Does anyone have any info on my watch?? Air King Date black face 40+ years old

[LukeThompson]

Hi all,

New to this forum so hello everyone! My Dad gave me his Rolex for my 18th that he has had for about 35-40 years and was bought for his 18th by my grandad! The problem is I cannot seem to find anything on it or some very rare pictures but nothing more.

http://imageshack.us/a/img812/8900/20130402180650.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img15/5641/20130402180641.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img839/2961/20130402180632.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img191/3647/20130402180620.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img703/9004/20130402180616.jpg

It is a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Air King Date, it has a black face and a magnifying glass for the date, silver steel casing with a silver metal strap.

If anyone has any info on this or pics could you let me know as it would be quite cool :)

It is also in perfect working condition and have just had it serviced by Rolex

Thanks
Luke

[77T]

Welcome to TRF. Upload your pics to any picture hosting site and share a link. Should only take you a few minutes...

[Lisa]

Looking forward to seeing it!

[LukeThompson]

[landroverking]

Post over in vintage those guys are great.

[LukeThompson]

Thank you

[Tools]

Why would we have pics of your watch..............



There are numbers on your watch on the case under the bracelet that we would need to zero in to specifics.. Your photos aren't really much help except to say that yes, you have an Air King Date from the 60/70 era..

If you have just had it recently serviced by Rolex, they should have provided a comprehensive invoice that contains quite a bit of information too.

[LukeThompson]

Sorry I meant pics of any other similar ones, my dad has the invoice so it's not much help to me I'm afraid.

I'll get some better pics up tomorrow, are there any ways of finding the numbers without taking it apart? I have numbers 78350 19 and 557 on the bracelet if this means anything...

[harry in montreal]

model 5700 or 5701. nice watch. common in canada and the UK. unusual everywhere else. enjoy!

[Rolexis]

You beat me to it harry. Yes air king with date was a canadian market watch never sold in the USA.

[77T]

Originally Posted by LukeThompson

I'll get some better pics up tomorrow, are there any ways of finding the numbers without taking it apart? I have numbers 78350 19 and 557 on the bracelet if this means anything...

Luke - as others said, the A-K Date was a limited distribution model. The numbers you shared mean the bracelet is correct for that model. Like below:




Until you get the bracelet off and look at the serial number, if you can get a peek inside the clasp you should see a single letter code that will help us date the bracelet at least. It will be stamped right beside the "STEELINOX" word. Look at this part of the clasp:




Now to your watch, the model 5700 A-K Date was born with the 1520 caliber (which was a non chronometer movement). But your dial says "Precision" so it should be the COSC movement. Also it has the correct "Arrow hands" with long minutes hand:




A little more history from a Google search of "Rolex Air King Date Precision" will fill in the blanks for you - here's an overview:

The Rolex Air-King-Date (AKD) was based on the Rolex Air-King, a non-date, manual-wind precursor that evolved into an automatic. Rolex was used by long distance aviators prior to WWII and then became the the watch of choice for fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain era. This influenced Rolex to launch a new line of manual wind Oysters with names such as Air Tiger, Air Lion, Air Giant and Air King.

These watches were produced beginning in the 1950's. Eventually, only the Air King remained, and later gained an automatic movement. The first Air-Kings had the same movement as the non-date Submariner and the Explorer I, but was not COSC certified. It used a 1520 caliber, 5700 or 5701 movement with 26 jewels and was protected from shock by the Incabloc system.

Some were fitted with the 1530 or 1535 caliber, though these are rare. Typically the dial is marked with "Precision", though some models are marked, "Super Precision". Based on your Dad's recollection of purchasing it in the mid-70's your watch is automatic (self-winding). Production stopped in the early 80's.

The Air King Date was sold in Commonwealth countries only. The Rolex Explorer Date is a rarely seen version of the Air King Date that shares the same model numbers.

[harry in montreal]

In canada, this model was given out often by the Coca Cola company for 25 years of service. i have seen no less than 10 in person within the montreal area. all bought through Rolex Toronto. GREAT littel watch but a slow-set date movement. no biggie if you have a iPhone (LOL)

[joe100]

Looks like a fine, original example of a 5700. Use the search function here and you will find many threads and photos

[seabreeze]

congratulations.....its a fine watch. wear it in good health

[LukeThompson]

Thank you for your comments and thank you so much for the info it's good to know some of the history behind it, I have had a look inside the bracelet and the number appears to be 1 over 76, is this of any significance?

[LukeThompson]

And does anyone know roughly how many of these were produced?

[seabreeze]

Originally Posted by LukeThompson

And does anyone know roughly how many of these were produced?

I think that dates the bracelet to January 1976 but I'll wait for someone who knows more than I do to confirm

[joe100]

The 5700 and 5701 are sorta uncommon but not rare ore overly valuable.

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)

This is an excerpt from my own article on the AK references including the AKD series.

Your dial is constant with a 1970s to 1980s production