Rare Rolex Watches: A Collector’s Guide

Powerfunk Sunday, March 17th, 2024 37 min. read

The word “rare” gets thrown around a lot in the Rolex world. Type “rare Rolex” into ebay and you’ll mostly see, well, moderately uncommon Rolexes. Although there are too many rare Rolex watches and variants to cover every single one, I’ll try to give you a holistic picture of the rare Rolex models you should know about. Not all of them are exceedingly expensive, but many are–and some are so rare that it’s hard to find one to buy, or in some cases even find pictures of.

What’s the Rarest Rolex?

Well, there is no single “rarest Rolex” because there are countless old models that are one-of-a-kind. Rolex used to use parts from a variety of third-party suppliers (before they basically acquired them all over a period of about 80 years) and, frankly, there’s a ton of random old Rolex stuff out there. Especially from before 1950.

It’s important to note that rarity, even extreme rarity, does not make a Rolex collectible on its own. A tiny ladies’ Rolex cocktail watch from 1950 will simply never have a huge market value–even if there isn’t a single other one like it. If it’s too small or old for people to realistically wear, the market doesn’t care how rare it is. So I’ll (mostly) stick to the rare Rolex models that collectors actually pay attention to.

Rare Rolex Daytona Watches

Although collectors nowadays love the Rolex Daytona, the first generation of Daytona models, which were 37.5mm manual-wind chronographs made from about 1963-1987, didn’t sell very well. So, Rolex didn’t make very many.

Paul Newman Daytona

Especially rare and desirable are the 4-digit Daytonas with “exotic dials” with contrasting subdials and distinctive typefaces. These are better known as “Paul Newman dials,” because Paul Newman famously wore one. Expect to pay at least a quarter-million dollars for a nice stainless steel Paul Newman.

Rare Rolex Watch: Paul Newman 6239
Daytona ref. 6239 with “Paul Newman” dial.

The “John Player Special” is what collectors call gold Paul Newmans with black dials and champagne subdials, and those can easily sell for over $400,000. Even rarer than that is the inverse of that: the “Lemon” Paul Newman Daytona ref. 6239, with a champagne dial and black subdials, can sell for seven figures.

Rare Early Non-Paul-Newman Daytonas

The rarest 4-digit Daytona models of all actually don’t have Paul Newman dials: 6269 and 6270 are ultra-rare references with diamond-set bezels. John Mayer has one of each…and the amount of others out there is probably in the single digits. Those aren’t the only million-dollar non-Newman early Daytonas though: the “Solo Daytona” (with only the word “Rolex” on the top half of the dial) is a rare dial variant that can sell for millions.

16516 Platinum Daytona for Heineger

Rolex doesn’t generally do “custom” watches for anybody…but they made a couple of exceptions for Patrick Heineger when he was their CEO. The 5-digit Rolex Daytona (1988-1999) was only commercially produced with cases made of steel, yellow gold, or white gold. But a handful of platinum examples with the reference number 16516 were made for Mr. Heineger.

Rarest Gem-Set Daytona Bezels

Rolex has made some off-catalog Daytonas with a variety of gem-set bezels over the years. Daytonas with orange sapphire bezels are striking, and certainly rare–but they’re not even one of the rarest. Some might think the famous Rainbow Daytona is the rarest Daytona of all, but it’s actually much harder to find a Daytona with an emerald or ruby bezel.

116578 SACO
Rolex Daytona ref. 116578 SACO

In my opinion, here’s the ranking of Daytona bezel gem rarity:

  1. Yellow Sapphire
  2. Emerald
  3. Ruby
  4. Pink Sapphire
  5. Rainbow Sapphire
  6. Blue Sapphire
  7. Orange Sapphire
  8. Diamond

More on the Rolex Daytona:
The Rare and Cheerful Rolex Daytona Beach Collection
Rolex Surprises Everyone with the Daytona Le Mans Watch
Best Alternatives to the Rolex Daytona
How Much Can I Get For My Rolex Daytona?

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Rare Rolex Dive Watches

The Rolex Submariner, one of the very first dive watches with a rotating bezel, was released in 1953. It was squarely aimed at professional divers, but by the late 1960’s it had become a mainstream cultural phenomenon. Today, the Submariner–and to a lesser extent, the Sea-Dweller– is one of the most collectible luxury watches on the market. Here are some variants worth knowing about.

Early Submariners: No Crown Guard

The first Submariner references to appear in 1953 were ref. 6204 and 6205, both with depth ratings of 100m, fairly slim cases, and “small crowns” (6mm). The famous “Big Crown” ref. 6200 came next, with an 8mm crown (7mm would later become standard) and a thicker case to go along with its 200m rating.

Sean Connery famously wore another Big Crown Submariner reference, 6538, as James Bond in Dr. No. Any Big Crown, including ref. 5510, will always sell for big money. The “Small Crown” models–including 6536, 6536/1, and 5508–also get plenty of love. All of these “pre-crown guard” Subs are rare and sought-after, but 6200 probably remains the most desirable of all. And here are some traits that make early Subs extra valuable:

  • Red-triangle bezel – Some early Submariners came with red triangles at 12 o’clock on the bezel insert. Most are gone by now, but the rare survivors are extremely valuable.
  • No-hash bezel insert – Submariners are known for having hashes marking each of the first 15 minutes on the bezel insert. There were some ultra-rare “no-hash” bezel inserts made early on, though.
  • Sub-Aqua – Some early Submariners say “Sub-Aqua” on the dial instead of “Submariner.” Very hard to find!
  • Split dial – These have a huge amount of space between “Oyster” and “Perpetual.”

Red Submariner and Sea-Dweller

Red Submariners (ref. 1680 models with “Submariner” written in red) are often one of the first rare Rolex models that new collectors learn about. But they’re not actually that rare; there are tons of them for sale at any time.

Double-Red Sea-Dwellers (often referred to as “DRSD”), with two lines of red text on the dial, are quite a bit rarer than Red Subs. The DRSD is a grail-level watch to most vintage Rolex fans, but even rarer still is the Single-Red Sea-Dweller. Probably less than 30 single-reds were ever made, but I bet there are more than 30 DRSD’s for sale online right now.

Off-Catalog Submariners

Rolex released two off-catalog gem-set rare Rolex Submariner models in the 2010’s: 116649 EMBR (emerald bezel) and 116659 SABR (blue sapphire bezel). These models easily sell for six figures, and appropriately enough, they lack the depth rating on the dial.

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COMEX

To many Rolex fans, a Submariner with the COMEX logo on the dial (usually ref. 5514) is the ultimate Rolex. These were supplied to COMEX (Compagnie Maritime d’Expertises), a French commercial diving company, from the 1970’s until the late 1990’s. The bona fide professional diving background of these watches, along with the fact that COMEX actually helped Rolex develop the helium escape valve of the Sea-Dweller, helps propel prices for COMEX Subs into the stratosphere. Hundreds of COMEX Sea-Dwellers were made over the years too, spanning three references: 1665, 16660 and 16600.

Milsub

If any vintage Submariner can top the COMEX, it’s a Milsub. Short for “Military Submariner,” these were made to the UK Ministry of Defence’s specs. The Rolex Milsub ref. 5517 features distinctive sword hands, a giant circled “T” on the dial, and bezel hashes for all 60 minutes (instead of just the first 15 minutes like most Subs). Many Milsubs were lost to time, or even (tragically) “converted” to regular Submariners back in the 1990’s before the market had a thirst for Milsubs. Back then, esteemed Rolex reseller and author Shigeharu Aritake had managed to purchase a hundred surplus Milsubs but was having trouble getting rid of them at any price. Now they sell for new-Porsche money.

Deep Sea Special

Long before the Deepsea Challenge of today, Rolex was pushing the limits of water resistance with a handful of “Deep Sea Special” prototypes. Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh famously took one to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 1960, attached to the outside of their submersible. The watch handled the 37,800-foot depth just fine. Each of these rare Rolex prototypes is a piece of history–with a preposterously huge acrylic crystal.

Rare Rolex watch: Deep Sea Special
Deep Sea Special prototype. Image: Rolex

Barked White Gold Submariner

Christie’s sold a wacky prototype white gold Submariner, featuring a barked bracelet and a blue nipple dial, for over $600,000 in 2017. Only three are believed to exist.

One-of-a-Kind Platinum Yacht-Master

To celebrate Rolex’s 10 millionth chronometer, a one-of-a-kind platinum-cased Yacht-Master was produced with the text “DIX MILLIONIEME CHRONOMETRE” on the dial. It doesn’t get any rarer than that.

Rare Rolex GMT-Master Watches

The Rolex GMT-Master was a hit as soon as it was released in 1954, and there have been several rare variants made over the years.

Single-Red 6542

The first GMT-Master reference, 6542, came with a fragile bakelite bezel insert. Because of the radium inside the insert, the fragility created a bit of a radioactive hazard, and Rolex actively recalled the original bakelite inserts in order to replace them with aluminum ones. So, any 6542 with an intact bakelite bezel is a rare Rolex indeed. But there are some super rare ones with red “GMT-Master” text. The late Rolex guru Marcello Pisani once estimated that Rolex made less than two dozen of them.

Silver Serti Dial

Some people consider serti dials rare, but I’d say they’re merely “uncommon.” GMT-Master II models with champagne serti dials are not hard to find for sale. But silver serti dials were only made on GMT’s in the year 2000. A 16713 or 16718 with a silver serti dial is a legitimately rare Rolex watch in my book.

Non-Mercedes Hands

All Rolex GMT’s have had Mercedes hands for many decades now. But some of the very first solid gold Root Beer GMT models had either stick hands or alpha hands. The ones with alpha hands don’t have a cute Rolex nickname, but the stick-hand version is referred to as the “Concorde.”

Off-Catalog GMT’s

Rolex has released a handful of indulgent, blingy off-catalog GMT-Master II references since the early 2000’s. Each one seems to only last a year or two in production. The bezel of ref. 116759 SARU, for example, is adorned with blue sapphires on one half, and rubies on the other half. And 2023’s Icy Coke Rolex, featuring black sapphires and pigeon blood rubies, just might be the rarest off-catalog GMT yet.

Rare gem-set Rolex watch: 116759 SARU

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Rare Rolex Day-Date Watches

The Day-Date is almost certainly the Rolex model with the highest number of rare variants. As Rolex’s “flagship,” the Day-Date has been offered with an absurdly wide variety of rare bezels, dials and bracelets over the years. Here are some of the most sought-after ones.

Stone Day-Date Dials

Rolex stone dials made of ferrite, onyx, meteorite and sodalite are pretty rare. Malachite, bloodstone, turquoise, cacholong and lapis lazuli dials are rarer. And even rarer than that are dials made from coral, fossilized ammonites, aventurine, carnelian, and obsidian.

Rolex Day-Date ref. 18238 with aventurine stone dial
Rolex ref. 18238 with aventurine dial

Crown Collection Day-Dates

Any discussion of rare Rolexes would be incomplete without mentioning the Crown Collection, an exotic collection of gem-set Day-Dates (and ladies’ models) from the 1980’s-1990’s. In addition to diamond-covered bezel and dial options, rare Rolex Day-Dates exist with emerald, ruby, and sapphire bezels. Ref. 18058 and 18158 are some of the most exotic Day-Dates. Several impossibly rare Oysterquartz Day-Dates like 19058, 19078, 19158, 19188 and 19198 are part of the Crown Collection too.

Guilloche Day-Dates

In 2015, the Glamorous Day-Date Auction by Phillips presented an absurd number of ultra-rare Day-Dates. Among the most notable were a handful of guilloche dials–with each one seemingly unique. Hobnail, tapisserie, and concentric patterns are all represented. Davide Parmegiani sold a beautifully patterned guilloche Day-Date with Eastern Arabic numerals and date which is also likely one-of-a-kind (or very close to it). And here’s an 1803 with a hobnail dial that belonged to a forum user:

Ref. 1831 “Emperor”

The Shah of Iran and the Sultan of Oman both ordered Day-Date 1831 models. It seems to be a model exclusive to royalty. There are almost certainly less than 20 in existence, each made out of platinum, with a unique integrated bracelet. To many, it is the ultimate Day-Date.

Champlevé Enamel Day-Dates

The so-called “Emoji Day-Date” was unveiled in 2023 with a puzzle motif dial executed in stunning champlevé enamel. It didn’t stay in production long, and there only seem to be a handful of actual wrist shots of it online. It seems to have been replaced by the equally rare Rolex “cello dial,” also crafted in champlevé enamel, to celebrate Rolex’s relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic.

The rare Rolex Day-Date emoji watch
Ref. 128235 with puzzle dial. Image: Rolex

Off-Catalog Day-Date 40

The off-catalog Day-Date 40 228398 TRU (ruby bezel, yellow gold) is rare, but the 228396 TEM (emerald bezel, platinum) is really rare. Mark Wahlberg and Roger Federer’s wife each own one.

Stainless Steel Day-Dates

Rolex proudly proclaims that they’ve only ever made the Day-Date out of precious metal. Solid 18k gold, or solid platinum, period. Except for a few internal prototypes, that is. Legend has it that Rolex used to make “practice watches” for their watchmakers to develop their skills on. Given that they were for internal use only, Rolex probably saw no need to use actual gold for their “practice” Day-Dates. But a couple have come up for auction–presumably through ex-employees–and they go for big money.

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Perpetual Calendar Prototype

Even more surprising than a steel Day-Date, is a steel Day-Date that’s also a quartz-powered perpetual calendar! Rolex actually got a patent for a quartz perpetual calendar in the early 2000’s but apparently never brought it to production. The remaining Oysterquartz perpetual calendar prototypes are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each.

Rare Rolex Sky-Dweller Watches

Rolex’s revolutionary take on the annual calendar function, the Sky-Dweller, first appeared in 2012. Here are the rarest Rolex Sky-Dweller watches:

Off-Catalog Meteorite Sky-Dweller

Rolex released two off-catalog Sky-Dweller references in 2021. Both have meteorite dials with diamond baguette hour markers, and diamonds covering the case. 326259TBR comes on an Oysterflex strap (with a diamond-clad clasp) while 326959TBR has a solid white gold Oyster bracelet (absolutely peppered with diamonds). The Oysterflex version sells secondhand for about a quarter-million dollars while the bracelet version sells for a million.

Rare Rolex Sky-Dweller Watch: 326259TBR
326259TBR

White Gold Sky-Dweller with Blue Dial

2017 was the first year that Rolex offered stick dials (with simple white rectangular hour markers) on the Sky-Dweller instead of Arabic or Roman numeral dials. The blue stick dial has always been particularly popular. By 2018, Rolex had discontinued the white gold Sky-Dweller. So, this means that there was only one year of overlap for white gold Sky-Dwellers and blue dials. Since white gold Sky-Dwellers sold in such small numbers to begin with, there are very few blue-dial WG Sky-Dwellers out there.

Rare white gold Sky-Dweller with blue dial
The collector who bought this rare white gold blue-dial Sky-Dweller was told it was one of 10 sold in the US market.

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Rare Early Non-Oyster Rolex Watches

The waterproof Oyster case is what made Rolex famous, and really, most Rolex collectors don’t pay much attention to old non-Oyster models. Still, there are a couple early non-Oysters worth knowing about.

Rolex Prince Jump-Hour

The Rolex Prince is an iconic rectangular dress watch often known as the “doctor’s watch.” Its relatively large seconds subdial is completely separate from the hour and minute hands, making it easy to read (and thus easy for doctors to take a pulse). The rarest and coolest variant has to be the jump-hour Prince. Instead of an hour hand, jump-hour models simply display the hour in a window at the top of the dial –like a date window, but for the hour. Expect to pay over $40,000 if you find a nice example of a rare Rolex Prince jump-hour.

Submarine/Aqua

Rolex made an attempt at a primitive waterproof watch a few years before the Oyster. In 1922, they released the Submarine (in rare cases, stamped “Aqua” instead) in a hermetic case. You had to unscrew the bezel to get to the inner case and wind the watch, so it was a pretty impractical design. But, because the bezel needed to be screwed and unscrewed regularly, Rolex gave it a coin -edge texture for grip–arguably the predecessor of modern-day engine -turned and fluted bezels.

Rare Manual-Wind Rolex Oyster Watches

Although Rolex famously added an automatic winding rotor to the Oyster to create the first “Bubblebacks” in 1933, they also continued making simple manual-wind Oysters for over 50 years. Here are some of the most desirable and rare Rolex Oysters:

Army

I love the angular square-ish bezel on the Rolex Army models, ref. 4647 and 3139. Some don’t say “Army” on the dial at all, but most collectors still refer to them as such. Good examples are hard to find.

Viceroy

The Viceroy’s case is even more angular than the Army’s. To me, ref. 3359 is one of the coolest case designs Rolex has ever made, but unfortunately it’s only 29mm wide. Still, it’s among the most interesting early manual-wind Oysters.

Athlete

If you see a manual-wind Rolex with a barrel-shaped case and straight lugs, that’s probably an Athlete, ref. 4127. Its 32mm size is small by modern standards but not unwearable. Like the Army and Viceroy, the Athlete’s heyday was the 1940’s.

Canadian Models

In the 1930’s-1940’s, there were no authorized Rolex dealers in the United States yet. Rolex was selling watches in Canada then, but it was like they were testing an almost entirely different lineup there. These “Canadian Rolexes” feature Fontainemelon movements (rather than the typical Aegler ones of the time) and a slew of seemingly random model names. They’re almost all around 30mm, and manual-wind.

This ref. 3386 Majestic is rare, but still not particularly valuable

Some rather rare Rolex models intended for the Canadian market include Falcon, Pall Mall, Majestic, Corvette, Skyrocket, Seaforth, Victory, Wellington, Douglas, and Campbell. Good examples are fairly collectible, especially ones with war-era red 24-hour dial markings. But in some cases, due to their age and small size, you might even be able to find a beat-up Canadian Rolex under $1,000. Just don’t expect it to run for long without an expensive maintenance.

Learn More: Rolex and Tudor Watches Only Meant for North America

Air-Giant, Air-Tiger, and Air-Lion

Rolex fans have all heard of the Air-King, but they may not know it was just one of four names Rolex was trying out at first. There are also some rare Rolex Air-Giant, Air-Lion, and Air-Tiger models from the 1940’s. Nothing is different about the watches except for the branding.

Commando

The Commando, ref. 6429, was originally only sold at US military bases in 1969. In 1972 some also turned up for sale at Abercrombie & Fitch. With a 34mm diameter and a black 3-6-9 dial, this rare Rolex model was probably meant to be a cheaper, manual-wind alternative to the Explorer.

Ref. 6154 and the Rolex-Panerai Connection

Panerai was a military equipment supplier that sold things like gun sights and dive equipment. When the Italian navy wanted waterproof watches suitable for divers, Panerai ordered large manual-wind Rolex Oyster models. From the mid-1930’s until about 1956, Panerai made wholesale purchases of five different cushion-case Rolex Oyster references: 2533, 3646, 6152, 6152-1, and 6154. Panerai modified the watches, namely by adding their own dials, and (from 1958 on) adding their signature jumbo crescent crown guards.

Although almost all of the watches are either branded “Panerai” or not branded at all (“sterile”), at least one Rolex-branded 6154 model has been sold at auction. These Panerai-Rolex references are all bigger than 45mm, which was absolutely enormous at the time. Panerai understandably lost interest in selling watches during the quartz crisis, but started again in the 1990’s. Today they’re part of Richemont, who owns Cartier and Vacheron Constantin among others.

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UFO/Lifesaver

To some, the “UFO” Rolex models from about 1940 are the ultimate vintage manual-wind Oysters. Ref. 2849, 3039, and 3190 all have wide, flat “lifesaver bezels” that give them a very distinctive look. Note that a later reference, 9038, also sometimes gets called “UFO,” but its bezel is much less extreme.

Learn More About Rare Rolex Bezels: Rolex Bezels: The Ultimate Guide

Other Rare Discontinued Manual-Wind Oyster Models

Rolex Oyster Firefly, Drake, Clive and Ellsworth models are all very rare. But they’re all just typical three-hand Rolex Oyster references with a different name stamped on the dial. Not very much is known about these; Rolex threw a lot of stuff at the wall back in the day to see what stuck.

Rare Rolex Oyster Perpetual Watches

Nowadays, Rolex’s sports watches–like the GMT-Master II, Submariner, Daytona and Explorer–get the lion’s share of attention from collectors, but none of those models existed until the Oyster Perpetual line had been around for over 20 years. Let’s cover some of the rarest basic Oyster Perpetual models, starting with the first ones–the Bubblebacks.

Rarest Bubblebacks

Modern collectors may not even be aware of the “Bubbleback craze” that occurred in the 1990’s. Back then, nice Bubblebacks–particularly with black dials–were the Rolex to have. Anyone who says “Rolexes always gain value over time” clearly didn’t pay ten grand for a Bubbleback in the 1990’s.

This Bubbleback is only rare because of its provenance: Rolex claims it was worn on a Swiss expedition to the Gangotri Group of mountains in 1947. Image: Rolex

Here are things that make Bubblebacks particularly desirable:

  • Good condition, above all
  • Black dials
  • California dials
  • 24-hour/military dials
  • Hooded lugs

Tru-Beat

The Rolex Tru-Beat debuted in the 1950’s as one of the first two wristwatches with a “deadbeat seconds” complication (Omega might have beaten them to market). This meant that the seconds hand would tick once per second, instead of the 5-6 beats per second that was standard at the time. The clearly defined seconds hand was supposed to make it easy for doctors to measure heartrates.

The Tru-Beat (ref. 6556) was a sales failure in its time, which makes it hard to find today. Plus, most of the deadbeat seconds modules are broken at this point, allowing the seconds hands to “sweep” normally. But if you can find a Tru-Beat that’s ticking once per second like it should, that’s a desirable and rare Rolex.

Empire

The straight-lug Rolex Empire, ref. 3548, is the automatic equivalent of the Athlete.

Meritus

Although most Canada-only Rolex references are manual-wind, the Meritus, ref. 6594, is an exception. The Meritus is a 34mm gold-filled model from the 1950’s with Tudor-like “rotor self-winding” text at the bottom of the dial.

Oyster Perpetuals with Rare Bezels

Most Rolex bezels are smooth, domed, engine-turned, or fluted…but there are a lot of rare Rolex bezel styles from the past. Ref. 3980, for instance, is the only known Rolex with a creased bezel. Ref. 1024, meanwhile, is the only known reference with a faceted bezel. There are also several solid gold 34mm Oyster Perpetual Date models with rare bezel textures like chine, jute, Greek key, Morellis, Moreau, and more. The popular “Zephyr bezel” is also pretty rare–but not compared to those other kinds.

Ref. 6582 was the first “Zephyr” model.

For a Complete Picture of Rare Rolex Bezels: Collector’s Guide to Rolex Bezels

Cloisonné Enamel Dials

Cloisonné enamel is one of the most difficult artistic mediums to work with. The painstaking process involves filling enamel between carefully placed wires, multiple phases of firing, and a high rejection rate. Rolex purchased some cloisonné enamel dials from Stern Frères in the 1950’s and installed them on gold Oyster Perpetual models. They were made by three master artisans that we know of: Marguerite Koch, Carlo Poluzzi, and Nelly Richard. The best examples can sell for over $1 million.

Submariner-Dial Oyster Perpetual

Sometimes it seems like most of the “discovering” of cool vintage Rolex models has already been done at this point. Things like acceptable serial number ranges, minor bezel variations, and miniscule typeface changes are already well-established for many rare Rolex models. And yet every once in a while, something cool and truly unheard-of appears in the vintage Rolex world.

Such is the case with this 1950’s Oyster Perpetual ref. 6284 with a Submariner-style dial and hands. It popped up on watch forums in 2020. The “+” on the crown dates it to 1955, give or take. It ended up selling for $48,000 at a Sotheby’s auction in 2021.

The only known example of a “Submariner-dial” 6284 model. Photo by Rolex Forums user drrd

Not much else is known about this Sub-style Oyster Perpetual, but experts widely agree that the black gilt dial looks absolutely correct for its time period. And most also agree that it looks pretty sweet.

Explorer-Dial 116000/116034

When a new generation of 36mm Oyster Perpetual models was unveiled in 2008, the dial options included an Explorer-like black dial with white 3-6-9 hour markers. It was quickly and quietly discontinued, presumably because Rolex wanted to differentiate the OP line from the Explorer. It’s a very rare dial to find, either with a smooth bezel (116000) or fluted bezel (116034). Later versions of the dial had pink numbers instead of white.

Rare Alternative Oyster Perpetual Model Names

Today, the Rolex Deepsea is an extra-beefy version of their Sea-Dweller dive watch. But Rolex actually first used the Deepsea name in the 1950’s. Apparently it was just a branding exercise, because early Deepseas seem to be otherwise standard Oyster Perpetual references like 6332 and 6532.

Similarly, “Metropolitan” was a short-lived alternative name for the Air-King ref. 5502, and “Space-Dweller” was a rare supposed Japan-only variant of the Rolex Explorer ref. 1016. There has been some doubt cast on the Space-Dweller narrative, however. And before the Explorer name was popular, Rolex tried using the “Everest” moniker on some examples of the Oyster Perpetual ref. 5504 and 5505.

Rare Rolex Turn-O-Graph Watches

The Rolex Turn-O-Graph was just a Datejust with a rotating bezel by the time it was discontinued in 2011. But the original Turn-O-Graph (ref. 6202, released in 1953) actually looked very similar to the Submariner. In fact the Turn-O-Graph debuted before the Submariner. In my opinion, there are three rare Rolex Turn-O-Graph models you should know about in particular.

Monometer

Although most people would consider any ref. 6202 Turn-O-Graph a “rare Rolex,” there are probably over a dozen for sale online at any given time. Some 6202’s were branded “Monometer” instead, and those are truly rare.

Transcontinental Datejust

The Transcontinental Datejust, ref. 6602, is one of the most underappreciated hyper-rare Rolex watches. Only made in 1957 (give or take), the Transcontinental is similar to a typical ref. 6609 Turn-O-Graph except with a 12-hour bezel instead of a 60-minute bezel. It’s the only Rolex ever made with a 12-hour bezel, and only a few have ever been seen.

“Japan” Turn-O-Graphs with Green Accents

As part of the Turn-O-Graph’s farewell in 2011, Rolex released 600 special ToG’s with green accents (half with white dials, half with black). They have green “Turn-O-Graph” text, green seconds hands, and coolest of all, green dates. There was a persistent myth that they were “Japan-only,” but European watch enthusiasts found some at their AD’s at the time, too.

Rare Rolex Chronographs (Pre-Daytona)

When collectors use the term “pre-Daytona,” often they’re specifically referring to the models that immediately preceded the Daytona–ref. 6234 and 6238. Those are pretty rare references, but Rolex also made a bunch of even rarer early chronograph references that are largely forgotten now.

Cushion-Case Monopushers

Cushion-case Rolex monopusher chronographs (like ref. 1074, 1219, 2022, and 2057) don’t get talked about much, but they’re some of the rarest Rolex chronographs ever made. They rarely come up for sale.

Square Chronographs

Rolex also made three different tiny square chronograph models in the 1940’s-1950’s–ref. 3529, 3830, and the “Gabus” 8206. All three are extremely rare.

2737 – Regulator Chronograph

A regulator chronograph is a chronograph with separate hour-and-minute, chrono minute, and chrono seconds registers. Rolex’s only regulator chronograph, ref. 2737 from the 1930’s, has the time (hours and minutes) at the top of the dial, with an entirely non-overlapping chrono minutes subdial at the bottom. The chrono seconds hand is central. Only a handful of these rare Rolex chronograph references have ever been auctioned, and about half of them are pocket watches.

Centregraph/Zerograph

The Rolex Centregraph ref. 3346 (sometimes branded as “Zerographe”) is a bit of an enigma. It was Rolex’s first watch with a rotating timing bezel, and also their first watch with an in-house chronograph movement. It was a stone-simple monopusher chronograph: the button resets the seconds hand to zero. That’s it; there is no separate chrono seconds hand. By rotating the zero of the bezel to match the position of the minute hand upon activation, you can read the elapsed minutes from the bezel.

Pretty innovative, right? Well, not exactly–Philip Weems had invented that style of chronograph years before. By the time the Rolex 3346 came around (1937), Longines had already purchased the Weems patent and begun producing similar watches themselves. I suspect patent infringement issues are why Rolex quickly abandoned the rotating bezel, and didn’t revisit it again until right after the Weems patent expired. We can see that later Centregraph and Zerographe models (like ref. 3479 and 3890) retained the monopusher-reset functionality but ditched the bezel.

4113 – Rattrapante Chronograph

Ref. 4113 is a grail among grails. It’s the only rattrapante (split-seconds) chronograph ever made by Rolex. With its 44mm diameter, it’s also the largest Rolex chronograph ever made. You’ll consistently see claims that there were only 12 examples made, although I’m not quite sure how auction houses arrived so confidently at that number. In any case, it’s an extremely rare Rolex, and to some it’s the most desirable one of all.

Jean-Claude Killy Rolex (Dato-Compax)

Triple-calendar Rolex chronographs, sometimes called “dato-compax” models, were made from about 1958-1962 with the reference numbers 4767, 4768, 5036, 6036, and 6236. But most often you’ll hear them called “Jean-Claude Killy” Rolexes, nicknamed for the famous skier who once wore one. While they are rare by any standard, if you have a couple hundred grand lying around you can likely pick one up chrono24 at any given time.

4767 is one of the rarest Rolex watches
“Jean-Claude Killy” ref. 4767

Moonphase Triple Calendar Chronograph (Controversial)

Far rarer than even the Jean-Claude Killy is a Rolex triple-calendar chronograph with moonphase. Ref. 8237 and 81806 are the references…if they’re a real thing at all. Antiquorum sold an 8237 in 1990 and no other example has been seen since. You might say “wow, they’re so rare they never even come up for auction” but the more cynical among us might say “these never come up for auction because they wouldn’t pass modern scrutiny.” There was so, so much less public vintage watch knowledge in the pre-internet days of 1990.

Notably, Robert Maron once sold an 81806, as did Antiquorum. Why would Rolex randomly use a 5-digit reference number in the 4-digit era? Well, Antiquorum claims that model was “produced as a prototype, according to Rolex correspondance dated Aug. 22, 1986.” You can find internet debates going back as far as the early 2000’s debating whether certain 81806’s are real or not, with some debating the legitimacy of the reference entirely. An unconfirmed one even popped up on Reddit in 2023.

There are plenty more early rare Rolex chronograph models, but that should cover the most interesting and distinctive ones.

Rare Rolex Dress Watches

When it comes to Rolex, most collectors don’t pay too much attention to their dress watches. Nevertheless, there are a few rare Rolex dress watches worth knowing about.

White Gold King Midas

The King Midas, designed by the legendary Gerald Genta, is an interesting piece of Rolex history. Not only is each watch crafted from a single ingot of gold, but the first run (ref. 9630) was a true limited edition–each one has a fancy-looking cursive number written on the bracelet. Most examples, however, are yellow gold. Some say that less than 150 white gold 9630’s were made. The King Midas also has the rarest Rolex box of any model–original King Midas “urns” can sell for big money even without the watch!

Faceted Crystal

In 2011, Sotheby’s sold a white gold Rolex dress watch, ref. 3559, with a stunning faceted crystal. It almost gives the appearance of a soccer ball. No other examples of this watch seem to have come up for sale.

Moonphase

The ref. 8171 “Padellone” is a beautiful dressy moonphase watch, and so is ref. 6062. Prices range from about $100,000-$350,000 depending on condition and case material.

Rare Ladies’ Rolex Watches

Rolex’s ladies’ watches may not get as much attention from collectors as their sports watches, but they’re far from an afterthought in the Rolex lineup. Here are some of the most distinctive and rare Rolex watches for women.

Ring Watches

Lots of jewelers make cheesy unauthorized custom Rolex-themed rings and bracelets. But Rolex themselves made some actual ring watches. They’re quite rare, and classy too.

Chinese Lantern Watch

If you thought a ring watch was weird, wait until you see the rare Rolex “Chinese lantern” watch, made to be worn as a brooch.

Jellybean

Fancy gold ladies’ Rolexes with cabochons (which resemble jellybeans) set in the bracelet are known as “Jellybean” models. References include 2706/8, 2707/8, 2708/8, 2709/8, 2712/8, and 2722/8. They’re pretty striking.

Mummy

My personal favorite rare ladies’ Rolex watch is the Cellini “Mummy,” ref. 5227/8. I love the way they made it appear as though the diamonds are “wrapping” the watch up. Very impressive goldwork.

Stone Dials

Rolex stone dials have appeared in almost every product line at some point or another. But two lines get by far the most stone dials: The Day-Date, and the Ladies’ Datejust. Below is a stunning example of a coral dial.

Concealed Dials

Even very rare old Rolex ladies’ watches don’t usually sell for very much money. But examples with concealed dials are a notable exception. Rolex made some beautiful concealed dials around 1960 that border on haute joaillerie.

Rare Rolex Tudor Watches

In most cases, the words “Rolex” and “Tudor” do not belong on the same dial together. If you see a “Rolex Tudor,” it’s usually safe to assume that it’s really just a questionably-repainted Tudor. But there are a small number of legitimate Rolex Tudor watches. The only way to get a new Rolex Tudor Prince like the one shown below, was to work at St. Regis Paper Company for 25 years. Only a handful of these Rolex Tudors have ever popped up for sale, but each time, they feature an engraved caseback mentioning 25 years of service at St. Regis Paper. Note that they came in Tudor boxes with Tudor paperwork, so they’re really more Tudor than Rolex.

This model of “Rolex Tudor” was only ever given to St. Regis Paper Company employees. Image: SuisseLuxuryTime

Retailer-Stamped Dials (Tiffany Dials etc.)

One simple variation that can increase a Rolex’s rarity is a retailer stamp. Dials that also include the selling jeweler’s name–sometimes called “double-signed dials”–are becoming increasingly popular with collectors. Generally, well-known retailer names like Cartier and Tiffany add the most value but there were tons of early Rolex dealers that stamped their names on dials.

Error Dials

Rolex doesn’t often make glaring mistakes, but when they do, it can make the watch more valuable. When Rolex dials have notable mistakes, they’re called “error dials.” Some Oyster Perpetual 41’s have been found with double batons at the wrong hour, etc. On a handful of occasions, Rolex has made various mistakes mixing up the 3, 6, and 9 numerals on Explorer and Air-King models. Also, a handful of Daytonas have turned up with no Daytona text on the dial. Here’s a no-Daytona 116503 shared on reddit by eva03prototype:

Rolex ref. 116503 with “no-Daytona” error dial. Image: eva03prototype

Logo Dials

From the 1950’s until the early 2000’s, Rolex added several company logos, team logos, military crests, and politician signatures to various dials. Collectors refer to these special dials as “logo dials.” Khanjar dials, featuring the famous Omani crest, are among the most popular. So are Domino’s dials. Some logo dials are only somewhat rare, while others are one of a kind (or close to it).

Dive Deep into Logo Dials:
Rolex Logo Dials: An Overview
Collector’s Guide to Rolex Company Logo Dials
Collector’s Guide to Rolex Government and Military Logo Dials
Collector’s Guide to Rolex Sports Logo Dials

Other Rare Rolex Dials

We’ve already covered several of the rarest Rolex dial types, but there are simply too many to list in this article. Underline dials, exclamation point dials, chevron dials, radial dials…for a closer look at those and much more, we recommend checking out our Collector’s Guide to Rolex Dials.

Destro Models

Watches with left-hand crowns are commonly referred to as “left-hand drive” or “destro” models. Rolex garnered significant interest with the launch of the destro “Sprite” GMT in 2022, although that wasn’t their first venture into left-hand drive designs. In addition to several left-hand King Midas models, there are rare vintage Datejusts, Day-Dates, Oyster Perpetuals, and Submariners with left-hand crowns.

Rare Movements

We’ve now shown you a wide variety of rare Rolex model names, dials and reference numbers. But sometimes the movement can make a vintage Rolex unexpectedly special.

Gilt Movements

One of the coolest rare Rolex traits to me is a gold-plated movement. These “gilt movements” from the 1950’s are incredibly rare and an absolute joy to look at. They don’t have their own movement numbers; they’re just top-grade, gold-plated versions of well-known automatic Rolex calibers. Why did they do this? Because they can, I suppose. Very cool, and super rare.

Didactic Movement

My other favorite type of rare Rolex movement is the didactic movement found on some first-generation Bubbleback models. Didactic means “intended to teach,” and in Rolex terms it refers to a movement with watchmaker disassembly instructions written on it, in both French and English.

Hopefully this has given you a coherent overall picture of the rare Rolex watches that are out there. Were there any you were surprised to see, or any you were surprised not to see? Leave a comment below and let us know!

More on Rolex:
Rolex Sales at All-Time High in 2023 as Tudor Sales Decline: Report
What is the Rolex Pepsi?
Rolex Oysterflex: A Collector’s Guide
Platinum Rolex Watch Prices: A Collector’s Guide
Rolex Myths, Lies, and Almost-Firsts

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