View source for Reference:5018

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex Oyster Perpetual 5018}}
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|description=Documented dates, movement descriptions, dial examples, case details, and image records for the Rolex Oyster Perpetual ref. 5018.
|keywords=Rolex 5018, Oyster Perpetual 5018, Bombé, Bombay, Bubbleback
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<small>[[Reference:bubbleback|Bubbleback]] → '''5018'''</small>

<div class="rp-lead">
[[File:Ref_5018_hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Steel and yellow-gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual 5018 with a black dial|Phillips, Hong Kong Watch Auction X, lot 1043 (2020); catalogue example, case 641602.]]
</div>

Reference 5018 is an Oyster Perpetual with center seconds. Auction catalogues describe automatic steel, gold, and two-tone examples, with silver, black, and textured dials. The same gold case, 678865, is dated 1949 by one Christie’s catalogue and circa 1959 by another. Examined records place 5018 examples in the late 1940s and 1950s; the production span remains undetermined.

==Core facts==

{| class="wikitable rp-facts"
|-
! detail
! documented record
|-
| model
| Rolex Oyster Perpetual, automatic with center seconds
|-
| collector grouping
| Bubbleback; catalogues use Bombé and Bombay as additional labels
|-
| dated examples
| Auction records date individual examples from 1948 through the 1950s; two catalogues disagree on case 678865
|-
| case materials
| Stainless steel, 18K gold, and steel with yellow gold are reported in individual catalogues
|-
| diameter
| 32 mm in Piguet; 33 mm in several auction lots; 34 mm in Finarte’s 2025 gold example
|-
| movement descriptions
| Automatic; catalogues report 9¾-line movements with 17 or 19 jewels
|-
| dial examples
| Two-tone silver, matte silver, honeycomb, lacquered black, and white textured examples
|-
| bracelet or strap
| Lot descriptions list leather and steel or two-tone bracelets; factory delivery history is unverified
|}

==Where it sits in the line==

The catalogues identify the watch as an Oyster Perpetual. Collectors use “Bubbleback” for early automatic Oyster watches with a rounded, protruding caseback. Christie’s uses Bombé and Piguet uses Bombay in their catalogue titles.

==Production outline==

Antiquorum’s 2004 catalogue dates a steel example to the 1950s and omits its case number. Its 2006 Mondani sale dates case 608519 to 1948; another steel watch, case 641743, is dated 1948 in 2014. Phillips dates two-tone case 641602 to circa 1948 and its gold case 670657 to circa 1950. Piguet dates steel case 642294 to circa 1950.

Antiquorum dates steel case 608632 to circa 1959. Christie’s dates gold case 678865 to 1949 in one catalogue and circa 1959 in another. Both entries give the same case number, engraved initials, and black lacquer dial, so they describe one watch with conflicting catalogue dates. Antiquorum and Finarte catalogue separate gold examples in the 1950s, cases 670649 and 670691. Catalogue dates place recorded examples from 1948 through the 1950s; the reference’s production start and end dates remain unknown.

==Movement notes==

The auction records examined describe automatic winding and center seconds. Antiquorum and Christie’s specify a 9¾-line movement; catalogues report 17 or 19 jewels. The line figure records movement size. The available records identify the movement by size and jewel count; a consistent numbered caliber remains unverified.

Goethe’s 2025 feature calls its photographed white-dial watch hand-wound. Auction catalogues describe other 5018s as automatic. Goethe provides no movement photograph, so the winding method of its pictured watch remains uncertain.

==Dial map==

The auction records describe several different layouts. Antiquorum’s 2004 steel watch has a matte-silver dial with painted radial Arabic numerals and gold dot indexes. Its 2006 steel example has radial Roman numerals and dots; the 2014 watch has applied steel dart markers, luminous dots, and an outer fifth-second track. Phillips’s 2018 steel example has a honeycomb dial, diamond-set numerals, and red chronometer text. Christie’s gold example has a black lacquer dial with square and baton markers, gilt minute divisions, and gold dauphine hands. Phillips’s 2016 gold watch has a black lacquer dial with unusual numerals; Piguet’s steel watch has applied gold triangles. Antiquorum calls the steel dial on case 608632 a lozenge pattern. Finarte describes a gold watch with an argenté dial and applied indexes. Goethe’s feature pictures a white sector-textured dial with wedge markers. Spangaro describes a white “sandwich” Arabic dial and prints the year field as “’60”; its dating convention is unexplained.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref_5018_dial.webp|Goethe, 2025: pale textured sector dial and applied markers; Goethe calls this watch hand-wound, while auction catalogues describe other 5018s as automatic
File:Ref_5018_black-dial-detail.webp|Phillips, Hong Kong Watch Auction X, lot 1043: black lacquer dial with gilt markers on a steel-and-yellow-gold watch
</gallery>

Catalogues record these layouts on individual watches. This sample supplies no reliable dial sequence or provenance for every pictured dial.

==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes==

The examined records give diameters from 32 to 34 mm. Piguet gives 32 mm, several Antiquorum and Christie’s lots give 33 mm, and Finarte lists 34 mm for case 670691. Antiquorum describes a two-body steel case with polished and brushed surfaces, a screw-down back and crown, and shaped lugs. Christie’s describes curved lugs and a screw-down crown on its gold example. Piguet calls the steel lugs rounded, but its description also says the design was intended for leather straps while listing a Rolex steel bracelet on the same watch. That catalogue leaves bracelet fitment unclear.

The lots report case geometry, while bezel finish and crystal material remain undocumented across the reference. Photographs show several dial and case combinations; their original pairings remain unverified.

==Bracelets, clasps, and packaging notes==

Auction records list leather straps and steel bracelets; Phillips also catalogues a steel-and-yellow-gold bracelet with its two-tone example. Phillips’s 2016 gold watch and Finarte’s 2025 gold watch are listed on leather, each with a Rolex buckle. Goethe’s photographs show a steel bracelet on a steel watch. Each description records the watch as offered; factory delivery history remains unverified. The reviewed material has no end-link or clasp codes.

Antiquorum lists a void guarantee, chronometer certificate, instruction leaflet, and bill of sale with its 2014 watch. These documents are specific to that lot.

==Selected auction records==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! record
! date assigned to watch
! documented details
|-
| Antiquorum, Geneva, lot 372
| 1950s
| Steel; radial Arabic numerals and gold dot indexes; 33 mm; automatic 9¾-line, 19 jewels; catalogue omits the case number
|-
| Antiquorum, Geneva, lot 23
| 1948
| Case 608519; steel; two-tone matte-silver dial; 33 mm; automatic 9¾-line, 19 jewels
|-
| Antiquorum, New York, lot 77
| 1948
| Case 641743; steel; dart markers and luminous dots; 33 mm; automatic 9¾-line, 19 jewels; papers listed
|-
| Phillips, Hong Kong Watch Auction THREE, lot 1043 (2016)
| circa 1950
| Case 670657; 18K yellow gold; black lacquer dial; 33 mm; automatic, 17 jewels; calf strap and gilt buckle
|-
| Phillips, Geneva, lot 214
| circa 1949
| Case 608645; steel; honeycomb dial and diamond-set numerals; 33 mm; automatic 9¾-line, 17 jewels
|-
| Christie’s, case 678865
| 1949 / circa 1959
| 18K gold; black lacquer dial; 33 mm; catalogues disagree on date
|-
| Piguet, lot 1595
| circa 1950
| Case 642294; steel; black dial with gold triangles; 32 mm
|-
| Phillips, Hong Kong Watch Auction X, lot 1043 (2020)
| circa 1948
| Case 641602; steel and yellow gold; black lacquer dial; automatic 9¾-line movement
|-
| Antiquorum, Geneva, lot 297
| circa 1959
| Case 608632; steel; lozenge-pattern dial; 33 mm; automatic 9¾-line, 19 jewels
|-
| Antiquorum, Hong Kong, lot 243
| circa 1950s
| Case 670649; 18K yellow gold; 33 mm; automatic 9¾-line movement
|-
| Finarte, Milan, lot 137264
| 1950s
| Case 670691; 18K gold; argenté dial; 34 mm; automatic; leather strap and gold-plated Rolex buckle
|}

==Gallery==

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref_5018_full-view.webp|Goethe, 2025: steel example with textured pale dial and bracelet; delivery status is undocumented
File:Ref_5018_angle.webp|Goethe, 2025: alternate view of the same steel example
File:Ref_5018_dial.webp|Goethe, 2025: dial and case detail of the same example
File:Ref_5018_black-dial-detail.webp|Phillips, Hong Kong Watch Auction X, lot 1043: black lacquer dial detail
</gallery>

== Sources ==

* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/134703 "Rolex Oyster Perpetual ref. 5018, Phillips Hong Kong Watch Auction X, lot 1043", Phillips, 2020-07-18]
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/113912 "Rolex ref. 5018 “Bombé,” Phillips Geneva Watch Auction Seven, lot 214", Phillips, 2018-05-13]
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-rolex-bubbleback-and-why-it-still-matters "Buying, Selling, & Collecting: The Rolex Bubbleback And Why It Still Matters", Hodinkee]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-108-23 "Rolex ref. 5018, Antiquorum Geneva, The Mondani Collection, lot 23", Antiquorum, 2006-05-14]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-5018-lot-282-77 "Rolex ref. 5018 “Bombay” steel, Antiquorum New York, lot 77", Antiquorum, 2014-04-09]
* [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5367913 "Rolex Oyster Perpetual ref. 5018, case 678865, Christie’s, 2010", Christie’s, 2010-11-15]
* [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4278291 "Rolex Oyster Perpetual Bombé ref. 5018, case 678865, Christie’s", Christie’s]
* [https://www.piguet.com/lot/vente-de-decembre-2016/34d965-rolex-oyster-perpetual-bombay-montre-en-acier-automatique "Rolex Oyster Perpetual “Bombay” ref. 5018, Piguet, December 2016, lot 1595", Piguet Hôtel des Ventes, 2016-12-15]
* [https://goetheweb.jp/watch/article/20250611-vintage-watch-77 "Goethe, “Rolex Oyster Perpetual Ref. 5018,” Vintage Watch Reconsidered no. 77", Goethe, 2025-06-11]
* [https://aste.spangaroandco.com/uploads/auctions/9-catalogo-padelepaddle-2.2-ita-isuu.pdf "Spangaro & Co., Rolex Oyster Perpetual “Ovetto Bombay” ref. 5018 auction catalogue", Spangaro & Co.]
* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=572397 "Rolex Forums, “Oyster Perpetual Ref 5018 from 1948/49. Your thoughts please”", Rolex Forums, 2017-11-29]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-51-372 "Rolex Oyster Perpetual “Bombay” ref. 5018, Antiquorum Geneva, lot 372", Antiquorum, 2004-04-24]
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/100189 "Rolex ref. 5018 “Bubble Back,” Phillips Hong Kong Watch Auction THREE, lot 1043", Phillips, 2016-11-29]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-5018-oyster-perpetual-lot-344-297 "Rolex ref. 5018 “Lozenge Dial,” Antiquorum Geneva, lot 297", Antiquorum, 2021-11-07]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-5018-bombay-bubbleback-lot-378-243 "Rolex ref. 5018 “Bombay Bubbleback,” Antiquorum Hong Kong, lot 243", Antiquorum, 2025-05-31]
* [https://www.finarte.it/auction/fine-watches-milan-2025-06-09/rolex-oyster-perpetual-5018-137264?lang=en "Rolex Oyster Perpetual ref. 5018, Finarte Fine Watches, lot 137264", Finarte, 2025-06-09]

[[Category:Bubbleback]]