Reference:5502: Difference between revisions

The 5502 and 5506 sit beside the steel 5500 in the Cal. 1530 Air-King generation. Reference 5504 is the larger Explorer-case relative, while 5520 belongs to a later gold-finished Air-King generation with a different movement and dial wording. The Air-King family index summarizes 5502 as a US-market reference and 5506 as a UK/Commonwealth reference. The direct lot sample does not establish that assignment as a universal rule, so it remains a distribution hypothesis rather than a factory statement.

The Vintage Rolex Field Manual lists 5502 and 5506 with Cal. 1530 and a 1958 date. Other modern histories place formal catalogue coverage nearer 1960–1965. The evidence supports a late-1950s to mid-1960s range; the exact start and end depend on the source and on each watch's case and movement.

No published source reviewed gives a factory production total. The auction sample is much smaller than the 5500 record, but that does not establish a scarcity percentage or a complete serial range. Case numbers, movement numbers, and dial details should be recorded per watch.

Heritage’s circa-1959 5506 has a silvered dial, applied gold markers, outer luminous dots, and gold luminous lance hands. The lot was not sold. Bonhams catalogues a champagne 5506 and black and champagne 5502 examples; those lots remain individual case and movement records.

The direct auction sample is small and mixed. The Heritage record provides the clearest movement and case data in the cited set; the Bonhams entries remain catalogue leads until their lot text and images are checked against the watches.