REVOLUTION_International_Vol 54

this. As a comparison, of the Ferrari 250 GTOs in existence, almost all of them have crashed
and had significant work performed on them for one simple reason: these were race cars and
the people who owned them used them as such. It’s the same for Rolexes: in the era before a
200-percent markup on the aftermarket on steel watches was the norm, these were tool watches
used by professional drivers, explorers, divers and soldiers, and it makes sense that these watches
saw some amount of hard use. My only concern with all the available technology — in particular
laser welding, which brings the original shape, including bevels, of a watch back to life — is when
the resulting watches are passed off as NOS when clearly they are not.
FINDING THE 1675 OCC PCG GILT DIAL
OK, back to my Rolex GMT. My very first two vintage Rolex purchases differ dramatically. One
was the 18K yellow-gold 6265 Daytona from the Davide Blei collection that I bought from a
Patrizzi themed auction in 2009 ,and it has been nothing but a constant source of pleasure.
The other vintage Rolex was what I now refer to as the Rolex GMT from hell — specifically, it’s
a 1675 GMT watch with a special OCC dial. This watch has been nothing but a source of rage,
anxiety and frustration from the moment it came into my life, because it’s been so fraught with
half truths. The words “Officially Certified Chronometer” on the dial marks this watch as a
transitional model from 1959 when its predecessor, the 6542, was being phased out and the
1675 model was introduced. By the later part of 1960, the dials on these watches were changed
to read “Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified”, in deference to the COSC certification
of the movements within. Dials from the 1675 do not fit on the 6542, and vice versa, so the
OCC 1675 does not feature the transplanted dial. Further, the words “Officially Certified
Chronometer” refer to the caliber 1535 before the introduction of Rolex’s famous Microstella
adjusters found on the balance wheel. (OCC dials have also been seen in this transitional period
with the 1560 caliber.) Almost all OCC 1675 watches come with 1.60 stamped on the back,
in reference to its manufacture during the first quarter of 1960. The serial range should be
between 5032xx and 505xxx, while models in 1961 bore 680xxx serials.
I purchased my GMT watch from an individual (we’ll call him ‘J’), a highly affable,
entertaining and charming man. J is a bon vivant extraordinaire, a natural raconteur, a rare
watch dealer, but also a journalist whom I believed to have been an incredible repository of Rolex
information. He is, to this day, one of the more popular individuals on the London watch scene.
Indeed when I shared with my former editor Tracey Llewellyn, who’s now at The Telegraph in
London, that I’d been sold a highly questionable watch by J, she immediately leapt to his defence.
However, from the onset, the watch I bought from him brought with it challenges, and that’s
because I did something people rarely do when they buy a vintage watch from J: I sent it to a
THIS SPREAD,
CLOCKWISE
The movement of our
1675 OCC PCG bears
Rolex’s 1560 caliber, a
movement that was seen
in transitional models
of the watch along with
the 1535 caliber. The
1560 featured Rolex’s
microstella adjusters
on the balance wheel.
On the right, the
case number bears
a matching series
to the movement
number and caseback.
This is because the
watches were created
in specific batches,
thus not all Rolex
case numbers were
assigned accordingly.
PREVIOUS SPREAD,
CLOCKWISE
After polishing
(Vintage Rollies did
not laser weld this
watch), the watch
in its current state,
showing how restoration
can bring back the
beauty of a watch.
The Rolex 1675 before
restoration by Vintage
Rollies (@vintagerollies),
showing its age.
The restoration process
is a combination
of research and
understanding each
model, as well an
appreciation of what
should be restored, or
remain untouched.
VINTAGE 143