WHY WE CURATED IT: I have endless love for 34mm classic Rolexes from a time when the brand wasn’t yet catering to a market appetite for big, ostentatious and blingy. Instead, these are elegant, comfy, understated and infinitely versatile dailies for any occasion. Air-Kings in this form factor are particularly storied. While not specifically built as traditional pilot watches, Hans Wilsdorf allegedly noticed British RAF pilots buying hermetically-sealed Rolex Oyster watches for active duty and released various Air-XXXX models in honour of that, including Air-Lion, Air-Giant and Air-Tiger. But ultimately, “Air-King” stuck, and became one of Rolex’s longest-running models. Specifically, the Ref. 5500 was the most successful version, iterating from 1957 to 1989. This particular example is from the middle of that date range, equipped with the more modern, updated versions of the bracelet and movement for this reference. In stellar condition, and comes with the Rolex box. Love love love these Air-Kings! CONDITION: 9.5/10 with hardly any signs of wear, just minimal hairlines. Absolutely spectacular! Original hands and warm silver sunburst “- T Swiss T -” dial are clean, with creamy tritium lume plots intact and responding to UV correctly for age. Indices and crystal are similarly clean. Robust and desirable period-correct Rolex Oyster “Heavy” bracelet with zero stretch. Authentic Twinlock signed crown. Movement in excellent health with over-spec power reserve, high amplitude, negligible beat error and accurate to ±15 secs/day averaged from 6 timegrapher positions. DIMENSIONS: 34.6mm width excl. crown 39.7mm length incl. lugs 11.8mm thickness 19mm lug width Visual dial width ~26.5mm Wrist in photos is 15.8cm CRYSTAL: Acrylic
CASE: Steel WATER RESISTANCE: Assumed none, as per vintage watches
STRAP: Original Rolex 78350-19 Oyster bracelet with 557 endlinks and period-adjacent VD clasp code (links fit up to 16.5cm wrists)
CALIBRE: Rolex Cal. 1520, automatic 3-hander with hacking seconds
COMES WITH: Watch, Rolex bracelet, Rolex box
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