Air king without precision?

[garrett9512]

Very new to rolex, I spend around an hour a day on TRF trying to learn my air king doesn't have "precision" on the dial?? Every air king I have seen in the past does? Can anyone answer

[kilyung]

Some of the older AKs like the 5500 don't have anything. Others have SCOC, Precision, or even Super Precision.

[padi56]

Many vintage Airking do not have the words precision on the dial like say the 5500/5501.Some say the first Airkings were particularly designed for pilots as such but IMHO they were not, but world war 11 did have a part to play with the Airking. And many models now becoming collectible especially the Airking dates especially the red date roulette.Now before WW11 Rolex was always popular with the armed forces in the UK,now old Hans being a good business man saw there was a market for a slightly bigger watch.Now watches at these times were quite small 30m and under were the average size.Now Rolex started producing 33m models under the names of Air Lion,Air Tiger,Air Giant and the Air king.They all used a 15 jewel manual wind movement,then came in S.steel even a TT plus all gold but mainly then 9ct.And were in production from the mid 1940s to early 1950s when they were all dropped,except for the Airking.Now over the next few years the Air king gained a auto movement and now the same size as OP,and some of the most sort after Airkings now are models like the 1960s 5504 with the honeycombed dial.Now the first Airking date arrived on the scene late 1960s Ref 5700 were only sold in the then Commonwealth countries like Canada and the UK.Now they made a 5700n Explorer Date but that was only sold in the USA.Later 1970s 5701 Airking dates had the cal.1525/35 movements,and they made a TT version of the 5701 quite rare, but again for the Canadian only market but the Airking date faded out of production in the 1980s. IMO a shame the Airking has quite a lot of history, and IMHO now a very very underrated watch.With some modern day Airkings have the retro look 1950s dials, myself prefer the Oyster bracelet over the Jubilee.

[joe100]

I agree with the chaps above but...your dial has been refinished. No two ways about it. The Air-king font is completely wrong. This is now the second one I've seen with that flourish style.

Luckily a 5500 dial that hasn't been molested can be had for $150 or so.

[garrett9512]

Thanks for the replies! I'm slowly learning little by little!

[joe100]

Did you already purchase this watch?

[garrett9512]

Yes I own this watch

[joe100]

Just curious. The dial plate looks correct for a 1970s-1980s 5500 but it has definitely been repainted.

[FLY-DOG]

My 1969 Air-King doesn’t say Precision either (dial is totally original and not refinished), but guess what? It keeps way better time than any Rolex I've ever owned - plus or minus 2 seconds per month, it’s unbelievably accurate. Just given a major service by Rik, but this jewel has always been that accurate. My Submariner's are usually within plus 2 to plus 4 seconds per day.

[77T]

Well adjusted Rolex movements do not know what's painted on the dial and can deliver same timekeeping accuracy as those called COSC.

[tgswatches]

My air king from 1979 doesn't say precision either.

[FLY-DOG]

My Air-King will probably always be my favorite Rolex even though some consider it an entry level Rolex.

[garrett9512]

Definitely an entry for me, but I worked hard to buy it when I was 19. $1400 is a lot of money to me haha! I don't know the service history but seems to keep great time. Would you all recommend a service at RSC?

[joe100]

A local Rolex watchsmith will do just as well for muuuch cheaper. I also know of an AK 5500 dial for sale for around $150 I think. If you want to put her back to original spec