Definitive Air King References

[joe100]

Trying to decipher the Air Kings over the years is very confusing so I decided to put together a definitive list of the AK references.

The first true AK was introduced in 1945 with the 4925. The 4925 was the follow-on to the 4365 series of "Air" models. For the international market the progression was from the 4925, 4499, 6552, 5500, 14000, 14000m, then finally the super cased 114200. In 1958, however, a separate line evolved independently for specific markets. At the same time the 5504 Explorer 35mm case was used for the AK as well. To make matters more complex, the 5500 case was used for both the AK and Explorer. This, of course, isn't the end of the AK/Explorer connection but for the sake of clarity we will leave that for another thread.

If you have any additions or corrections please feel free to add them.

34mm Standard Air King

4925 Introduced in 1945 Cal 10.5'
4499 Introduced in 1946 Cal 10.5'
6552 Introduced in 1953 Cal 1030
5500 Introduced in 1957 Cal 1520/1530
14000 Introduced in 1989 Cal 3000
14010 Introduced in 1989 Cal 3000 (Engine Turned Bezel)
14000M Introduced in 2000 Cal 3130
14010M Introduced in 2000 Cal 3130 (Engine Turned Bezel)
114200 Introduced in 2007 Cal 3130 (Smooth Bezel)
114210 Introduced in 2007 Cal 3130 (Engine Turned Bezel)
114234 Introduced in 2007 Cal 3130 (White Gold Fluted Bezel)

550X for the US, UK, and Commonwealth Markets

5520 Introduced in 1974 until 1986 34mm Gold Filled Case, Steel Case Back Cal 1520
5504 Introduced in 1958 Cal 1530 (35mm)
5501 Introduced Appx 1958 Cal 1530 (Two-Tone Fluted Bezel 14k)
5502 Introduced Appx 1958 Cal 1530 (Gold Plated 40 Microns)
5506 Introduced Appx 1958 Cal 1530 (Gold Plated 40 Microns)

Air-King-Date Commonwealth Markets (Production lasting into the 1980s)

5700 Introduced in 1958 Cal 1525/1535
5701 Introduced in 1958 Cal 1525/1535 (Two-Tone)