Reference:5010: Difference between revisions

The 5010 is a self-winding Oyster Perpetual with centre seconds. Auction and dealer records place individual examples between circa 1945 and 1955, but they do not establish the production span. Documented watches include steel and two-tone cases, several dial layouts, and one bezel engraved for the 1950 Holy Year.

| case || Steel cases and steel cases with pink- or yellow-gold parts appear in catalogues; reported diameters are 31–33 mm.

| dial || Catalogue and dealer descriptions include black Arabic-and-dagger, salmon Arabic-and-baton, silvered baton, white gilt-marker, and Arabic-numeral layouts; factory range unknown.

| bracelet || One auctioned example has a C&I expandable Oyster bracelet; original fitment and end-link numbers remain unestablished.

Collectors group the 5010 with Bubblebacks, the early automatic Oyster watches with a domed back. The term is a collector label; see the [[Reference:bubbleback|Bubbleback and early Oyster guide]].

Christie’s dates a steel-and-pink-gold example circa 1945. Burstow & Hewett dates case 625463 circa 1947. Antiquorum and a Barnebys archive list separate cases, 646'799 and 646740, as 1948 examples; The Auction Room estimates case 655756 at circa 1949, and Phillips dates case 655'677 to 1950. Bonhams describes case 35873, stamped II.55 inside, as circa 1955. These dates belong to individual watches; they do not establish the reference's production start or end.

Phillips gives the 1950 Anno Sancto watch an automatic 9¾-ligne movement with 18 jewels. Antiquorum lists a 9¾-ligne movement in its 1948 example; a 2004 Bonhams catalogue transcription gives 19 jewels for another 5010. Barnebys reports movement number N15018 in case 646740. Jewel counts and movement numbers belong to those individual watches.

Descriptions of individual watches include black Arabic-and-dagger, salmon Arabic-and-baton, silvered baton, white gilt-marker, and all-Arabic layouts. Christie’s describes applied dagger markers and Arabic numerals. Burstow & Hewett records a salmon-pink dial with quarterly Arabic numerals and batons, blued pencil hands, and red centre seconds; The Auction Room's circa-1949 watch has a silvered dial with gold-tone batons. Bonhams describes a circa-1955 white dial with gilt batons, alternating dart and Roman-numeral quarter markers, and gilt leaf hands. Wind Vintage describes an approximately 1948 example with Arabic numerals and alpha hands. These are descriptions of separate watches; the factory range is not established.

File:Ref_5010_commemorative.webp|Phillips, lot 282: bezel engraving on the 1950 Anno Sancto example

File:Ref_5010_profile.webp|The Auction Room London, lot 20, case 655756: side profile and leather strap

Austin Auction Gallery's 2026 listing pairs case 625221 with a riveted expandable Oyster bracelet and clasp marked C&I 1-66. The 1966 stamp dates the clasp component, not the watch head; the [[Reference:Bracelets|bracelet guide]] explains the limits of clasp dating. The lot shows one bracelet paired with a 5010, but does not establish original delivery or a reference-wide end-link fit. A Rolex Forums owner example also shows a two-tone 5010 on a riveted bracelet, but supplies no factory documentation.

File:Ref_5010_bracelet.webp|Austin Auction Gallery, 2026: expandable bracelet paired with case 625221

File:Ref_5010_clasp.webp|Austin Auction Gallery, 2026: clasp marked Rolex U.S.A., C&I, and 1-66

Phillips records one 1950 “ANNO SANCTO” watch with an engraved bezel commemorating the Roman Catholic Holy Year and naming Pius XII. The catalogue describes a two-tone steel and yellow-gold case, a leather strap, and a gold-plated Rolex buckle.

| Austin Auction Gallery, 3 May 2026 || Case serial 625221; black dial; gold-tone bezel; screw-down crown; 32 mm; expandable riveted Oyster bracelet; clasp C&I 1-66 || The clasp code dates the bracelet component, not the watch head or original fitment.

See the [[Reference:bubbleback|Bubbleback and early Oyster guide]], [[Reference:Bracelets|bracelet guide]], [[Reference:Movements|movement guide]], and [[Reference:Serial-numbers|serial-number guide]]. The case numbers listed here are individual catalogue observations; no 5010 serial chart has been established.