Reference:6234: Difference between revisions
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==Dial map== | ==Dial map== | ||
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File:Ref 6234 multi-colour-dial.webp|Multi-coloured 6234 dial — courtesy Teddy Dewitte (A Collected Man / Sheldrake 2020) | |||
File:Ref 6234 silvered-dial.webp|alt=Reference 6234 silvered dial|Standard silvered-dial 6234, circa 1959, on its original rivet Oyster bracelet. Sotheby's Daytona Capsule Collection 2019, lot 11. | |||
File:Ref 6234 tropical-gilt.webp|alt=Reference 6234 tropical gilt dial|Black-lacquered gilt 6234 with applied dagger indices, case 688717 (1961), aged tropical to a rich chocolate brown. Sotheby's Olmsted Complications Collection 2025, lot 65. | |||
File:Ref 6234 sub-dial-layouts.webp|Large versus small sub-dial configurations on the 6234 (A Collected Man / Sheldrake 2020) | |||
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The dial is the load-bearing variant axis on the 6234, and the published taxonomy is thinner than for the 6238 because the smaller surviving population yields fewer documented examples. | The dial is the load-bearing variant axis on the 6234, and the published taxonomy is thinner than for the 6238 because the smaller surviving population yields fewer documented examples. | ||
The standard silver dial is the most common configuration across the run. Silvered or off-white surface, applied steel batons, tachymetre and telemeter scales printed in two colours around the dial periphery (units per hour and units per kilometre or per Mile depending on the destination market), and the three sub-dials in matching tone. Sotheby's [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2019/the-rolex-daytona-capsule-collection/rolex-pre-daytona-ref-6234-a-stainless-steel ''Pre-Daytona Ref 6234''] from the 2019 Daytona Capsule Collection (lot 11, circa 1959) is the reference example for a clean silver dial; Edmond Saran's [https://le-monde-edmond.com/rolex-chronograph-special/ Rolex chronograph special] for Le Monde Edmond (2018) records an aged-champagne silver dial as a recognised but uncommon variation of the same dial. | The standard silver dial is the most common configuration across the run. Silvered or off-white surface, applied steel batons, tachymetre and telemeter scales printed in two colours around the dial periphery (units per hour and units per kilometre or per Mile depending on the destination market), and the three sub-dials in matching tone. Sotheby's [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2019/the-rolex-daytona-capsule-collection/rolex-pre-daytona-ref-6234-a-stainless-steel ''Pre-Daytona Ref 6234''] from the 2019 Daytona Capsule Collection (lot 11, circa 1959) is the reference example for a clean silver dial; Edmond Saran's [https://le-monde-edmond.com/rolex-chronograph-special/ Rolex chronograph special] for Le Monde Edmond (2018) records an aged-champagne silver dial as a recognised but uncommon variation of the same dial. | ||
The black dial is rarer and harder to find in clean condition. Two sub-types are documented. The black glossy lacquer with printed indices appears on the Phillips Start-Stop-Reset 2016 lot 82 and the Phillips Geneva XV 2022 lot 192 (the same case 1'262'289, sold twice) and the Phillips Geneva XVIII 2023 lot 95 (case 530'467, circa 1960). The black lacquered gilt with applied dagger indices appears on the Sotheby's Olmsted Collection 2025 lot 65 (case 688'717, circa 1961), a dial that has aged tropical to a chocolate-brown hue, with original luminous plots intact. A second tropical example sits in the same serial band: Antiquorum's November 2007 lot 177 (case 688586, made in 1961 and sold in 1962) carries the same black-to-brown color change. Two examples in the 688'XXX band reading the same way falls short of a rule, though the pattern is suggestive. | The black dial is rarer and harder to find in clean condition. Two sub-types are documented. The black glossy lacquer with printed indices appears on the Phillips Start-Stop-Reset 2016 lot 82 and the Phillips Geneva XV 2022 lot 192 (the same case 1'262'289, sold twice) and the Phillips Geneva XVIII 2023 lot 95 (case 530'467, circa 1960). The black lacquered gilt with applied dagger indices appears on the Sotheby's Olmsted Collection 2025 lot 65 (case 688'717, circa 1961), a dial that has aged tropical to a chocolate-brown hue, with original luminous plots intact. A second tropical example sits in the same serial band: Antiquorum's November 2007 lot 177 (case 688586, made in 1961 and sold in 1962) carries the same black-to-brown color change. Two examples in the 688'XXX band reading the same way falls short of a rule, though the pattern is suggestive. | ||
A pair of layout variations sit alongside the colour variants. Sheldrake records that Rolex produced 6234 dials in both large- and small-sub-dial layouts, and that the smaller sub-dials sit clear of the dial-periphery scales while the larger ones overlap. The reason for the dual layout is not published. Sheldrake also records a one-off steel 6234 with blue sub-dial hands, complementing the red and blue tachymetre and telemeter scales; the colour pairing is presumed correct from the Rolex workshop, but the published literature offers no further explanation. | A pair of layout variations sit alongside the colour variants. Sheldrake records that Rolex produced 6234 dials in both large- and small-sub-dial layouts, and that the smaller sub-dials sit clear of the dial-periphery scales while the larger ones overlap. The reason for the dual layout is not published. Sheldrake also records a one-off steel 6234 with blue sub-dial hands, complementing the red and blue tachymetre and telemeter scales; the colour pairing is presumed correct from the Rolex workshop, but the published literature offers no further explanation. | ||