Reference:5520: Difference between revisions

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The 1974 introduction year and 1986 retirement come from RolexMagazine (Jake Ehrlich), Robb Report, and secondary aggregators — three sources that converge on the 12-year 1974–1986 catalog window. Antiquorum Mondani Collection lot 108-188 (5520/1024, case 7,473,941, 1983 production) sits in the middle of this window and confirms the catalog dates with serial-number evidence. No documented 5520 dated post-1986 has surfaced.

Some sources (Marcus Siems, Monochrome paraphrase) suggest a late-1960s introduction for the 5520 — pushing the launch back by approximately 5–8 years from the catalog evidence. The late-1960s reading is uncorroborated by named-byline editorial citing specific catalog dates; the ~~1974 introduction~~ is ~~the canonical anchor~~ and the ~~Antiquorum dated examples support~~ 1974~~+ rather than late~~-~~1960s~~ production.

Some sources (Marcus Siems, Monochrome paraphrase) suggest a late-1960s introduction for the 5520 — pushing the launch back by approximately 5–8 years from the catalog evidence. The late-1960s reading was previously uncorroborated by named-byline editorial citing specific catalog dates; Antiquorum Geneva 2007 lot 107 (the Domino's Pizza 5520, case No. 2,743,281) catalogues that example as made in 1969, which is a named major-house dating rather than an unbylined paraphrase and complicates the clean 1974-introduction reading. Treat the 1974 catalog date as the consensus anchor for standard production while noting this single earlier-dated example.

Total production output is not published. The 5520 is meaningfully scarcer than the 5500 across the secondary market — the 12-year window is shorter than the 5500's parallel-running 32-year span, the gold-capped pricing premium narrowed the buyer base, and the Domino's branch (which drove substantial 5500 production) was concentrated on the 5500 rather than the 5520. The 5520 surfaces at major-house auction primarily through Antiquorum sales; Phillips, Sotheby's, Christie's, and Bonhams have light documented coverage on the 5520 specifically.

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=== Domino's Pizza "Golden Egg" 5520 ===

The 5520's defining collector branch. The 1980s Domino's Pizza Olympic Award incentive program commissioned 5520 examples carrying the Domino's logo on the dial. The broader [[Reference:5500#dominos-pizza|Tom Monaghan sales-incentive program]] ran on the 5500; the 5520 "Golden Egg" sits as the gold-capped sub-branch of that program. Specialist editorial documents the 5520 Domino's variant explicitly under the "Hunting Golden Eggs" framing — the gold-capped finish plus the Domino's commission together produced a sub-variant with both the gold trim and the corporate logo.

[[File:Ref 5520 dial-variant-dominos.webp|thumb|right|280px|Rolex 5520 Air-King, Domino's Pizza commemorative dial, satiné gilt ground, case No.2,743,281. Antiquorum, Geneva, 2007]]

The 5520's defining collector branch. The 1980s Domino's Pizza Olympic Award incentive program commissioned 5520 examples carrying the Domino's logo on the dial. The broader [[Reference:5500#dominos-pizza|Tom Monaghan sales-incentive program]] ran on the 5500; the 5520 "Golden Egg" sits as the gold-capped sub-branch of that program. Specialist editorial documents the 5520 Domino's variant explicitly under the "Hunting Golden Eggs" framing — the gold-capped finish plus the Domino's commission together produced a sub-variant with both the gold trim and the corporate logo. Antiquorum Geneva 2007 lot 107 (case No. 2,743,281, satiné gilt dial, Cal. 1520 with oeil-de-perdrix decoration, est. CHF 4,000–6,000) is the documented major-house auction anchor for the branch.

The 5520 Domino's is rare relative to the 5500 Domino's. Most documented Domino's Air-Kings sit on 5500 cases; the 5520 Domino's appears on a small subset of late-program awards. Provenance documentation (the dial logo + the awardee's name engraved on the caseback + period photographs) is essential for authentication; service-replacement Domino's dials applied to standard 5520 cases would be undetectable from the case alone.

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|-

| Antiquorum Mondani Collection (Geneva) || 108-188 || 2006 || 5520/1024 case 7,473,941, 1983, gold-capped stainless steel, oeil-de-perdrix movement decoration, satin-gilt dial || Hammer CHF 3,776

|-

| Antiquorum (Geneva) || 107 || 2007 || 5520 case 2,743,281, catalogued 1969, gold-capped stainless steel, satiné gilt dial with Domino's Pizza logo, Cal. 1520 oeil-de-perdrix || Est. CHF 4,000–6,000

|}

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* [https://www.rolexmagazine.com/2013/07/the-complete-history-of-rolex-air-king.html Jake Ehrlich, "The Complete History Of The Rolex Air-King", Rolex Magazine, 2013]

* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-108-188 "Rolex 5520/1024 1983 Antiquorum Mondani Collection Geneva Lot 108-188", Antiquorum, 2006]

* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-177-107 "Rolex 5520 Domino's Pizza Antiquorum Geneva Lot 107", Antiquorum, 2007]

* [https://beckertime.com/blog/hunting-golden-eggs-gold-shell-rolex-air-king-watch/ "Hunting Golden Eggs Gold-Shell Rolex Air-King Watch", Beckertime]

* [https://www.watch-wiki.net/doku.php?id=rolex_air-king "Rolex Air-King", Watch-Wiki]

@@ Line 104: / Line 104: @@
 The 1974 introduction year and 1986 retirement come from RolexMagazine (Jake Ehrlich), Robb Report, and secondary aggregators — three sources that converge on the 12-year 1974–1986 catalog window. Antiquorum Mondani Collection lot 108-188 (5520/1024, case 7,473,941, 1983 production) sits in the middle of this window and confirms the catalog dates with serial-number evidence. No documented 5520 dated post-1986 has surfaced.
-Some sources (Marcus Siems, Monochrome paraphrase) suggest a late-1960s introduction for the 5520 — pushing the launch back by approximately 5–8 years from the catalog evidence. The late-1960s reading is uncorroborated by named-byline editorial citing specific catalog dates; the 1974 introduction is the canonical anchor and the Antiquorum dated examples support 1974+ rather than late-1960s production.
+Some sources (Marcus Siems, Monochrome paraphrase) suggest a late-1960s introduction for the 5520 — pushing the launch back by approximately 5–8 years from the catalog evidence. The late-1960s reading was previously uncorroborated by named-byline editorial citing specific catalog dates; Antiquorum Geneva 2007 lot 107 (the Domino's Pizza 5520, case No. 2,743,281) catalogues that example as made in 1969, which is a named major-house dating rather than an unbylined paraphrase and complicates the clean 1974-introduction reading. Treat the 1974 catalog date as the consensus anchor for standard production while noting this single earlier-dated example.
 Total production output is not published. The 5520 is meaningfully scarcer than the 5500 across the secondary market — the 12-year window is shorter than the 5500's parallel-running 32-year span, the gold-capped pricing premium narrowed the buyer base, and the Domino's branch (which drove substantial 5500 production) was concentrated on the 5500 rather than the 5520. The 5520 surfaces at major-house auction primarily through Antiquorum sales; Phillips, Sotheby's, Christie's, and Bonhams have light documented coverage on the 5520 specifically.
@@ Line 165: / Line 165: @@
 === Domino's Pizza "Golden Egg" 5520 ===
-The 5520's defining collector branch. The 1980s Domino's Pizza Olympic Award incentive program commissioned 5520 examples carrying the Domino's logo on the dial. The broader [[Reference:5500#dominos-pizza|Tom Monaghan sales-incentive program]] ran on the 5500; the 5520 "Golden Egg" sits as the gold-capped sub-branch of that program. Specialist editorial documents the 5520 Domino's variant explicitly under the "Hunting Golden Eggs" framing — the gold-capped finish plus the Domino's commission together produced a sub-variant with both the gold trim and the corporate logo.
+[[File:Ref 5520 dial-variant-dominos.webp|thumb|right|280px|Rolex 5520 Air-King, Domino's Pizza commemorative dial, satiné gilt ground, case No.2,743,281. Antiquorum, Geneva, 2007]]
+The 5520's defining collector branch. The 1980s Domino's Pizza Olympic Award incentive program commissioned 5520 examples carrying the Domino's logo on the dial. The broader [[Reference:5500#dominos-pizza|Tom Monaghan sales-incentive program]] ran on the 5500; the 5520 "Golden Egg" sits as the gold-capped sub-branch of that program. Specialist editorial documents the 5520 Domino's variant explicitly under the "Hunting Golden Eggs" framing — the gold-capped finish plus the Domino's commission together produced a sub-variant with both the gold trim and the corporate logo. Antiquorum Geneva 2007 lot 107 (case No. 2,743,281, satiné gilt dial, Cal. 1520 with oeil-de-perdrix decoration, est. CHF 4,000–6,000) is the documented major-house auction anchor for the branch.
 The 5520 Domino's is rare relative to the 5500 Domino's. Most documented Domino's Air-Kings sit on 5500 cases; the 5520 Domino's appears on a small subset of late-program awards. Provenance documentation (the dial logo + the awardee's name engraved on the caseback + period photographs) is essential for authentication; service-replacement Domino's dials applied to standard 5520 cases would be undetectable from the case alone.
@@ Line 179: / Line 181: @@
 |-
 | Antiquorum Mondani Collection (Geneva) || 108-188 || 2006 || 5520/1024 case 7,473,941, 1983, gold-capped stainless steel, oeil-de-perdrix movement decoration, satin-gilt dial || Hammer CHF 3,776
+|-
+| Antiquorum (Geneva) || 107 || 2007 || 5520 case 2,743,281, catalogued 1969, gold-capped stainless steel, satiné gilt dial with Domino's Pizza logo, Cal. 1520 oeil-de-perdrix || Est. CHF 4,000–6,000
 |}
@@ Line 220: / Line 224: @@
 * [https://www.rolexmagazine.com/2013/07/the-complete-history-of-rolex-air-king.html Jake Ehrlich, "The Complete History Of The Rolex Air-King", Rolex Magazine, 2013]
 * [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-108-188 "Rolex 5520/1024 1983 Antiquorum Mondani Collection Geneva Lot 108-188", Antiquorum, 2006]
+* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-177-107 "Rolex 5520 Domino's Pizza Antiquorum Geneva Lot 107", Antiquorum, 2007]
 * [https://beckertime.com/blog/hunting-golden-eggs-gold-shell-rolex-air-king-watch/ "Hunting Golden Eggs Gold-Shell Rolex Air-King Watch", Beckertime]
 * [https://www.watch-wiki.net/doku.php?id=rolex_air-king "Rolex Air-King", Watch-Wiki]