ROLEX OYSTER PRECISION REFERENCE 6424 (RARE) VINTAGE CLASSIC WATCH  

GOOD CONDITION

BACKGROUND HISTORY: 

Rolex Oyster Precision was first introduced in the beginning of 1950?s till the end of 1960's. Due to it was not the flagship series just like Rolex Datejust, hence it is a bit underappreciated. However, it has been gaining popularity nowadays in the eyes of vintage Rolex collectors. During the 10 years of production, Rolex Oyster Precision come with some variations of dials and movements produced. Most of them will come with 34mm case and hand-wound automatic movement.

The most important characteristic of Rolex Oyster Precision is actually the simplicity of the dial, which is very elegant on the wrist. Besides that, the finesse of the famous oyster case is also the one that Rolex proud of. The combination of both simplicity and the finesse case are the most influencing features that collectors still aimed today.

Speaking about Rolex Oyster Precision, one of the series that we have here is reference 6424. This has been the most famous model that a lot of collectors sought after today as it has some unique characteristics that could not be found on the other Rolex Oyster Precision.

Beating inside Rolex 6424 is Rolex in house hand-wound caliber 1012. This is a think and compact movement but yet the robust and durable hand-wound caliber ever produced by Rolex. It has 17 jewels and double anti-shock system. Though it was a simple movement, but it was nicely decorated just like the other flagship series during that era such as the classic DateJust and the sporty Explorer.

During the 10 years of production, Rolex 6424 has gone through number of changes that involving dial and hand variations. Current example of reference 6424 comes with simple yet elegant white dial design. This was also the most unique and origin dial design of Rolex reference 6424. This type of dial was only produced during the earlier half of 1960's era. The other half of the 1960's era of reference 6424 comes with black or silver dial with very common design baton hour markers and hands.

As seen from the current example, the dial that come with is very unique. The dial is resembling soft vanilla with some patina on it rather than usual white color. This unique color reminds us with the with those unique creamy color of Rolex Explorer II 16550 that has yellowish creamy white color. IMHO, these dial variations only available in the past and might not produced a lot. Hence, they have been becoming precious nowadays.

On the dial, the hour markers are faceted applique hour markers and it is not the common baton type. It comes with the so called "Leaf" hour and minute hands that has the luminous in the middle. These types of hands match extremely very well with the hour markers on the dial. The simple straight second hand again adds the touch of elegance.

Dial design is unique, but the most unique characteristic of Rolex 6424 is the case size. As we know that most of Oyster Precision, with or without date, come with 34mm cases with the common 18-19mm lug width. However, the reference 6424 come with 36mm case diameter and 20mm lug width. This was the same case size as the sport series in that era such as the famous Rolex Explorer such as reference 6350, 6610, or 1016. The only different is reference 6424 has extremely flat case back due to the thin design of hand-wound movement. Due to the jumbo case size, it is still an ideal size for classic watch even for today.

Another important characteristic of reference 6424 is non-notched lugs on the case. This is a very uncommon case for most of the vintage era Rolex watch that come with notched lugs for both classy and sporty watches. Usually, non-notched lugs are mainly the cases for precious metals. Hence, this is really an extremely rare gem.

Reference 6424 case is the biggest size among all hand-wound movement watch in that era. The case size is well designed, which is just nice and not too huge nor small. 36mm is still generic medium watch size today, hence reference 6424 will not easily get outdated. With the 20mm lug width, even this watch could transform into another look and feel. Because, it could be installed with sport watch oyster bracelet such as Submariner or GMT Master. It will sure attract large number of audiences. No wonder reference 6424 has gained its popularity and highly sought after by Rolex collectors today.

WHY THIS WATCH & DETAILS

The Rolex Oyster Precision has been produced since early 1950?s and has gone through countless variations in term of dial design and the movement. When people speaking about vintage Rolex Oyster Precision, the rarest and most popular one is reference 6424, which was produced in between early 1950s to the early 1960s. There are some unique characteristics that make this watch so special. One of them is the case size, which has unusual jumbo case size of 36mm that make it the biggest case for all hand-wound mechanical watches ever produced in that era. Today, it is commonly known as the "Big Oyster". It has 20mm lug that able to accommodate the oyster bracelet use on sport watches such as Submariner and Explorer I. Famous Rolex Explorer I reference 1016 has the same size as 6424. On the case, it is also designed to be un-notched style for the spring bar just like the rest of Rolex watches (Classic or Sport) in that era.  

The case condition of the current example is preserved well. There are some scratches seen on the case body. On the reverse side of the lug also show scratches from bracelet and strap removal over the years. The case back is extremely flat due to the thin 1012 caliber inside. There are some scratching on it as well. We don?t do polishing to the case in order to keep the look and feel that should appear on vintage watch.

Rolex Oyster Precision reference 6424 also come with the Rolex-patented screw down twin lock winding crown, which has been invented after the introduction of Rolex Submariner in 1953. Prior to that, all of the Rolex crown is only screw down winding crown that also offer waterproof features but not as advance as twin lock crown design. The reference 6424 here has the correct twin lock crown that marked with straight line. The crown condition is good and screw down feature is working perfectly.

The dial condition of the current example is very good as well. It has the early era dial that come with Tritium luminous. The dial is marked with "T Swiss T" that represent tritium dial. The white silver dial has turned to yellowish patina color with some light gray dots appear on it, which is normal wear and patination of white or silver color dial from age. IMHO, it might due to the aging of the materials used when creating the dial.  The luminous on each hour markers have turned gray as well, which match perfectly with the color of the dial.

The hands of reference is also very unique. It has the "leaf" shaped hour and minutes hands with the luminous in the middle. It makes the perfect match with the hour markers on the dial which is also come with unusual hour markers shape. The luminous on top of the hands has turned into darker color shades that match well with each of the luminous dot markers on each of the hour markers. Though all of the luminous plots have shown wear and aging, but this timepiece has simply show the vintage charm.

Rolex reference 6424 comes with the smooth steel bezel. The current condition of the bezel is great as well with some light scratches on it. Again, we want to keep true vintage look and feel hence no polishing has been done on it too.

When it comes to straps or bracelets, reference 6424 is unique among the rest of Oyster Precision line model including the Oyster date. Because it has 20mm lugs, which give it more strapping options. It could be paired with the 20mm oyster or jubilee bracelet that come with classic or sport Rolex watch in that era but also match very well with some suede, full-grain leather or even nylon strap. Originally, bracelet of reference 6424 should come with oyster bracelet.

The current example here is fitted with the later original Rolex jubilee stainless steel bracelet. It is the original Rolex DateJust 16014 Oyster bracelet with end links no. 455b. The bracelet is in good condition with some light stretch and hairlines scratches. The amount of tension is still good as well. The bracelet appears to be polished before. This lug width of 20mm is the best thing for reference 6424 because it could accommodate more Rolex bracelet including the bracelet from Classic or Sport automatic watch.

Rolex reference 6424 comes with the most durable Rolex in-house manually wound caliber 1012. This is the most robust that offer durability and stability even has been ticking for many years. Caliber 1012 is also the compact caliber that allow Rolex to fit this caliber into its thinner oyster case. Hence, reference 6424 will have a very thin and flat case back. The current example of reference 6424 here come with very well preserved of Rolex caliber 1012. It is extremely clean with no corrosion or rust on the gears. From the age of the watch, it is extremely a rare opportunity to see the movement that still preserved in such clean condition. Overall, the movement is running very well and stable. For details of the movement, you may refer to the high-quality pictures attached in our EBay portal.   

Although Rolex Oyster Precision reference 6424 was underappreciated in the past. but it has been gaining popularity nowadays due to unique characteristics mentioned above. But, to find a good condition and fully original Rolex 6424 is very difficult due to its low production and age.  Lots of them may been abused in use in the past and parts had been replaced with fakes or aftermarket.  Hence, this will be one of the vintage Rolexes that will sure catch the eyes of Rolex vintage collectors.  

WATCH SPECS

Brand: Rolex

Reference No: Oyster Precision 6424

Production Year: -

Case Material: Stainless Steel

Case Dimensions: 36mm diameter

Case Thickness: 11mm

Lug to Lug Height: 43mm 

Lug Width: 20mm 

Dial: Silver white sunray Dial

Sapphire Crystal: No

Lume Material: Tritium 

Movement: Rolex Hand-Wound, caliber 1012

Bezel: Fixed smooth Bezel

Bracelet/Strap: Original Rolex Stainless Steel Jubilee Bracelet with Endlinks No. 455B

Box/Papers: No

All of our pre-owned vintage timepieces have gone through thorough physical inspections. We have carefully tested entire functionalities of the timepieces for few days to ensure all of the functions on the watch are working properly before we list them on EBAY. Note: Our shop didn?t perform any mechanical servicing to the watch.

As this is pre-owned vintage watch, there is no guarantee for the watch being waterproof. Besides, due to their age and usage, vintage watches should not be subjected to have the same conditions as when they were new. Vintage watches deserve to undergo proper servicing and maintenance due to their age in order to preserve the life of the mechanical parts inside the watch. As the history of servicing for vintage watch is usually unclear, we always recommend our buyers to send them for servicing by professional watchmaker.

We recommend buyers to review all of the pictures posted on our EBAY Portal very carefully. You may request for more additional pictures if necessary. Pictures talk thousand words. We always try our best to represent the watch as transparent as possible via pictures. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us before deciding to buy. We will reply to you very soon. 

Shipment:

We only ship to the Buyer PayPal Address. No Exceptions. 

Return Policy:

Please feel free to contact us. We want you to be happy and satisfied with the purchase.

We have 100% returns accepted policy. If you are unhappy with the purchase, please contact us within 3 days of receipt to arrange the return. We are watch enthusiast and not an authorized dealer for any company. Please take note that in the event of return, the return postage fee, packaging, and tax are under the buyer responsibility. We are not able to buy the shipment label in buyer?s country.

Once the watch arrived at our office, 10 working days will be required for the full watch inspection by our professional watchmaker. After the confirmation that the watch returned to us is in the same condition in which they were delivered to buyers, a full refund will be performed via Paypal back to buyer's account. Kindly not to worry as both buyer and seller will be both protected by Ebay and Paypal.