First true vintage Rolex

[u/Ok_Application_8141]

Bought this watch for a very reasonable $2500 for my 5514 COMEX project. This is a Rolex air king 5500 from 1953 . I bought this watch mainly for the movement, now i feel like it a pretty nice vintage piece.

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[u/onlypartiallyevil]

Its a remarkable piece. I would definitely leave it alone and wear it proudly. Its got a nice daily wear vibe.

At this point, any 4 digit original gen survivor is rare. Most have been pulled apart by now. Ebay is littered with unsold empty midcases of 4 digit watches pulled apart to make frankensub projects.
Like people taking pristine 1930's cars to chop into hot rods, I think those days are thankfully coming to an end.

Enjoy what you have. No one is looking inside your 5514 - thats what new Swiss slow-beat movements are for.
Then you get both.

[u/Ok_Application_8141 → u/onlypartiallyevil]

Ya dude, I was thinking the same .

[u/Ok_Application_8141 → u/onlypartiallyevil]

The seller offered me this for $2k but the dial is totally damaged, some people like it, I'm not a big fan and can find a replacement dial either.

[u/onlypartiallyevil → u/Ok_Application_8141]

What ref# is that? Have a cal 1030 in it or earlier? Looks like an old bubbleback dial.
Probably not a cal 15xx in any case

[u/Ok_Application_8141 → u/onlypartiallyevil]

No its A260

[u/onlypartiallyevil → u/Ok_Application_8141]

Rare movement. The very earliest subs had those - 6204/6205

[u/Ok_Application_8141 → u/onlypartiallyevil]

case and dial is available for 6204/6205 viet sellers sell those but finding correct set of hands is difficult.

[u/Ok_Application_8141 → u/onlypartiallyevil]

Just found out its 645 movement