[f]5 Rolex Date Fact

Mighty Rolex DateJust turns 80 this year. It will be one of the longest and most continuous production watches out there, but it is not a small feat. Fraterère will celebrate a series of articles on the model. You can kick off today.

I would like to start a celebration with five facts about Rolex that you (probably) didn’t know. If you already know all five, you can think of it as graduating and ready for a new hobby! Let’s jump in!

Little-known Rolex Date Just Fact #1: Anniversary Model

Start your list with a relatively simple list that few people today notice. Rolex celebrated 40 years of introducing DateJust in 1945.

Image: Philips

This makes today’s anniversary a little more special. This is because dating just exists in two-thirds of the company’s existence. That puts things in perspective, right? There was 40 years of Rolex without a date just in time, followed by 80 years.

The special edition is not new. In fact, the first batch of 100 introduced at Hotel des Berg in Geneva was uniquely numbered and there were no regular serial numbers or references engraved on the cases.

Image: Vintage Amsterdam watch

Little-known Rolex Dating Just Fact #2: Not a Considered Name

This second little-known Rolex dating just fact can be split into two parts. The first is more widely known than the second, making this easier. When the watch was first introduced in 1945 with references of 4467, it still didn’t say “Date Just” on the dial. Neither of the 5xxxx nor the first 6xxx references followed featured a model specification for the dial. Until 1953, I first saw “datejust” written under the Rolex word mark.

Image: Bulang & Sons

Now, to a more vague part of this lesser-known fact. Did you know that “DateJust” wasn’t even the first name Rolex considered in the model? The company registered the name “Rietedate” on October 1, 1945. According to the first facts on this list, “Jubilee” was also considered.

Rolex even came up with the name “Victory,” but thought it had been politically accused in 1945.

(1945’s first Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date Just, Reference 4467

Little-known Rolex Dating Just Fact #3: First Gold Only Flagship

When people think about today’s flagship Rolex models, they probably think of dates. Today’s more sports-oriented watch market can even debate about Daytona. But back in 1945, Rolex positioned the date as the zenith of its watchmaking skill.

The distinctive model of precious metal-only day dates paired with a signature bracelet (the president) was pioneered by Date Just. Rolex first produced it only in precious metals and sold it in a Jubilee bracelet exclusively for new models of the time. Two-tone models only appeared until the early 1950s. Around 1953, the first full steel date just appeared in Reference 6305, slowly paving the road that the new flagship took over in 1956.

In this sense, dates should be considered dates as just an evolution of date-just the date, just as dated was an evolution of the previous dateless Oyster model.

Gold Rolex dateJust Ref. 6305

Little-known Rolex Dating Just Fact #4: Prepaid Bezel and No Cyclops Model

Reference 6305 is of importance in multiple ways. The first steel version of Rolex not only used this reference number, but also introduced the now iconic grooved bezel. The rooftop pattern debuted with this model around 1953. Early date just came with a lead bezel consisting of much finer teeth cut into a dome-shaped bezel. Lead bezels have been widely used throughout the industry, but grooved bezels are much more distinctive on Rolex, forming the template we now know and love.

Other important steps that shape the Rolex aesthetic can be considered more controversial. The 63xx generation also saw the introduction of a magnifying glass called a cyclops on top of acrylic crystals. This Hate-it-love-it feature has become the brand’s signature and continues to this day.

Pencil Alpha Hand

In the late 50s, several other introductions were seen defining the dates for the rest of their lives. First of all, in 1956, Rolex introduced the caliber 1065. This thin automatic movement has denied the need for a prominent caseback known as the “bubble back.” A few years later, the old-fashioned Alpha and Dagger phones gave way to the pencil hand related to today’s Rolex date just and date.

Little-known Rolex Dating Just Fact #5: lume no-lume dial

Well, I went to the rather vague early Rolex dating history, due to the first four facts. Let it end with something more widely known and practical. This is something you might use very often if you’re in the market for Vintage Dating Just.

As you probably know, there are a lot of subtle variations of dates. One particularly interesting example is the no-room dial. Rolex began to match the first radium and subsequent tritium and (super)luminova to lume. Radium and tritium are, of course, radioactive, and certain markets prohibit the import of radioactive goods. To counter this, Rolex omitted the small radium plot behind the markers on the selected dial and installed a closed cell phone with no room basin. Since many of these watches went to the Japanese market, these dials are often referred to as “Japanese dials.”

Interestingly, since Rolex used the regular base dial in normal printing, the lume dial may still have a “T Swiss t” specification, indicating the presence of tritium despite nothing.

Image: Bulang & Sons

Close thoughts

So you have it – 5 little-known facts about watches celebrating this year’s 80th birthday. The importance of DateJust cannot be overstated. After all, it was the first clock with an automatic and instantly changed date, and is now ubiquitous. We also set precedents from a design perspective, not just for Rolex, but also for general watches. Dates are one of the iconic clock design archetypes within our small subuniverse and even more.

Image: Bulang & Sons

We cover Rolex dates in a series of articles throughout the year. Fratello’s editors share their favorite variations and more, so if you’re a date-just fanboy like me, look forward to it!