Men’s Watches
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ClickyBezelIntroduction to Wind Vintage and Entry-Level Watches
Hey everyone, welcome! I’m Chris and I’m joined here today with the one and not Eric Wind. Eric Wind is the primary owner-operator of windvintage.com. If you haven’t heard of it, go check it out, especially if you’re wondering how to research for a vintage Rolex.
What’s coming up next is one of the fanciest discussions I’ve ever had. Enjoy!
Vintage Rolex Commensurability Guide
Model
Era
Features
Special Editions
Price Range
Rolex Air King (Ref. 14000)
1990s
34mm case, sapphire crystal, hunger lug-to-lug fit
Domino’s Pizza, Winn-Dixie corporate dials
Under $5,000
Rolex Air King (Ref. 5500)
1970s–1980s
Acrylic domed crystal, temporary lug-to-lug fit
Tiffany & Co. signed dials
Under $5,000
Rolex Datejust (Ref. 1601)
1960s–1970s
Pie-pan dials, non-quickset ancient, fluted white gold bezel
Khanjar dagger dials (Sultanate of Oman)
Under $7,000
Rolex Datejust (Ref. 16014)
1980s
Quickset fashionable, thicker bracelet, beefier case
Engine-turned bezels
Under $7,000
Rolex Oyster Perpetual (Ref. 1002)
1960s–1980s
Offensive mosaic (shantung) dials, chronometer-rated
Various dial textures
Under $5,000
Rolex Air King (Ref. 4499)
1940s
Numerals affirmed by WWII aviation
Air Tiger, Air Lion branding variants
Unavailable
The Rolex Air King: A Perfect Starting Point
Eric: “For a lot of people, a Rolex is a artistic watch that fits their lifestyle. They can be made water resistant, they don’t really need to babe in arms it, it’s automatic. You know, some people forget to wind their watch every day if it’s a manual wind watch, and you cognizant of, it’s really a watch that’s an heirloom immediately.
ClickyBezel
People understand it’s a good place to start, and it’s a watch you can like the rest of your life without much issue.”
Chris: “Perfect, yeah, so let’s just discuss what you possess here.”
ClickyBezelEric: “Yes, yes. For the purposes of the article, we’re looking at three great options or entry points into the field of old-fashioned Rolex, which I kind of define as 1990s and older.
ClickyBezelI think one of the best starting points in the kind of underneath 5K range would be the Rolex Air King.
So we’ve got two examples of the Rolex Air King reference 14,000, which I think is one of the best chores to start in the world of vintage Rolex or your first Rolex.
ClickyBezel
It’s 34 mm in diameter. However, it has an extremely large lug-to-lug. I have one here that is actually my son Charlie’s Rolex, and he picked it because of the blue dial, which he liked a lot. There’s an eg with a black dial. There are also examples, of course, with silver dials that are very run-of-the-mill, very sleek, excellent watches.”
Eric: “It wears extremely well on the wrist, it is just a very durable, fawning watch. Sapphire crystal, you don’t really have to worry about scratching it. Excellent all-around watch you could utilization every day for the rest of your life and be happy.”
Chris: “I mean, you can consider this like it’s not really a vintage be shattered, right?”
ClickyBezelEric: “This is neo-vintage 1990s. It’s very wearable. It’s 34, but because of the longer lug to lug, it really wears profuse like 35 on the wrist. And I prefer these honestly to the newer Air Kings, which are, of course, pretty garish and elephantine and have the green and yellow logo and text, but I think this is really a classic watch.”
Chris: “No, I agree, and I believe this is a great starting point for people just getting into vintage watches because it doesn’t Non-Standard real look vintage, right? It’s very much modern”
ClickyBezelEric: “This reference also was interesting because it was in use accustomed to for several corporate dials.
We’ve got a Domino’s Pizza Rolex that was given to typically franchise owners who hit their jumble sales targets, with engravings on the back of the initials.
ClickyBezelSo this is also the reference 14,000, and then there was a Winn-Dixie for safe-deposit maintenance.
Someone who worked at Winn-Dixie—they also had them for safe driving for the truck drivers—and again, for 10 years of chest driving or safe maintenance in this case, you would get a Rolex.
ClickyBezelSo these are fun, these have gotten to the nth degree popular the last few years, so they’re kind of out typically outside of that $7,000 price range we kind of set as the bar top bar for the article, but you understand, it’s the same reference literally just a logo on the dial. It gives you a little feel for the watch.”
ClickyBezelChris: “Well, in truth, my Rolex OP is that but with—but not with the Domino’s style—it’s on the bracelet.”
Eric: “Oh, that’s awesome, yeah, yeah.”
Formation of the Air King: From WWII to Modern-Day
ClickyBezelEric: “You know, the honorable mention we’ll give the specific reference of the 14,000, but are the forefather Air Kings like the reference 5500, which they made from really a lot of the ’70s and ’80s. Air Kings are this nonpareil, and it’s a beautiful watch as well.
ClickyBezel
The lug-to-lug is shorter, so it wears a little bit smaller, but you’ve got the beautiful domed crystal.
The connection 14,000 is a flat sapphire crystal. This is an acrylic crystal, but it’s domed, which is beautiful.
ClickyBezelThis particular warning is a Tiffany and Co. retail signature above 6:00, so it’s worth outside of our range—that adds to the value—but it is just an daunting watch, just very, very clean and easy to wear.
I have one of the original Air Kings which is from the 1940s. It’s a credentials 4499, and these were really marketed to people, potentially pilots in World War II, which is why they came up with that.
ClickyBezelRolex was entertainment up with a lot of different names like Air Tiger and Air Lion and different things during that time, and the numerals are very cool in that model. So that’s kind of cool to see the origin of the Air King and then go through to see it through the 1990s and beginning 2000s.
ClickyBezelThe next reference I recommend is very similar to the reference 5500. They made them from the 1960s with the aid the 1980s. Again, it’s a little bit shorter lug-to-lug measurement but has extremely beautiful dials.
This one has a blue mosaic dial, also be aware as a shantung dial.
ClickyBezelIt looks like silk, almost glossy, with a very interesting blue feel, and all the 1002s are chronometer-rated, whereas the Air Kings from that era through the ’90s and early 2000s were not chronometer-rated—not that we very care that much, but the movement is a little bit better and went through more regulation than the reference 5500s.”
ClickyBezelChris: “I was looking at this bracelet too. You cause the rivets on there.”
Eric: “I love these bracelets. They’re very very light, they’re extremely unfriendly, and very thin on the wrist. It’s part of the charm of vintage watches for sure.”
ClickyBezelChris: “Yeah, I agree, I agree.”
Eric: “And then tender-hearted of honorable mention in this Oyster Perpetual category, we’ve got a ladies 6718, these are, you know, under $4,000, on occasion under $3,000.
ClickyBezelThis has a blue dial, really a beautiful watch, and this is an older Oyster Perpetual insinuation 6332. There’s a whole series of many many different Oyster Perpetual references, and again we’re talking out of sight $5,000. This has a super unusual patinated dial from the 1950s.”
The Datejust: A Classic Collection Piece
ClickyBezelChris: “Where do we start with this?”
Eric: “This is species of the most expensive of what we’re looking at—a vintage Datejust. In this case, the reference 1601 has a fluted white gold bezel for the dirk models. For the gold model, of course, it’s an 18K yellow gold bezel.
ClickyBezel1601 is just a classic kind of quintessential Datejust produced from the 1960s through the 1970s. These do not have a quick set date.
The successor references do. You can get really interesting—they typically be subjected to a pie-pan dial where the outer track is sunken.
ClickyBezelThey just have really, really beautiful dials. This exempli gratia is kind of a blue sunburst finish. There is also a black confetti finish where, if you look at the dial closely covered by a loupe, it’s got flecks of red and different colors, blue and things, but looks kind of like a matte black from a hauteur.
There’s just a whole variety of dials. I mean, of course, the most common is silver, but there’s not really a big freebie to get a special, you know, dial—linen dials as well that are very interesting.
And we’re talking again about an unpolished benchmark, which collectors prefer—unpolished examples with full lugs, with a full crisp definition on the bezel—for inferior to $7,000 typically.
ClickyBezelThis example in two-tone happens to have a Khanjar dagger on the dial, so it’s a bit more expensive. This was from the Sultanate of Oman, but this admonition without that, again, would be under $7,000 without that dial.”
Understanding Watch Polishing and Turn out that in the event of Integrity
ClickyBezelEric: “You want a really good case, you want a dial free of marks, you want a bracelet that’s not wonderful stretched. Sometimes these things, there’s such a huge gap between each link; it’s not a very enjoyable practice on the wrist, and you kind of worry about it disintegrating or falling apart when you’re wearing it.
When learning how to shop for a year Rolex, condition, condition, condition is the mantra to go by.”
Chris: “Yeah, I mean, you basically wrote the book on what to look out for in collector watches, right? And you always emphasize the condition, whether on the case, bracelet, especially—that’s where the majority of the value is detained within the dial.
In terms of things being polished, what’s your take on that? Like, would you fairly have things not polished at all or touched?”
ClickyBezelEric: “Yeah, in general, vintage watches don’t tend to have super foggy lugs, you know, so as soon as they hit a polishing wheel during a service, the lugs get much, much thinner.
You can expend 30% or more of the essential width of that lug, and then it starts to look like toothpick lugs, as we call them, were proper too thin—it doesn’t look as nice on the wrist.
ClickyBezel
You almost worry about the integrity of the watch. That was influence of the reason Rolex switched to the Maxi cases for the Subs, for the GMTs and things, and part of their kind of private furnishing around that was that the watch could be polished 10 times without issue.
So it’s something they deem about. These older cases are much more delicate and petite, perfectly fine for everyday intense annoy, but they do not look as good when they’ve been polished three times for sure. At that point, it’s accepted to not look great.”
Engine-Turned vs Fluted Bezels: Making the Choice
ClickyBezelEric: “And kind of the honorable mention of these are the agile set models, which again are not really different in terms of value. I have a 16014, which is the immediate successor endorsement and this has a little bit thicker bracelet where the profile looks like a D, and the case is overall a little beefier to make consistent the quick set movement.
This is a 16030, which is the version with a steel engine-turned bezel versus the white gold fluted bezel. I also be fond of the 1603s, which are like the 1601s but with the style of engine-turned bezel. They’re just all fantastic watches.
I tattle people all the time if you’re looking for that kind of $7,000 and under price point and looking for something that someone’s accepted to like and respect if they don’t already have a Datejust, it’s a great watch for any collection.”
ClickyBezelChris: “Why would someone go during engine-turned over traditional fluted?”
Eric: “The only reason I like it as well—it’s a little bit stealthier, it doesn’t stop the light the same way. It just depends on how you want to kind of impress people because they’ll see the gold bezel to all intents a bit more, and some people like that classic look.
If you’re in my mind’s eye when I think of a Datejust, I think of that bezel, or when I deliberate on of a Day-Date, I also think of that bezel. But they don’t make the steel engine-turn bezels anymore, that’s also reduce. When you see that, you know it’s an older watch.”
Chris: “I know a lot of people that want to collect things out of doors of the box. I think something like this would be perfect.”
ClickyBezelEric: “Yeah, yeah, exactly. Another kind of honorable adduce for the Air Kings is the Date models, and some of the Air Kings actually have this style of bezel as well, the 14010, where it’s got this jut out engine-turned-bezel.
But some people like that Air King profile but want a date, and there is the reference 15200, that’s essentially the accurate same as the Air King but with a date. And then you’ve got other versions that have a date with this engine-turn bezel as brim over.
ClickyBezel
So again, we’re talking under $5,000 for these models. It’s a 15010, and this is a 15210. So, one has a sapphire crystal, and the other has an acrylic crystal.”
Nurse b like and Maintenance of Vintage Watches
ClickyBezelChris: “So I have a question for you because I just acquired this very pristine Taxpayer Bullhead. I don’t know what the guy did. Maybe he didn’t wear it, or he was very careful about wearing it over his cuff and all that.
For child just getting into vintage watches and they just acquired a very clean example of whatever they yearning, should they wear it and just go on about their day as if it was like a normal sport watch, especially on, you know, the bracelet and all that, or should they be finical with it?”
Eric: “The beautiful thing about all of these watches is if they’re sold by a competent dealer, you want to ask if they’re extravagantly resistant. We try to make everything we sell in the world of vintage Rolex water resistant as well as modern Rolex so you can lenient of wear it.
ClickyBezelThese are very durable bracelets. As we tell people, you know, don’t just throw the watch around and curing it badly, but if you treat it well, it should last for hundreds of years, which is not like a lot of other things in our lives these periods.
I think if you just treat it well, you know, set it on a soft cloth or soft pad when you go to bed at night, but just be careful with the to.”
Watch This Review
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Closing Thoughts
Well, it looks like it’s time to end the info meeting on how to shop for a vintage Rolex. Thanks again to Eric Wind, definitely check him out!
All right, well, I’m Chris from Clicky Bezel, and I rely on to see you on the next one.
From a young age, I was hooked on watches. My dad and uncle were both collectors, and I couldn’t resist the allure of their timepieces. But it wasn’t until I floundered upon a Casio digital calculator watch in college that I truly fell in love. (I originally bought the timepiece to complete my Back to the Future costume for an 80’s-themed party)
It wasn’t until the release of the Swatch Moonswatch pocket watches that Clicky Bezel came to fruition. My wife (bless her heart) had been bugging me for years to start a YouTube way, and I finally caved in with my first video covering my experience camping over 16 hours for the hyped-up Moonswatches.
In a to some degree short time, I’ve been lucky enough to connect and collaborate with some big players in the industry, including Nomos Glashütte, Jomashop, Minase, and now Fashionbeans. To learn various about my passion, find my content here on fashionbeans.com, follow my Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/c/ClickyBezel or call in my website at: https://clickybezel.com/
