Reference:4499

Air-King › 4499

Rolex Air-King 4499, silvered dial with applied baton markers, c.1948

The 4499 is the 1946 running mate to the 4925 Air-King. It uses the Cal 10½ Hunter family and a 34mm Bubbleback-class Oyster case. Published histories place the two references in parallel through the late 1940s and early 1950s, with the 6552 taking over around 1953. Bonhams 2012 lot 132 documents a 15-jewel 1946 4499 with a sub-seconds layout, so the early run does not fit a simple 17-jewel centre-seconds sequence.

An example with a Serpico y Laino retailer signature is catalogued from 1946 (serial 420942). The signature identifies the Caracas retail channel; it does not create a separate Rolex reference.

Core facts

detail	value
reference	4499
family	Air-King
common name	"the 1946 Air-King," "the 4925 running mate"
production	1946–1953 active production; 4499 launches one year after the 4925's 1945 introduction
case	34mm × Bubbleback-class three-piece stainless steel Oyster, same architecture as 4925
metals	Stainless-steel examples dominate the cited auction record; pink-gold and gold-plated examples are also reported
crystal	acrylic plexiglass, domed
crown	Twinlock screw-down (manual brevet)
movement	Cal 10½ Hunter, 15 jewels in the documented early 1946 example and 17 jewels in later examples; centre-seconds on the later run, with a documented 1946 sub-seconds variant
chronometer	no, "PRECISION" tier
dial text	"OYSTER PERPETUAL AIR-KING" + "PRECISION" + "SWISS MADE"
bracelet	19mm Oyster, period-correct rivet construction (Bonhams 2024 lot 100 fitted with original rivet bracelet and signed folding clasp)
caseback	screw-down threaded Oyster
sister	4925 (1945-launched centre-seconds Air-King), 4365 (sub-seconds 1945-era with four-name sister-marketing dials)
predecessor	no direct 4499 predecessor; reference launches in 1946 alongside the broader 1945-launch Air-King generation
successor	6552 (1953-1957, first automatic Air-King with Cal 1030)

Where it sits in the line

The 4499 launches in 1946, one year after the 4925's 1945 Air-King introduction. The two references run in parallel through approximately 1953. Both use the Cal 10½ Hunter family and a 34mm Bubbleback-class Oyster case. Bonhams lots dated 1946 and 1948 support a parallel-running reading, while the earliest 1946 15-jewel sub-seconds lot shows that the movement and dial sequence was not uniform at launch.

The 4499 and sub-seconds 4365 occupy different branches of the early Air-King line. The 4365 carries the Air-King, Air-Lion, Air-Tiger and Air-Giant dial names; the 4499 normally carries Air-King text. The documented 1946 4499 sub-seconds example overlaps the 4365 layout before later 4499 examples settle on centre-seconds.

The architectural sequence runs 4925 / 4499 / 4365 → 6552 → 5500. The Cal 10½ Hunter generation retires with the 1953 catalog cut and the broader pre-Cal-1030 hand-wound Air-King line. The 6552 (1953-1957, first automatic Air-King with Cal 1030) is the architectural successor; the long-running 5500 (1957-1989) absorbs the line forward.

Production outline

Published Air-King histories place the 4499 launch in 1946. Bonhams 2012 lot 132 (case 398xxx, c.1946) sits at the start of the documented window. Bonhams 2024 lots 100 and 94 (cases 674281 and 673843, c.1948) provide mid-run examples.

Published histories place the retirement around 1953, mirroring the 4925 catalog cutoff. The Cal 10½ Hunter family retires with the broader pre-1030 hand-wound Air-King line, and the 6552 (1953–1957) takes the line forward with the automatic Cal 1030. No documented 4499 dated post-1953 has surfaced.

The Cal 10½ Hunter jewel count requires care. Bonhams 2012 lot 132 documents a c.1946 4499 with a 15-jewel movement and sub-seconds at six. Later 4499 lots use 17 jewels and centre-seconds. The change appears to fall within the first production year, but the complete factory sequence is not documented.

No production total is published. The cited auction record contains three Bonhams lots from 2012 and 2024; no standalone 4499 lot from Phillips, Sotheby’s, Christie’s or Antiquorum is included.

Movement notes

The 4499 runs the Cal 10½ Hunter family, the same Aegler architecture documented under the 4925's movement notes. It is manual wind, 15 jewels in the earliest 1946 example and 17 jewels by the later 1947–48 lots, with 18,000 vph, centre-seconds on the later production, Aegler/Rolex Superbalance and a lever escapement.

The 15-jewel to 17-jewel change appears in the same early post-war movement refresh seen across the 4925 and 4365 family. The evidence supports a running update rather than a clean reference-level successor.

The Bonhams 2012 lot 132 1946 4499 carries sub-seconds at six o'clock. The lot is a transitional first-year example; whether its dial and movement were original together cannot be settled from the published lot alone.

The 4499 is not COSC chronometer rated. The dial reads "PRECISION" across documented examples; A “Super Precision” 4499 dial would need an explanation because the documented examples use “Precision”; a service replacement is one possibility.

Case and construction

34mm × Bubbleback-class three-piece stainless steel Oyster, with case middle, threaded caseback and threaded crown. The envelope is slightly slimmer than the pre-war Bubbleback because the Cal 10½ Hunter does not need rotor clearance. Lugs are 19mm with drilled spring-bar holes. The bezel is fixed, steel and smooth. The crown is manual-brevet screw-down; later Twinlock crowns belong to subsequent Oyster sport production.

The case is steel-only across the dominant auction-house record. Solid pink gold and gold-plated variants surface in the dealer market (listings document gold-plated and pink-gold 4499 examples) but stainless steel dominates the Bonhams major-house record. No documented two-tone or Rolesor 4499 has surfaced.

The crystal is acrylic plexiglass, domed. The caseback exterior is smooth without an external date stamp; the interior carries reference and case-number markings consistent with the 4925-era convention. Roman-quarter date codes (II.46, III.48, IV.51, etc.) inside the caseback are the cleanest per-watch dating tell on a 4499.

Dial map

The 4499 carries three documented dial configurations in the auction record, plus a Serpico y Laino retailer-signed branch and an editorially cited black-dial leaf-and-sword-hands variant.

Silvered with applied black baton, narrower-and-taller font (1947–1953 examples)

This dial appears across the documented 1947–1953 examples. Silvered ground, applied black baton hour markers, narrower-and-taller font than the 4925 (the dial-typography evolution Monochrome documents), "OYSTER PERPETUAL AIR-KING" + "PRECISION" + "SWISS MADE" text, alpha or leaf hands. Bonhams 2024 lot 100 (case 674281, c.1948) is the documented anchor; A 1946 Serpico y Laino example carries the same dial language with the retailer signature added.

Silvered with printed black Roman + baton + radium fill, sub-seconds at six (1946 transitional)

The earliest 1946 production sub-variant. Silvered ground, printed black Roman numerals at the cardinal positions with baton hour markers between, luminous radium fill in the markers, blued steel pointed baton hands, and sub-seconds at six rather than centre-seconds. Bonhams 2012 lot 132 (case 398xxx, c.1946, 15j Cal 10½) is the documented auction anchor. It shows that the centre-seconds sequence was not uniform from the first year.

Tropical "crème brûlée" / brown-tropical

A patina-aged sub-variant rather than a factory-original configuration. Bonhams 2024 lot 94 (case 673843, c.1948) and a specialist-dealer "crème brûlée" tropical example are the documented anchors. The tropical conversion produces an even chocolate-to-cream gradient on what was originally a silvered or eggshell ground. The sale result is listed in the Auction record.

Serpico y Laino retailer-signed (Caracas distribution)

A dealer listing catalogues a 1946 4499 (serial 420942) with the dial signed "SERPICO Y LAINO" below the Rolex coronet. The signature identifies a retailer branch on a standard 4499 case-and-movement combination; provenance and printing need to be checked on the individual watch.

The black-dial leaf-and-sword-hands Precision variant Siems cites in editorial coverage is not documented in any major-house auction lot. The Roman / Arabic / 3-6-9 Explorer / honeycomb / clous-de-Paris configurations that surface elsewhere on the Air-King line are not documented on the 4499.

• 
  4499 Oyster Precision, tropicalised brown and silvered dial, case 673843, c.1948.
• 
  4499 Oyster Air-King, Serpico y Laino signature below the coronet, serial 420942, c.1946.

Bracelets, end-links, and clasps

19mm Oyster across the production. Period-correct delivery is represented by rivet construction with early 6635-class end-links. Bonhams 2024 lot 100 is the clearest documented original-fitment example, with a riveted Oyster bracelet and signed folding clasp. Other surviving lots include later leather straps.

The 4499 era pre-dates the formal numbered Oyster bracelet references used on the later 5500-era Air-King line. Period-correct fitment is generic 6635-class rivet Oyster. Service-era replacements include 7205 (5500-era 19mm rivet) and later 7835 / 78350 fitments, which post-date the 4499 production window.

Special branches

Serpico y Laino retailer-signed

A documented 1946 example (serial 420942, dial signed SERPICO Y LAINO below the coronet) anchors the retailer branch. Authentication requires period documentation, signature-print verification on the dial, and case-and-movement period consistency.

1946 15-jewel sub-seconds transitional

Bonhams 2012 lot 132 is a c.1946 4499 with a 15-jewel Cal 10½ Hunter movement and sub-seconds dial layout. The lot supports a first-year transition in both jewel count and dial layout; the published lot alone cannot settle whether every component was original at delivery.

Tropical / crème brûlée patina

Bonhams 2024 lot 94 and specialist-dealer records document tropical 4499 examples with even chocolate-to-cream patina across the dial. This is a patina-aged sub-variant rather than a factory-original dial configuration.

The military-issue, named-presentation engraved, government-crest (Saudi / UAE / Bahrain / Kuwait), Tiffany & Co. retailer-signed, Cartier-signed, Beyer-signed, and Asprey-signed 4499 configurations are not documented in the auction record through 2025. Specialist editorial cites a black-dial leaf-and-sword-hands Precision variant; no major-house lot anchors the configuration.

Auction record

Sale	Lot	Year	Reference details	Result
Bonhams Watches and Wristwatches London Knightsbridge	132	2012	4499 c.1946, case 398xxx, 15j Cal 10½, silvered dial with sub-seconds at 6, blued pointed baton hands, brown leather strap (later replacement)	Hammer GBP 1,125 incl. premium
Bonhams Weekly: Watches (online)	100	2024	4499 c.1948, case 674281, 17j Cal 10½, silvered dial 34mm, riveted Oyster bracelet with signed folding clasp	Realised GBP 2,176 incl. premium
Bonhams Weekly: Watches (online London Knightsbridge)	94	2024	4499 c.1948, case 673843, 17j Cal 10½, tropicalised brown/silvered dial	Realised GBP 1,536 incl. premium

The results are lot-specific and do not establish a price band for every 4499. The page’s cited record contains no standalone 4499 lot from Phillips, Sotheby’s, Christie’s or Antiquorum.

Authentication

The 4499 is an early post-war reference, and service or dial work is possible on any surviving example. Assess printing, lume, hands, case, movement and service history together; patina or a clean surface alone does not prove originality or restoration.

The dial layout is one useful check. Later 4499 examples use centre-seconds; the Bonhams 2012 lot documents a 1946 sub-seconds variant. A sub-seconds 4499 with a case number outside the 398xxx range needs closer examination for a service-era movement or dial swap.

The case interior should be compared with the 4499 reference and any Roman-quarter date code. The documented case-number band runs roughly 398,000–680,000; a number outside that range is a lead for a service-history review, not an automatic rejection.

The movement should be Cal 10½ Hunter with 15 jewels (1946 transitional) or 17 jewels (1947+). A 4499 with a Cal 1030 (the 6552 successor's caliber), Cal 1530, or Cal 1520 movement is service-replacement and is not original. The Cal 10½ Hunter's manual-wind architecture is visible inside the case and provides cleaner architectural authentication than the dial-text reading alone.

Bracelets provide supplementary evidence. The cited lots include later bracelets and leather straps, so authenticate the case, dial and movement first.

The Serpico y Laino retailer signature requires careful authentication. A service-replacement Serpico y Laino dial could be difficult to distinguish from the case alone. Check the signature printing, case, movement and any Caracas retail documentation together.

Related references

• Air-King 4365
• Air-King 4925
• Air-King 5500, 34mm Oyster (1957–1989)
• Air-King 5501
• Air-King 5502
• Air-King 5504

See also the Air-King family index, movement reference, bracelet & clasp guide, and serial numbers by year.

• 
  Rolex 4499 Air-King, 34mm Oyster.
• 
  4499 Oyster Precision, tropicalised brown and silvered dial, case 673843, c.1948.
• 
  4499 Oyster Air-King, Serpico y Laino signature below the coronet, serial 420942, c.1946.

Sources

• The Vintage Rolex Field Manual — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
• Tony Traina, "Rolex Air-King History: The Forgotten King", Rescapement
• Erik Slaven, "History of the Rolex Air-King, the underrated pilots watch", Monochrome Watches, 2025
• Marcus Siems, "Rolex Air-King Origin History and Design Evolution", Goldammer
• "The Complete Guide to Rolex Air-King Watches From 1945 to Present", Robb Report
• Jake Ehrlich, "The Complete History Of The Rolex Air-King", Rolex Magazine, 2013
• "Rolex Decades The 40s Air-King Versus The 50s Air-King", Beckertime
• "Rolex Oyster Ref 4499 1946 Bonhams London Knightsbridge", Bonhams, 2012
• "Rolex Oyster Precision Ref 4499 c.1948 Bonhams 2024", Bonhams, 2024
• "Rolex Oyster Precision Ref 4499 Tropicalised c.1948 Bonhams 2024", Bonhams, 2024
• "Rolex Oyster Air-King Serpico y Laino Ref 4499 Precision 1946", HashtagWatchCo
• "Rolex Air-King", Watch-Wiki