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The 6074 is the platinum Ovettone. Rolex built it in 1950, on the same 36mm Big Bubbleback case as the yellow-gold [[Reference:6075|6075]] that ran alongside it, and built it twice. John Goldberger catalogues the reference in ''100 Superlative Rolex Watches'' (Damiani, 2013) as a platinum self-winding wristwatch with calendar made in only two examples, one of which he reports as unaccounted for. That leaves a single known watch: black honeycomb dial, white-gold hands, platinum Jubilee bracelet, and a caseback engraved with a line Rolex wrote for no other Oyster.
{{#seo:
|title=Rolex 6074 Oyster Perpetual Date — Case, Dial & Movement Records | Rolexopedia
|description=The 6074 is documented as a 1950 platinum Big Bubbleback commission. Auction catalogues also assign the number to gold watches; case and movement evidence leave that branch unsettled.
|image=Ref 6074 hero.webp
|image_alt=Platinum Rolex 6074 with black honeycomb dial, smooth bezel and red roulette date
|type=Article
|og_type=article
|published_time=2026-08-10T13:38:56Z
|modified_time=2026-10-04T20:05:04Z
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
}}


{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex 6074 Oyster Perpetual Date}}
<small>[[Reference:bubbleback|Bubbleback]] → '''6074'''</small>
<div class="rp-lead">
[[File:Ref 6074 hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Platinum Rolex 6074 with black honeycomb dial, smooth bezel and red roulette date|Published platinum example of the 6074, photographed by John Goldberger and reproduced by Le Monde Edmond]]
</div>
The 6074 is a date-equipped Big Bubbleback. Antiquorum and John Goldberger describe a platinum commission made in 1950 in two examples; the illustrated watch has a black honeycomb dial, smooth bezel, roulette date and platinum Jubilee bracelet. Their measurements differ: Antiquorum gives 35mm, while Goldberger gives 36mm.
Auction houses have also catalogued gold watches as 6074. The 1990 catalogue omits a case number, and a gold watch examined in a 2015 restoration had earlier 6030 and 6031 numbers struck out before 6074 was stamped on the caseback. The gold 6074 remains a disputed attribution.
<span id="core-facts"></span>
==Core facts==
==Core facts==


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable rp-facts"
|-
|-
! detail
! detail
Line 12: Line 35:
|-
|-
| family
| family
| Oyster Perpetual / Big Bubbleback / Ovettone
| Oyster Perpetual Date / Big Bubbleback / Ovettone
|-
| date
| Date at 3 o'clock; date-change behavior varies across the movement descriptions
|-
|-
| production
| platinum example
| 1950
| Two watches reported made in 1950; black honeycomb dial; smooth bezel; platinum Jubilee bracelet
|-
|-
| examples made
| gold attributions
| two, per John Goldberger; one unaccounted for
| Listed by Antiquorum in 1990 and 2025; factory status unresolved
|-
|-
| case diameter
| case diameter
| 36mm tonneau Oyster, Ovettone profile
| Platinum lot: 35mm in Antiquorum, 36mm in Goldberger; 1990 gold lot: 34mm
|-
|-
| case construction
| case construction
| two-body, screw-down caseback and crown
| Tonneau Oyster with screwed back; Goldberger describes the platinum case as two-body
|-
|-
| case material
| case material
| platinum, hallmarked PT 0,950
| Platinum commission documented; 18K gold examples catalogued with uncertain attribution
|-
| bezel
| fine milled/reeded platinum
|-
| crystal
| acrylic, domed
|-
| crown
| screw-down Brevet
|-
|-
| movement
| movement
| self-winding Perpetual with centre seconds and date, A.29x Ovettone generation
| Watch-specific caliber attributions; see Movement notes
|-
|-
| date complication
| dial text
| yes — date at 3 o'clock, gradual creep at midnight
| The pictured platinum dial reads "Oyster Perpetual"; the "Datejust" signature is absent
|-
| Cyclops
| no (introduced on ref 6305 in 1954)
|-
| "Datejust" text on dial
| no
|-
| dial
| black honeycomb with applied dagger markers, red date numeral
|-
|-
| bracelet
| bracelet
| platinum Rolex Jubilee with deployant clasp, clasp stamped 1-50
| Platinum Jubilee described for the platinum example; clasp stamped 1-50 in Goldberger's published photograph
|-
| caseback engraving
| "The Rolex Jubilee-Custom made the noblest of metal"
|-
| scholarly status
| "true Ovettone" under both the narrow and the broad readings
|}
|}


<span id="where-it-sits-in-the-line"></span>
==Where it sits in the line==
==Where it sits in the line==


The early Datejust references run in order 4467, 5030, 6030, 6031, 6074, 6075, 6104, 6105, 6304, 6305, 6309, 6605, and the 6074 sits at the point where the form has settled and the experiments are over. Everything the [[Reference:6031|6031]] established in 1949 is carried forward: the curved case flanks that returned after the straight-flank 50xx pair, the fine milled bezel, the larger Brevet crown, the automatic movement with a slow-creeping date at three. What changes is the metal.
The 6074 belongs to the date-equipped Big Bubbleback group around refs. [[Reference:6031|6031]] and [[Reference:6075|6075]]. Italian auction houses use ''Ovettone'' for the larger 36mm Bubbleback form and distinguish it from the smaller ''Ovetto''; the 6074 appears in that larger group. The exact case measurements reported for individual 6074 examples vary, so the family label should not be used as a measurement for every watch.


Under the narrow reading of ''Ovettone'' the 6074 is one of four references that carry the term without argument, alongside the [[Reference:4467|4467]], the 6031 and the [[Reference:6075|6075]]. The broader Italian usage, which the Milanese and Florentine auction rooms follow, stretches the word across the whole 36mm Big Bubbleback class from the 5028 onward. The 6074 sits comfortably inside both.
The platinum example is an unusual commission in that group. Antiquorum and Goldberger both describe two platinum examples made in 1950. Gold watches catalogued as 6074 remain disputed attributions.


Its position within that cluster is unambiguous. The 4467 is the founder, the 6031 the pink-gold entry, the 6075 the yellow-gold production reference an ordinary collector can hope to find. The 6074 is the one that was never a production reference at all.
<span id="production-outline"></span>
==Production outline==


==Production outline==
Antiquorum's 1992 catalogue dates its platinum lot to 1950 and says two were made for the caseback inscription, "The Rolex Jubilee-Custom made The noblest of metal." Goldberger's 2013 book also gives two examples and reports that one is unaccounted for. The engraving, bracelet and description suggest that the 1992 lot and Goldberger's published watch may be the same example; their chain of custody is undocumented. The published records date the platinum pair without naming their case serials.
 
A separate gold watch identified as 6074 by Henrik Korpela at SJX had movement 56567, which Korpela identifies as Cal. 630 NA. Its caseback showed 6030 and 6031 scratched out with 6074 stamped over them. Antiquorum's 1990 gold lot omits a case number; its 2025 gold lot says the number was no longer visible. These catalogues document gold watches assigned the number, while the case evidence leaves their factory status open.


Goldberger dates the watch to 1950 and gives the output as two examples. The clasp on the surviving watch is stamped 1-50, the first quarter of 1950, which puts the bracelet and the head in the same window and is as close to a delivery date as the reference offers. No Rolex production record for the 6074 has been published, and none of the standard serial charts help, because two watches leave no pattern to chart.
<span id="movement-notes"></span>
==Movement notes==


The reference has never come to auction. Searches of the Phillips, Sotheby's, Christie's, Bonhams and Antiquorum records return nothing for the 6074, and the watch is known instead through Goldberger's photography and the single book entry. That is unusual even for a two-example reference; most watches this rare have surfaced at least once. The surviving example appears to have stayed in private hands.
The surviving records give different movement descriptions, and only the SJX restoration names a caliber. Antiquorum's 1992 platinum lot lists a 9¾-ligne, 17-jewel movement with shock protection; the catalogue leaves the caliber unnamed. Its 1990 gold lot lists an 11-ligne, 18-jewel movement, also without a caliber name. Korpela identifies Cal. 630 NA in the restored gold watch; that watch's caseback had been reworked. Keep the attribution attached to that watch, since the records do not establish a reference-wide assignment.


==The platinum case==
[[Reference:Movements|The movement index]] gives the broader Cal. 630 lineage and keeps the 6074's watch-specific caliber descriptions separate.


The case is a two-body tonneau Oyster, 36mm across, with a screw-down back and a screw-down Brevet crown, and it is platinum throughout. The inner caseback carries the reference number 6074 stamped below the Rolex coronet and the "GENEVA SWISS / PATENTED" marking, with the hallmark PT 0,950 in a cartouche alongside a Geneva assay poinçon. That stamping is the reference's own proof of material, and it is why the platinum attribution does not rest on a catalogue description.
<span id="dial-map"></span>
==Dial map==


The bezel is finely milled in matching platinum, the same shallow reeding the 6031 and 6075 carry in gold. It is the pattern Rolex sharpened into the Datejust fluting of the 1960s, and on a white metal it reads quieter than it does in gold, closer to a knurled edge than to a decorative bezel.
The published platinum example has a black honeycomb dial, applied faceted markers, a printed minute track, "ROLEX / OYSTER PERPETUAL" below the coronet and "OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED CHRONOMETER" above six. Its date wheel shows alternating red and black numerals. The dial carries the "Oyster Perpetual" signature, without the later "Datejust" wording.


Platinum in 1950 was not a material Rolex worked in. The Oyster line ran in steel, yellow gold and pink gold, and the first platinum references most collectors can name arrive with the Day-Date more than a decade later. A platinum Bubbleback case in 1950 required tooling for a metal roughly twice as dense and far less forgiving than gold, which is the practical explanation for why two were made rather than a series.
The 1992 Antiquorum catalogue describes the platinum lot's hands as platinum Dauphine. Goldberger's photograph shows long alpha-style hands with luminous inserts. The sources appear to describe the same watch, but leave the difference unexplained. Antiquorum's 1990 gold lot describes a white dial with applied gold indexes and radium feuille hands. The published examples offer a limited dial and hand record.


==The caseback engraving==
<span id="case-bezel-crystal-and-crown"></span>
==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==


The outer caseback carries a line of engraved text: "The Rolex Jubilee-Custom made the noblest of metal." It is the sentence Goldberger transcribes, and no other Oyster reference carries anything like it. The wording tangles two things together — the Jubilee bracelet the 4467 had introduced in 1945 for Rolex's fortieth anniversary, and the platinum the case is made of — and reads as a presentation inscription rather than a catalogue marking.
The platinum example has a tonneau-shaped case. Antiquorum measured its 1992 lot at 35mm; Goldberger gives 36mm for the illustrated watch. Antiquorum describes a screwed back and crown, and Goldberger calls the case two-body. The 1990 gold lot is listed at 34mm, a separate example and material attribution.


What the engraving does not say is who the watch was made for. Goldberger records the text without naming a recipient, and no order record has been published. The wording is the reason the watch is sometimes described as a unique piece even though two were built.
The platinum watch's bezel is smooth. Watchlover's reference-specific caption describes it that way, and the published photograph shows a plain polished bezel. The reeded bezel pictured on adjacent 6075 examples should not be carried over to the 6074.


==Dial==
The inner caseback of the platinum example is stamped 6074 and marked PT 0,950, with a Geneva assay poinçon. That is direct evidence for the photographed case's material. Published 6074 descriptions leave the crystal material and exact crown type open.


The surviving example carries a black honeycomb dial. The waffle texture runs across the whole surface, with applied faceted dagger markers at each hour, a printed minute track at the edge, "ROLEX / OYSTER PERPETUAL" under the coronet at twelve and "OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED CHRONOMETER" above six. The hands are white gold with luminous inserts, cut in the long alpha shape the Ovettone generation used.
[[File:Ref 6074 caseback.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 6074 inner caseback with 6074 reference and PT 0,950 platinum hallmark|Inner caseback of the platinum example, stamped 6074 and PT 0,950]]


Two details date the dial precisely. There is no "Datejust" text, which places the watch before the 6105 made the word standard in 1953, and the date numeral at three prints red rather than black — the roulette wheel that runs through the early Ovettone references and gives way to plain black-on-white in the 6105 generation. The date window has no Cyclops, which arrives on the 6305 in 1954.
<span id="caseback-engraving"></span>
==Caseback engraving==


Honeycomb is the detail collectors reach for first. Rolex used the textured dial across several early Oyster lines and it is prized on all of them, but on a platinum case with white-gold hands the black waffle is the whole visual argument for the watch. Whether the second, missing example carried the same dial is not recorded.
The outer caseback carries the inscription, "The Rolex Jubilee-Custom made the noblest of metal." Goldberger reproduces the wording and identifies the watch as platinum. It links the Jubilee bracelet and case metal in one presentation line; the recipient remains unnamed in published accounts.


==Movement==
[[File:Ref 6074 goldberger page.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=John Goldberger's published page showing the engraved 6074 caseback and platinum Jubilee clasp dated 1-50|Goldberger, ''100 Superlative Rolex Watches'', p. 164: engraving and clasp stamped 1-50]]


The 6074 sits in the automatic Ovettone movement generation, a self-winding Perpetual calibre with centre seconds and a date that creeps to the next numeral over the minutes either side of midnight rather than snapping over. There is no quickset and no shock protection; the instantaneous change arrives with Cal. 1065 in the 6604 and 6605 of 1956–57.
<span id="bracelets-end-links-and-clasps"></span>
==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==


The precise calibre in the 6074 is not published. The Ovettone references either side of it run the A.295 and its 29.6mm evolution the A.296, and the sources disagree about where the changeover falls: the reference literature puts the A.295 in the 6031 and the 6075, while Le Monde Edmond, working from Phillips photography, gives the 6075 an A.296. Neither reading has been tested against the 6074, whose movement number Goldberger does not record, so the honest statement is that the watch belongs to the A.29x family without a documented calibre. The [[Reference:Movements]] page holds the wider lineage.
Antiquorum's 1992 platinum lot and Goldberger's book describe a platinum Jubilee bracelet with a deployant clasp. Goldberger's photograph shows the clasp code 1-50. That code dates the bracelet component, not the watch head, and cannot show whether Rolex delivered the bracelet with it.


==Bracelet==
The gold lots from 1990 and 2025 are described on leather straps with gold buckles. The strap details belong to those individual watches; a standard gold 6074 configuration remains undocumented.


Platinum Jubilee with a deployant clasp, matched to the case. The Jubilee had arrived with the 4467 in 1945, named for Rolex's fortieth anniversary, and by 1950 it was the standard fitment for a dressed Big Bubbleback. Executing it in platinum meant drawing and forming the five-link construction in a metal that work-hardens differently from gold, and the result is markedly heavier on the wrist than the gold bracelets of the same pattern.
<span id="special-branches"></span>
==Special branches==


The clasp is stamped 1-50. As with any vintage Rolex, a clasp code dates the bracelet rather than the watch head, but on a reference made in two examples in a single year the distinction carries no practical risk.
The platinum commission and the gold attributions form separate evidence groups. Antiquorum's 1990 lot lists an 18K gold 6074 with a white dial, 34mm case and 11-ligne, 18-jewel movement. Its 2025 lot also lists 18K gold, at 35mm, but gives no readable case number. Korpela's restored gold watch has Cal. 630 NA and a caseback re-marked from 6030/6031 to 6074. Taken together, these records leave the factory status of a gold 6074 unresolved.


==Collecting==
<span id="auction-record"></span>
==Auction record==


There is no market for the 6074 in any useful sense. One example is known, it has never been offered publicly, and the second has not surfaced since Goldberger recorded its absence. What the reference offers a collector is calibration: it marks the outer edge of what Rolex was willing to build in 1950, and it gives the rest of the Ovettone cluster a ceiling to be measured against.
Antiquorum's Geneva sale on 14 October 1990 offered a gold watch catalogued as ref. 6074, dated to the 1950s and measured at 34mm. It sold for CHF 6,325; the lot omits a case number. Antiquorum's Vicenza Oro sale on 18 January 1992 offered the platinum 6074, dated 1950, with a 35mm measurement and an estimate of ITL 30,000–35,000; the archived listing carries no result. Antiquorum's Geneva sale on 8 November 2025 again catalogued a gold 6074, dated circa 1950s and measured at 35mm. It sold for CHF 7,500; the case number was recorded as no longer visible.


The practical warning is about attribution. Watches occasionally reach the market described as a 6074 in 18ct gold. Nothing in the published literature supports a gold-cased 6074, and the reference number stamped inside the caseback is the only test that settles it — a gold Big Bubbleback of this period is far more likely to be a 6030, a 6031 or a 6075, all of which exist in numbers and none of which are worth less for being correctly identified.
<span id="related-references"></span>
==Related references==


== Sources ==
* [[Reference:6075|Bubbleback 6075]]
* [[Reference:6031|Bubbleback 6031]]
* [[Reference:4467|Bubbleback 4467]]
* [[Reference:5030|Bubbleback 5030]]
* [[Reference:5031|Bubbleback 5031]]


* ''100 Superlative Rolex Watches'' — John Goldberger, Damiani, 2013
See also the [[Reference:bubbleback|Bubbleback family index]], [[Reference:Movements|movement reference]], [[Reference:Bracelets|bracelet and clasp guide]], and [[Reference:Serial-numbers|serial numbers by year]].
* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* [https://le-monde-edmond.com/datejust-a-closer-look-at-a-rolex-icon-2/ Le Monde Edmond, "Le Monde Edmond — Datejust: A Closer Look at a Rolex Icon", Le Monde Edmond, current]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/rolex-datejust-complete-history/ Monochrome, "Monochrome Watches — The Evergreens: Complete History of the Rolex Datejust", Monochrome, current]
* [https://robbreport.com/style/watch-collector/lists/rolex-bubbleback-watches-collector-guide-1931-1950s-1235893131/ Robb Report, "Robb Report — A Collector's Guide to Rolex Bubbleback Watches 1931-1950s", Robb Report, current]
* [https://www.pandolfini.it/ Pandolfini Casa d'Aste, "Pandolfini Casa d'Aste catalog usage — 'Ovetto' for 32mm Bubblebacks, 'Ovettone' for 36mm Big Bubblebacks", Pandolfini, various]
* [https://www.astebolaffi.it/ Aste Bolaffi, "Aste Bolaffi catalog usage of 'Ovetto' for standard 32mm Bubblebacks", Aste Bolaffi, 2020]
* "swisswatchexpo bubbleback"
== Related references ==


* [[Reference:6075|Bubbleback 6075]] — 1950–1953
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
* [[Reference:6031|Bubbleback 6031]] — 1949
File:Ref 6074 hero.webp|Platinum 6074 with black honeycomb dial and smooth bezel
* [[Reference:4467|Bubbleback 4467]] — 1945–1949
File:Ref 6074 caseback.webp|Inner caseback stamped 6074 and PT 0,950
* [[Reference:5030|Bubbleback 5030]] — 1948
File:Ref 6074 goldberger page.webp|Goldberger's published page with engraved caseback and clasp
* [[Reference:5031|Bubbleback 5031]] — 1948
</gallery>
* [[Reference:3595|Bubbleback 3595]] — 1941–1949


See also the [[Reference:bubbleback|Bubbleback family index]], [[Reference:Movements|movement reference]], [[Reference:Bracelets|bracelet & clasp guide]], and [[Reference:Serial-numbers|serial numbers by year]].
== Sources ==
* John Goldberger, ''100 Superlative Rolex Watches'' (Damiani, 2013), p. 164.
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-146-67 Antiquorum, "The Art Of Rolex," Vicenza Oro, lot 67, 18 January 1992].
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-155-397 Antiquorum, Geneva, lot 397, 14 October 1990].
* [https://watchesbysjx.com/2015/05/explained-restoring-a-1950s-rolex-oyster-perpetual-ref-6074.html Henrik Korpela, SJX Watches, "Restoring a 1950s Rolex Oyster Perpetual ref. 6074," 23 May 2015].
* [https://www.watchlover.it/2016/09/21/rolex-ovettone-big-bubbleback/ Watchlover, "Rolex Ovettone, Big Bubbleback," 21 September 2016].
* [https://le-monde-edmond.com/datejust-a-closer-look-at-a-rolex-icon-2/ Le Monde Edmond, "Datejust: A Closer Look at a Rolex Icon"].
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/rolex-datejust-complete-history/ Monochrome Watches, "The Evergreens: Complete History of the Rolex Datejust"].
* [https://www.pandolfini.it/ Pandolfini, auction catalogues using ''Ovettone'' for 36mm Big Bubblebacks].
* [https://www.astebolaffi.it/ Aste Bolaffi, catalogues distinguishing ''Ovetto'' and ''Ovettone''].
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-6074-datejust-ovettone-lot-381-223 Antiquorum, Geneva, lot 223, 8 November 2025].
* [https://www.monacolegendauctions.com/posts/the-first-of-its-kind-a-platinum-rolex-ovettone-th-100 Monaco Legend Auctions, "The First of Its Kind: A Platinum Rolex 'Ovettone' That Rewrote History," 4 March 2026].


[[Category:Bubbleback]]
[[Category:Bubbleback]]
[[Category:References]]
[[Category:References]]

Latest revision as of 20:05, 4 October 2026



Bubbleback → 6074

Platinum Rolex 6074 with black honeycomb dial, smooth bezel and red roulette date
Published platinum example of the 6074, photographed by John Goldberger and reproduced by Le Monde Edmond

The 6074 is a date-equipped Big Bubbleback. Antiquorum and John Goldberger describe a platinum commission made in 1950 in two examples; the illustrated watch has a black honeycomb dial, smooth bezel, roulette date and platinum Jubilee bracelet. Their measurements differ: Antiquorum gives 35mm, while Goldberger gives 36mm.

Auction houses have also catalogued gold watches as 6074. The 1990 catalogue omits a case number, and a gold watch examined in a 2015 restoration had earlier 6030 and 6031 numbers struck out before 6074 was stamped on the caseback. The gold 6074 remains a disputed attribution.

Core facts

detail value
reference 6074
family Oyster Perpetual Date / Big Bubbleback / Ovettone
date Date at 3 o'clock; date-change behavior varies across the movement descriptions
platinum example Two watches reported made in 1950; black honeycomb dial; smooth bezel; platinum Jubilee bracelet
gold attributions Listed by Antiquorum in 1990 and 2025; factory status unresolved
case diameter Platinum lot: 35mm in Antiquorum, 36mm in Goldberger; 1990 gold lot: 34mm
case construction Tonneau Oyster with screwed back; Goldberger describes the platinum case as two-body
case material Platinum commission documented; 18K gold examples catalogued with uncertain attribution
movement Watch-specific caliber attributions; see Movement notes
dial text The pictured platinum dial reads "Oyster Perpetual"; the "Datejust" signature is absent
bracelet Platinum Jubilee described for the platinum example; clasp stamped 1-50 in Goldberger's published photograph

Where it sits in the line

The 6074 belongs to the date-equipped Big Bubbleback group around refs. 6031 and 6075. Italian auction houses use Ovettone for the larger 36mm Bubbleback form and distinguish it from the smaller Ovetto; the 6074 appears in that larger group. The exact case measurements reported for individual 6074 examples vary, so the family label should not be used as a measurement for every watch.

The platinum example is an unusual commission in that group. Antiquorum and Goldberger both describe two platinum examples made in 1950. Gold watches catalogued as 6074 remain disputed attributions.

Production outline

Antiquorum's 1992 catalogue dates its platinum lot to 1950 and says two were made for the caseback inscription, "The Rolex Jubilee-Custom made The noblest of metal." Goldberger's 2013 book also gives two examples and reports that one is unaccounted for. The engraving, bracelet and description suggest that the 1992 lot and Goldberger's published watch may be the same example; their chain of custody is undocumented. The published records date the platinum pair without naming their case serials.

A separate gold watch identified as 6074 by Henrik Korpela at SJX had movement 56567, which Korpela identifies as Cal. 630 NA. Its caseback showed 6030 and 6031 scratched out with 6074 stamped over them. Antiquorum's 1990 gold lot omits a case number; its 2025 gold lot says the number was no longer visible. These catalogues document gold watches assigned the number, while the case evidence leaves their factory status open.

Movement notes

The surviving records give different movement descriptions, and only the SJX restoration names a caliber. Antiquorum's 1992 platinum lot lists a 9¾-ligne, 17-jewel movement with shock protection; the catalogue leaves the caliber unnamed. Its 1990 gold lot lists an 11-ligne, 18-jewel movement, also without a caliber name. Korpela identifies Cal. 630 NA in the restored gold watch; that watch's caseback had been reworked. Keep the attribution attached to that watch, since the records do not establish a reference-wide assignment.

The movement index gives the broader Cal. 630 lineage and keeps the 6074's watch-specific caliber descriptions separate.

Dial map

The published platinum example has a black honeycomb dial, applied faceted markers, a printed minute track, "ROLEX / OYSTER PERPETUAL" below the coronet and "OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED CHRONOMETER" above six. Its date wheel shows alternating red and black numerals. The dial carries the "Oyster Perpetual" signature, without the later "Datejust" wording.

The 1992 Antiquorum catalogue describes the platinum lot's hands as platinum Dauphine. Goldberger's photograph shows long alpha-style hands with luminous inserts. The sources appear to describe the same watch, but leave the difference unexplained. Antiquorum's 1990 gold lot describes a white dial with applied gold indexes and radium feuille hands. The published examples offer a limited dial and hand record.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

The platinum example has a tonneau-shaped case. Antiquorum measured its 1992 lot at 35mm; Goldberger gives 36mm for the illustrated watch. Antiquorum describes a screwed back and crown, and Goldberger calls the case two-body. The 1990 gold lot is listed at 34mm, a separate example and material attribution.

The platinum watch's bezel is smooth. Watchlover's reference-specific caption describes it that way, and the published photograph shows a plain polished bezel. The reeded bezel pictured on adjacent 6075 examples should not be carried over to the 6074.

The inner caseback of the platinum example is stamped 6074 and marked PT 0,950, with a Geneva assay poinçon. That is direct evidence for the photographed case's material. Published 6074 descriptions leave the crystal material and exact crown type open.

Rolex 6074 inner caseback with 6074 reference and PT 0,950 platinum hallmark
Inner caseback of the platinum example, stamped 6074 and PT 0,950

Caseback engraving

The outer caseback carries the inscription, "The Rolex Jubilee-Custom made the noblest of metal." Goldberger reproduces the wording and identifies the watch as platinum. It links the Jubilee bracelet and case metal in one presentation line; the recipient remains unnamed in published accounts.

John Goldberger's published page showing the engraved 6074 caseback and platinum Jubilee clasp dated 1-50
Goldberger, 100 Superlative Rolex Watches, p. 164: engraving and clasp stamped 1-50

Bracelets, end links, and clasps

Antiquorum's 1992 platinum lot and Goldberger's book describe a platinum Jubilee bracelet with a deployant clasp. Goldberger's photograph shows the clasp code 1-50. That code dates the bracelet component, not the watch head, and cannot show whether Rolex delivered the bracelet with it.

The gold lots from 1990 and 2025 are described on leather straps with gold buckles. The strap details belong to those individual watches; a standard gold 6074 configuration remains undocumented.

Special branches

The platinum commission and the gold attributions form separate evidence groups. Antiquorum's 1990 lot lists an 18K gold 6074 with a white dial, 34mm case and 11-ligne, 18-jewel movement. Its 2025 lot also lists 18K gold, at 35mm, but gives no readable case number. Korpela's restored gold watch has Cal. 630 NA and a caseback re-marked from 6030/6031 to 6074. Taken together, these records leave the factory status of a gold 6074 unresolved.

Auction record

Antiquorum's Geneva sale on 14 October 1990 offered a gold watch catalogued as ref. 6074, dated to the 1950s and measured at 34mm. It sold for CHF 6,325; the lot omits a case number. Antiquorum's Vicenza Oro sale on 18 January 1992 offered the platinum 6074, dated 1950, with a 35mm measurement and an estimate of ITL 30,000–35,000; the archived listing carries no result. Antiquorum's Geneva sale on 8 November 2025 again catalogued a gold 6074, dated circa 1950s and measured at 35mm. It sold for CHF 7,500; the case number was recorded as no longer visible.

Related references

See also the Bubbleback family index, movement reference, bracelet and clasp guide, and serial numbers by year.

  • Platinum 6074 with black honeycomb dial and smooth bezel
    Platinum 6074 with black honeycomb dial and smooth bezel
  • Inner caseback stamped 6074 and PT 0,950
    Inner caseback stamped 6074 and PT 0,950
  • Goldberger's published page with engraved caseback and clasp
    Goldberger's published page with engraved caseback and clasp

Sources

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