Reference:6612B: Difference between revisions
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Latest revision as of 05:15, 29 September 2026
Day-Date → 6612B
Auction catalogues use “6612B” or “6612/B” for smooth-bezel Day-Dates related to the 6612. The records reviewed here date examples from 1957 to about 1959 and variously list caliber 1055 or B1055. They do not establish whether B was an official Rolex reference suffix, a movement designation, or a later cataloguing convention. The “Lone Star” is a separate, book-documented platinum example with diamond hour markers and an Eastern-Arabic day and date.
Core facts
| detail | value |
|---|---|
| designation | 6612B and 6612/B appear in auction catalogues; factory status of the suffix is unconfirmed |
| family | Day-Date |
| dated examples | Auction catalogues date examples 1957–1959; these are not production limits |
| movement | Caliber 1055 or B1055, as listed by the individual catalogue |
| case | 36mm in the cited catalogues; gold and platinum examples documented |
| bezel | Smooth on examples catalogued as 6612B; individual watches may have later changes |
| dial | Published examples include silver, black lacquer, and Eastern-Arabic calendar layouts |
| nickname | “Lone Star,” a name used in published accounts for a book-illustrated platinum example |
Where it sits in the line
The designation appears beside the 6612 in catalogues of smooth-bezel Day-Dates. A 1959 Phillips lot describes a platinum watch as 6612B, while noting “6612” on the caseback and a later “6613” stamp. Phillips interpreted that stamp as evidence of a later change; the auction record does not establish the factory history. Other catalogued 6612B examples include yellow-, pink- and white-gold cases as well as platinum. See the 6612 and 6611 pages for the adjacent smooth- and fluted-bezel references.
Production outline
The available auction records date individual examples rather than defining a production run. Monaco Legend dates a yellow-gold example, case 384,933, to 1957. Other lots date gold and platinum cases to circa 1958, and Phillips dates a platinum example to circa 1959. These estimates do not establish the first or last year of production. No production total or factory explanation for the B suffix appears in the sources reviewed here.
Movement notes
Catalogue descriptions do not use one movement label consistently. Christie's and Antiquorum list caliber 1055 for the pink-gold case 395,916; Monaco Legend lists 1055 for its yellow-gold, white-gold and platinum examples. Phillips lists B1055 for platinum case 446,052, and Christie’s Dubai uses the same label for what appears to be that watch. Keep the label attached to the specific lot; this evidence does not support stating that every 6612B contains a 1055B. The broader movement index records the related 1055 family and its catalogue variants.
Dial map
The auction records show several configurations, not one standard dial. The yellow-gold 1957 example has a silver dial; the pink-gold case 395,916 has a black lacquer dial; and the white-gold case 394,866 is catalogued with a silver dial, diamond markers and an Italian day display. Monaco Legend describes platinum case 403,679 with a yellowed dial, diamond markers and Eastern-Arabic day and date. The platinum case 446,052 is described with a black lacquer dial and diamond markers.
SJX’s 2016 account identifies the “Lone Star” from Pucci Papaleo’s 2015 book as a platinum watch with a platinum bracelet, diamond hour markers, and both day and date in Eastern-Arabic script. Its markers are diamonds, not Arabic hour numerals. SJX reports collector lore that it may be among the first Swiss watches with a fully Arabic calendar, while acknowledging that the history is uncertain. That claim is not established as a Rolex production fact.
Case, bezel, crystal, and crown
The cited auction catalogues give 36mm for their 6612B examples. They record smooth-bezel examples in gold and platinum, but a catalogue designation does not prove that every component is original to the watch. Phillips describes case 446,052 with a later 6613 stamp and interprets it as a changed bezel; Christie's Dubai lists the case as 446,062 and says the earlier catalogues also had the number wrong. Phillips and Sotheby’s both give 446,052, so the Dubai listing leaves the case number unresolved. The sources cited here do not establish a reference-wide crystal or crown specification.
Bracelets, end links, and clasps
Catalogues describe different configurations: a gold Rolex/Oyster riveted bracelet on the 1957 yellow-gold example; a President bracelet on the platinum case 446,052; a tessellated platinum bracelet on case 403,679; and leather straps on the white-gold case 394,866 and pink-gold case 395,916 when later sold by Antiquorum. The case 395,916 had appeared on a bracelet in its 2018 Christie’s catalogue. These records document sale-time configurations, not original delivery. A clasp code dates the bracelet, not the watch head.
The “Lone Star”
The name is associated with a platinum Day-Date illustrated in Pucci Papaleo’s Day-Date — The Presidential Rolex (2015); SJX’s 2016 article discusses the image and its Eastern-Arabic calendar. The published image shows diamond hour markers and Arabic day and date indications. The consulted public sources do not provide a verifiable case number, movement number, production record or auction result for this watch. Its exact relationship to other catalogued 6612B examples remains undocumented.
Auction record
The table separates distinct case numbers from repeat listings. Case 395,916 appears in both Christie’s and Antiquorum records and should be counted as one watch, not two. The platinum case listed as 446,052 by Phillips and Sotheby’s appears in Christie’s Dubai as 446,062; because the Dubai entry cites the earlier sales, it is not an independent example. Results below are the amounts reported by the auction houses.
| date | house and lot | catalogue description | result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 (catalogue date) | Monaco Legend, Exclusive Timepieces 38, lot 182 | Yellow gold, case 384,933, caliber 1055, silver dial, Rolex/Oyster riveted bracelet | €24,700 including premium |
| 1958 (catalogue date) | Monaco Legend, Exclusive Timepieces 36, lot 26 | White gold, case 394,866, caliber 1055, diamond markers, leather strap | €72,500 including premium |
| 1958 (catalogue date) | Monaco Legend, Exclusive Timepieces 38, lot 67 | Platinum, case 403,679, caliber 1055, Eastern-Arabic calendar, tessellated bracelet | €512,500 including premium |
| 2024 | Antiquorum Monaco, lot 143 | Pink gold, case 395,916, caliber 1055; previously listed by Christie’s in 2018 | €78,720 |
| 2021 | Phillips Geneva Watch Auction XIII, lot 155 | Platinum, case 446,052, caliber B1055; Sotheby’s 2021 lot 8018 describes the same case and movement | CHF63,000 |
| 1958 (catalogue date); sold 2026 | Christie’s Important Watches, lot 39 | Platinum, case 382,921, caliber 1055, black dial with baguette markers | US$72,390 |
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Whole-watch view -
Dial detail
Sources
- Phillips, Geneva Watch Auction XIII, lot 155, platinum 6612B, case 446,052, 2021
- Sotheby’s, Fine Watches, lot 8018, case 446,052, 2021
- Christie’s Dubai, Watches Online: The Dubai Edit, lot 65, case listed as 446,062
- Christie’s, lot 5731660, pink-gold 6612B, case 395,916, 2018
- Antiquorum Monaco, lot 143, pink-gold case 395,916, 2024
- Monaco Legend, Exclusive Timepieces 38, lot 182, yellow-gold case 384,933
- Monaco Legend, Exclusive Timepieces 36, lot 26, white-gold case 394,866
- Monaco Legend, Exclusive Timepieces 38, lot 67, platinum case 403,679
- Christie’s, Important Watches, lot 39, platinum case 382,921, 2026
- Adel Al-Rahmani, “A Brief History of the Arabic Day-Date,” SJX Watches, 2016
- Pucci Papaleo, Day-Date — The Presidential Rolex, 2015