my opinion, the sportiest datejust out there.
The watch is stamped 1603, which we know usually comes with an engine turned bezel. At some point in it's life, the bezel was changes to a smooth, usually found on the 1600. This was pretty common in the old days and bezels were freely swapped on datejusts. What I found interesting is, on both of the Rolex service documentation, Rolex themselves acknowledge the bezel was smooth but also listed the model as 1603, indicating they accept the bezel as smooth on this 1603.
During the service from 2005, the owner at that time decided to replace the dial, hands and purchase a new bracelet. Usually on vintage watches, this decision is blasphemy. For me personally, I didn't mind this at all as this watch still retains it's vintage charm, but has some modern benefits, such as lume on the dial and hands. The matte dial and hands are flawless and all lume plots are perfect, which I am a stickler for. The silver date wheel appears to be original and has the sought after open 6 & 9's. The bracelet is a ref # 78360 and the end links are ref # 558. The caseback sticker is still on the watch from the 2015 service.
Overall the watch is in fantastic shape. It's hard to believe this case is from 1966. One of the service papers does indicate the case was refinished but whoever did it at Rolex did an amazing job. Each lug hole retains a concentric circle with no deformation, which is usually an indicator of over polishing.
I'm not a stickler for pinpoint accurate time, so I have not measured it's accuracy. It is running slightly fast but for my preference, was completely acceptable.
Without further ado, here are some close up pics. Everything that you see in the pics will come with the watch...
-1966 Datejust
-Service Box
-Cleaning Cloth
-Service Paper from 2005
-Service Paper from 2015
-Rolex Booklet & Warranty Card from 2015
Asking price: $4,950 shipped via Parcel Pro across Canada or FTF in the Durham Region, East GTA or Markham area with well known CWC members with positive feedback.