I am investigating on the correct/approximate periods for the different date wheels for Rolex sport models recently. This is what I could find out by searching the internet, asking fellow collectors and checking watches:
- before ca. 1960 Roulette date wheel with open 6/9
- ca. 1960-1963 creme/mother-of-pearl coloured wheel with open 6/9
- ca. 1963 - 1970 white/creme colour wheel with closed 6/9 and hook 7 (two variants of this wheel with flat 3 and round 3)
- ca. 1970 - ??? silver wheel with open 6/9 but closed 26, flat 3
- ca. ??? - early 1980ies silver wheel with 6/9 all open, flat 3
- ca. early 80ies - ??? silver date wheel with open 6/9 all open, round 3
As I personally own a 1655 SN 3,3 M (1973) with silver date wheel open 6/9 and closed 26. I also own a 1680 SN 2,3M (1970) and a 1665 SN 3,2M (1973) which both have a silver date wheel with ALL 6/9 open.
So my questions if the "closed 26" date wheel was originally used prior to the "all 6/9 open" wheel or if both variants were used parallely? Would be interetsing to know if my 1680 and 1665 are equiped with a later date wheel or an original.
Any comments on that issue from our experts? Every comment is highly apprecciated, folks
