Reference:6694: Difference between revisions
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The Oysterdate ran as a four-reference sequence — 6094, then 6294, then 6494, then 6694 — and the 6694 outlived the other three put together. The introduction is usually given as 1958, replacing the 6094 and 6494, but that date rests on dealer and marketplace copy with no primary citation behind it, and one collector-forum account offered explicitly as belief rather than documentation. The 1958 introduction has not been confirmed from a period Rolex catalogue. What can be shown is that the earliest example whose case number agrees with its catalogue date is a 1959 watch. | The Oysterdate ran as a four-reference sequence — 6094, then 6294, then 6494, then 6694 — and the 6694 outlived the other three put together. The introduction is usually given as 1958, replacing the 6094 and 6494, but that date rests on dealer and marketplace copy with no primary citation behind it, and one collector-forum account offered explicitly as belief rather than documentation. The 1958 introduction has not been confirmed from a period Rolex catalogue. What can be shown is that the earliest example whose case number agrees with its catalogue date is a 1959 watch. | ||
[[File:Ref 6694 with 6426.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=A Rolex Oyster 6426 and an Oysterdate 6694 in stainless steel shown side by side on leather straps| | [[File:Ref 6694 with 6426.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=A Rolex Oyster 6426 and an Oysterdate 6694 in stainless steel shown side by side on leather straps|A no-date Oyster Precision 6426 and date-equipped Oysterdate Precision 6694, catalogued together by Antiquorum.]] | ||
Two | Two related manual-wind Oysters sit beside the 6694. The 6426 has no date; the 6694 adds one. Auction catalogues identify overlapping calibres across these references, so the date alone does not identify the movement. Antiquorum has offered a 6426 and a 6694 together as a pair. The other useful comparison is the automatic Oyster Perpetual Date 1500, 1501 and 1503, a 34 mm steel Oyster with a date and cyclops. Its calibres are 1560, 1565 and 1570, and it is a more plausible source for auction-title confusion about winding. | ||
==Production outline== | ==Production outline== | ||
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Rolex sold manual-wind watches for roughly a quarter century after the 6694 left the catalogue. Its own product pages for the Cellini Rolex Prince, live through December 2014, carry a section headed "Wound by hand" and read: "The Prince features a manually-wound mechanical movement - the 7040 calibre - specially developed and manufactured by Rolex." The specification block on the same pages gives "Manually wound mechanical movement" and "Calibre 7040, Manufacture Rolex". That is the manufacturer describing current production, and it settles the point. | Rolex sold manual-wind watches for roughly a quarter century after the 6694 left the catalogue. Its own product pages for the Cellini Rolex Prince, live through December 2014, carry a section headed "Wound by hand" and read: "The Prince features a manually-wound mechanical movement - the 7040 calibre - specially developed and manufactured by Rolex." The specification block on the same pages gives "Manually wound mechanical movement" and "Calibre 7040, Manufacture Rolex". That is the manufacturer describing current production, and it settles the point. | ||
Phillips dates a 6426 case, R492,864, to circa 1987; the latest cited 6694 cases are dated circa 1986. These are dates assigned to individual watches, not factory production endpoints. The two references share an Oyster case family and manual 1200-series movements, though auction catalogues give overlapping caliber attributions. The evidence leaves open which manual-wind Oyster reference ended later. | |||
==Movement notes== | ==Movement notes== | ||
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</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
Case 828496's | Case 828496's identity remains unsettled. Antiquorum catalogues it as a 6694, and the pictured dial reads 'Oysterdate' and shows a date. Its caseback photograph reads 6426. The related references use the Oyster case design, so a caseback change is possible; a catalogue mismatch is also possible. The record does not distinguish between them, and the watch should not be used as a clean 6694 example without further authentication. | ||
Markers run from applied faceted gilt chevrons and arrowheads on the earliest watches to the applied polished batons that dominate the middle and late run. Hands follow: dauphine early, then pointed batons with luminous inserts as the standard, with gilt daggers, alpha and — on at least one catalogued example — Mercedes hands appearing across the range. | Markers run from applied faceted gilt chevrons and arrowheads on the earliest watches to the applied polished batons that dominate the middle and late run. Hands follow: dauphine early, then pointed batons with luminous inserts as the standard, with gilt daggers, alpha and — on at least one catalogued example — Mercedes hands appearing across the range. | ||
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== Related references == | == Related references == | ||
* Oyster Precision 6426 — | * [[Reference:6426|Oyster Precision 6426]] — no-date sibling | ||
* [[Reference:3003|Precision 3003]] — where the Precision line begins | * [[Reference:3003|Precision 3003]] — where the Precision line begins | ||