Admin: Add researched, image-backed Rolex Oyster Perpetual ref. 5045 article

2026-10-17T15:49:55Z

Add researched, image-backed Rolex Oyster Perpetual ref. 5045 article

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex Oyster Perpetual 5045}}
{{#seo:
|title=Rolex Oyster Perpetual 5045 — documented examples
|description=Case-numbered and catalogued examples of Rolex Oyster Perpetual ref. 5045, with the limits of current dating, dial, movement and bracelet evidence.
|keywords=Rolex, 5045, Oyster Perpetual, Bubbleback, engine-turned bezel
|image=Ref_5045_hero.webp
|image_alt=Steel and rose-gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual ref. 5045 with Arabic numerals and a turned bezel
|type=Article
|og_type=article
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
}}

<small>[[Reference:bubbleback|Pre-Perpetual Oyster]] → '''5045'''</small>

<div class="rp-lead">
[[File:Ref 5045 hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Steel and rose-gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual 5045 with silver dial|Loupe This, lot 3834.]]
</div>

Ref. 5045 is an automatic Oyster Perpetual grouped with the late Bubblebacks. Auction and dealer records place individual examples around 1949–50. Loupe This photographed the inner caseback stamp and a serial that appears to read 658895. The surviving record is a handful of dated listings rather than a continuous production chronology.

==Core facts==

{| class="wikitable"
! Detail !! Documented record
|-
| Reference || 5045, visible on the inner caseback of the Loupe This lot 3834 watch
|-
| Model || Automatic Oyster Perpetual; grouped with Bubblebacks in collector references and catalogues
|-
| Example dates || Circa 1949–50 in auction and dealer descriptions; these are dates assigned to individual watches
|-
| Case size || 31 mm (Watch CTI and Artisans of Time); 32 mm (Loupe This and Catawiki archive)
|-
| Case materials || Loupe This and Watch CTI describe steel and rose gold; Artisans of Time calls its watch bi-color but lists the case as steel
|-
| Movement || Automatic in the examined listings; two secondary sources give different movement-size/family designations
|-
| Dial records || Loupe This shows a silver dial with Arabic 12, 3, 6, 9 and the inscription “OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED CHRONOMETER”; Watch CTI shows wedge markers and alpha hands; TIMEANAGRAM describes luminous markers around a circular minute track
|}

==Where it sits in the line==

Collectors and catalogues group 5045 with late Bubbleback-era Oyster Perpetuals. Watch CTI describes its example as a two-piece-case watch from the mid-to-late 1940s and compares its dial with later semi-Bubbleback and Big Bubbleback watches. Those comparisons place the reference within the dealer's account of the line; the dated 5045 listings cluster around 1949–50. [https://cticorp.jp/?p=44936 Watch CTI, item R624]

==Production outline==

Loupe This dates its case-numbered example to circa 1949; Watch CTI estimates 1949 from the serial on its watch, and Artisans of Time describes its example as circa 1950. Lot-Art preserves a Catawiki listing titled as a 1949 watch. Each date belongs to a specific listing; together they document examples around 1949–50. [https://loupethis.com/auctions/rolex-bubbleback-5045-two-tone-pink-gold-and-steel Loupe This, lot 3834]; [https://cticorp.jp/?p=44936 Watch CTI, item R624]; [https://artisansoftime.com/en/products/rolex-bubble-back-ref-5045 Artisans of Time]; [https://www.lot-art.com/auction-lots/1949-Rolex-Bubble-Back-Oyster-Perpetual-5045-Mens-Watch/15318611-1949_rolex_bubble-10.12.17-catawiki Catawiki sale archived by Lot-Art]

The Loupe This photograph appears to show case serial 658895. Watch CTI also estimates 1949 from its example's serial, though its listing does not give the number. Both estimates are attached to individual watches; the [[Reference:Serial-numbers|serial-number guide]] records them as such.

==Movement notes==

All inspected listings describe an automatic movement. The Loupe This open-case image shows a movement number that appears to read N15723. A model chart hosted on RolexForums gives the 9¾-line NA designation; TIMEANAGRAM lists 10½-line NA for its watch. These are different reported movement-size/family designations, and neither is confirmed by the photographed movement. [https://www.rolexforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82672&d=1250802852 RolexForums-hosted chart]; [https://timeanagram.com/products/12221 TIMEANAGRAM, item 12221]. [[Reference:Movements|Movement index]]

[[File:Ref 5045 movement.webp|thumb|right|230px|Movement number appears to read N15723; the open caseback is stamped 5045. Loupe This, lot 3834.]]

==Dial map==

The photographed Loupe This watch has a silvered dial with Arabic numerals at 12, 3, 6 and 9, baton markers, a printed minute track, blue-looking hands and the inscription “OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED CHRONOMETER.” Loupe This says the hands were relumed and that no lume plots remain; those are condition details for its example. The photograph documents the inscription, not the dial's originality. [https://loupethis.com/auctions/rolex-bubbleback-5045-two-tone-pink-gold-and-steel Loupe This, lot 3834]

Watch CTI shows a different dial with wedge-shaped applied markers and alpha hands. TIMEANAGRAM describes luminous markers arranged around a circular minute track. These are separate listing-level descriptions; the available records do not establish a sequence or frequency for the layouts. [https://cticorp.jp/?p=44936 Watch CTI, item R624]; [https://timeanagram.com/products/12221 TIMEANAGRAM, item 12221]

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

The Loupe This watch has a steel case with rose-gold bezel and crown. Its inner caseback is stamped 5045; the flank serial appears to read 658895. The auction condition report says the case was polished. Watch CTI describes a turned bezel on its example and compares it with refs. 3372 and 5015. Artisans of Time calls its watch bi-color in the description but lists the case material as steel. It also lists a Plexi crystal; both details are seller specifications for that example. [https://loupethis.com/auctions/rolex-bubbleback-5045-two-tone-pink-gold-and-steel Loupe This, lot 3834]; [https://cticorp.jp/?p=44936 Watch CTI, item R624]; [https://artisansoftime.com/en/products/rolex-bubble-back-ref-5045 Artisans of Time]

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref 5045 case-serial.webp|Case serial appears to read 658895, Loupe This lot 3834.
File:Ref 5045 case-profile.webp|Steel case and rose-gold bezel, Loupe This lot 3834.
</gallery>

==Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes==

Loupe This shows its watch on a two-tone Oyster bracelet and reports wear and play. Artisans of Time says a previous owner fitted its watch with an Oyster bracelet stamped 1/66. The code dates that bracelet component; the listing calls it a later addition. Catawiki describes a leather strap and Rolex buckle. These records capture the fittings sold with three individual watches. [https://loupethis.com/auctions/rolex-bubbleback-5045-two-tone-pink-gold-and-steel Loupe This, lot 3834]; [https://artisansoftime.com/en/products/rolex-bubble-back-ref-5045 Artisans of Time]; [https://www.lot-art.com/auction-lots/1949-Rolex-Bubble-Back-Oyster-Perpetual-5045-Mens-Watch/15318611-1949_rolex_bubble-10.12.17-catawiki Catawiki sale archived by Lot-Art]

A 2011 RolexForums thread asks whether a watch with case 659120 is ref. 5045 and describes an engine-turned bezel. The post is an identification lead; its original photographs are unavailable. [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=198573 RolexForums discussion]

==Recorded listings==

{| class="wikitable"
! Record !! What it documents
|-
| [https://loupethis.com/auctions/rolex-bubbleback-5045-two-tone-pink-gold-and-steel Loupe This, lot 3834] || Circa-1949, 32 mm steel-and-rose-gold example. Images show the dial, case serial, inner 5045 stamp, movement and bracelet; the listing reports a repolished case, relumed hands and bracelet wear.
|-
| [https://cticorp.jp/?p=44936 Watch CTI, item R624] || Dealer archive for a 31 mm two-tone example estimated to 1949 by its serial; wedge markers, alpha hands and engine-turned bezel.
|-
| [https://artisansoftime.com/en/products/rolex-bubble-back-ref-5045 Artisans of Time] || Dealer listing for a 31 mm example estimated circa 1950; prose calls it bi-color while the material field says steel; Plexi crystal and later-added Oyster bracelet stamped 1/66.
|-
| [https://www.lot-art.com/auction-lots/1949-Rolex-Bubble-Back-Oyster-Perpetual-5045-Mens-Watch/15318611-1949_rolex_bubble-10.12.17-catawiki Catawiki, 10 December 2017, via Lot-Art] || Archived listing describes a 32 mm watch with automatic movement, leather strap and Rolex buckle; no serial or case stamp appears in the accessible text.
|}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref 5045 hero.webp|Silver dial and two-tone case, Loupe This lot 3834.
File:Ref 5045 case-serial.webp|Case serial appears to read 658895, Loupe This lot 3834.
File:Ref 5045 movement.webp|Movement and inner caseback stamped 5045, Loupe This lot 3834.
File:Ref 5045 case-profile.webp|Case profile, Loupe This lot 3834.
</gallery>

== Sources ==

* [https://loupethis.com/auctions/rolex-bubbleback-5045-two-tone-pink-gold-and-steel "Rolex Bubbleback ref. 5045 two-tone pink gold and steel, Loupe This lot 3834", Loupe This]
* [https://artisansoftime.com/en/products/rolex-bubble-back-ref-5045 "Rolex Bubble Back ref. 5045, Artisans of Time", Artisans of Time]
* [https://cticorp.jp/?p=44936 "Watch CTI, Rolex Bubbleback ref. 5045, item R624", Watch CTI]
* [https://www.lot-art.com/auction-lots/1949-Rolex-Bubble-Back-Oyster-Perpetual-5045-Mens-Watch/15318611-1949_rolex_bubble-10.12.17-catawiki "Catawiki ref. 5045 sale, 10 December 2017, archived by Lot-Art", Catawiki / Lot-Art]
* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=198573 "RolexForums discussion of a possible ref. 5045, case 659120", RolexForums]
* [https://www.rolexforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82672&d=1250802852 "Rolex model-to-caliber chart attached to RolexForums", Unidentified chart, hosted by RolexForums]
* [https://timeanagram.com/products/12221 "Rolex Bubble Back ref. 5045 rare dial and bezel, TIMEANAGRAM item 12221", TIMEANAGRAM]

[[Category:Bubbleback]]

Reference:5045 - Revision history

Admin: Add researched, image-backed Rolex Oyster Perpetual ref. 5045 article