Real versus Fake Rolex Bubbleback

For those who are looking for Rolex bubbleback, one will need to be careful with fake Rolex bubbleback, most probably produced during the late 1980-1990s where Bubbleback were the king of all watches then.

The following are fake Bubbleback

Jan - March 2021, Q1 Review

These are my Q1,2021 newly acquired collection. I have continued the process of streamlining and tightening my collection. One of the challenge encountered when collecting vintage watches is that there are so many interesting watches out there and the temptation is great and subconsciously we began to expand the range of our watch collection. My aim is to upgrade and keep the quantities down and continue to finetune and keep to the theme. 

I have slowed down my speed of collecting and has decided to focus on having less is more and perhaps one for one exchange and upgrade. For the Q1 of 2021, I am fortunate to be able to find some unusual watches.

Omega 168010/11 white gold Constellation (19 Jan 2021)

Rolex 6609 (8 Feb 2021). I have the Rolex 6609 in half gold and a 1625. This rose gold will fit nicely to the Thunderbird  collection.

Rolex 1630  ( 5 March 2021). I disliked the look initially as it does not have the traditional Rolex look and feel but somehow grew to like this avant-garde design.

Rolex 1018 (March 13, 2021) is a rare bird

Rolex bubbleback ref 3372 (March 18, 2021)

Rolex big bubbleback ref 6105 ( March 27, 2021)

Watches Traded away

Rolex Big Bubbleback restoration project : ref 6105 changing of winding crown

My Rolex 6105 watch has a stainless steel crown instead of the gold crown. It must have been changed along the way as the watch is already more than 68 years old. As a vintage watch collector, we have always aim to restore the watch to its original conditions and I am happy to be able to replace the crown with a gold one. One of my joy in watch collecting is to restore vintage watches to its past glory..

Before 

After

Before & After

Rolex ref 6605 Datejust (from 1959)

Found this early Datejust ref 6605 in white gold bezel during my stay in Thailand.   

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Rolex 6605 Datejust from 1959

After World-war 2 Rolex created the first self-winding waterproof chronometer wristwatch that featured a date indication. For the first 10 years of production the date, shown at the 3 o’clock position, was not yet enhanced by the well-known ‘Cyclop lens’. This lens was introduced in 1955 and magnified the date by 2.5 times. 

This is a Rolex 6605 from the second quarter 1959 with the Cyclop len in white gold bezel and steel. I did not have the intention to buy at first when I visited my regular shop but my regular vintage watch shop owner Manoop insisted that I get this as it's the early version of the Datejust. I didn't recognize it at first until I saw the daphane hands with the pie pan dial. The movement is in good condition and the overall case is nice. The white gold bezel has smaller groves compared to the later Ref 1601. Given the escalating prices of the sports model, the Datejust seems like a good investment as prices continues to climb for these as well. 

I am starting to build up my vintage Datejust collection consisting of Pink gold bezel & steel 1601, and yellow gold bezel and steel 1601. This white gold bezel and steel 6605 will fit in nicely with the collection theme.

Rolex ref 6104 smooth bezel big bubbleback 勞力士大泡泡背

From my earlier blog in the year 2017... time flies...

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Rolex 6104 Big bubbleback

I was looking for a vintage military watch when I went to the vintage watch shop but my attention was immediately drawn to a bubbleback, a Big one. Initially, I thought it was a heavily used 6105 until I use a loop to see the engraving as 6104.

This is a rare 36x44mm (not counting the crown) 14K/ss ROLEX Ref 6104 BIG Bubbleback Oyster OVEVTTONE ca 1952. Research shows that about 1000 of these combined ref 6105 and 6104 Ovettone models were made. The ref 6105 model is with the coin/milled turned bezel is more common than the very rare 6104 model with smooth bezel. This 6104 is even more rare as it is in rose gold bezel and crown. This is the largest of the early Oyster Perpetual Models and this one is with red datewheel. The Ovettone model unlike the earlier and smaller Datejust is larger and is not distinguished by the name Datejust on the dial. The Ovettone Big Bubbleback is also distinguished by the ref numbers 4467, 6031 and 6105, 6104. They are all 2 Star or rare watches as designated in the Shugart price guide to watches. 

The big bubbleback date just wasn't using the cyclops magnifying lens, because the cyclops magnifying lens hasn't appeared until 1954. I was lucky as the Italian traders were busy trading his watches with the Thai traders. As he needs to trade for other watches, he was willing to let me have it at a special price! This is indeed a lucky find and the winding crown is an old one with the "+".

From 4467(1945-1949) to 5030，5031，5075，6031(1949 - 1950)，6075，6074(1950 - 1953)，6104，6105(modified A296，1951 - 1953) and early 6304 and 6305(A296，1953 - 1956) all once has the crown mark.

Rolex big bubbleback family 4467, 6305, 6104, 6031

Rolex ref 6105 (from 1952) rose gold bezel big bubbleback

 My first Rolex bubbleback rose gold bezel ref 6105 was found in 2017...

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Rolex Big bubbleback 6105

Vintage 1952 Rolex ref. 6105 Bubbleback

I have always love the Rolex bubbleback, especially the Big bubbleback. Given the escalating prices of vintage Rolex sports, these dress models have become extremely value for money I have slowly build up a small collection of bubbleback over the years. This is a big Rolex bubbleback from the 1952 with the rare Pink gold bezel and crown from Texas USA. The Rolex 6105 differs from the 6104 as the latter has a smooth bezel.