Reference:6204: Difference between revisions

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Documented case-number bands run in four clusters. The earliest 6204s sit in the 900,xxx range. The 949,xxx band carries the split-logo dial — Mondani records about a dozen confirmed split-logo examples. The bulk of standard-print 6204s populate the 988,xxx band, which dominates the auction-house corpus surveyed (Phillips, Sotheby's, Antiquorum). After Rolex's serial reset from 999,999 back to 10,000 around 1954, a small Sub-Aqua tail surfaces in the 42,xxx range — the Monaco Legend 2019 lot 69 carries serial 42'439 and is marketed as a Sub-Aqua prototype.

The cleanest production figure is Foulkes's 2,881 across 1953 and 1954 (cited via Goldammer's reading; Foulkes does not break the figure down by variant). Even compromised surviving examples attract serious attention at auction~~. Phillips's 2021 New York lot 79 hammered at USD 233,100 for a pencil-hand 988'923, anchoring the upper end of the unmolested standard-gilt market~~.

The cleanest production figure is Foulkes's 2,881 across 1953 and 1954 (cited via Goldammer's reading; Foulkes does not break the figure down by variant). Even compromised surviving examples attract serious attention at auction.

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=== Standard gilt ===

The dominant 6204 layout. Glossy black lacquer over the galvanic gilt printing, "Submariner" on a single line above 6 o'clock (Monochrome, 2020). Pencil hour and minute hands paired with a lollipop-tip seconds hand. A chapter ring frames the layout on most Series-1 examples. Aging characteristic: surviving non-honeycomb dials acquire "a matte, mottled finish" as the lacquer breaks down, and Hodinkee notes that any 6204 dial that looks too shiny is probably refinished. Phillips 2021 lot 79 (case 988'923) is the cleanest pencil-hand benchmark in the modern auction record at USD 233,100 ~~hammer~~.

The dominant 6204 layout. Glossy black lacquer over the galvanic gilt printing, "Submariner" on a single line above 6 o'clock (Monochrome, 2020). Pencil hour and minute hands paired with a lollipop-tip seconds hand. A chapter ring frames the layout on most Series-1 examples. Aging characteristic: surviving non-honeycomb dials acquire "a matte, mottled finish" as the lacquer breaks down, and Hodinkee notes that any 6204 dial that looks too shiny is probably refinished. Phillips 2021 lot 79 (case 988'923) is the cleanest pencil-hand benchmark in the modern auction record at USD 233,100 sale.

=== Honeycomb (also called waffle) ===

A pressed cross-hatch texture under the gilt printing replaces the smooth lacquer surface. Same dial under two collector names — the article does not split them. Phillips's 2020 Geneva XII lot 177 carries a honeycomb 6204, serial 949'136, with two-line "Submariner Perpetual" text; that lot ~~hammered at~~ CHF 75,600 and Phillips's catalog called it among the rarest known. The Forum documentation places honeycomb 6204s in the early-1953 batch, alongside the pencil-hand pencil hands that match the texture's manufacturing window.

A pressed cross-hatch texture under the gilt printing replaces the smooth lacquer surface. Same dial under two collector names — the article does not split them. Phillips's 2020 Geneva XII lot 177 carries a honeycomb 6204, serial 949'136, with two-line "Submariner Perpetual" text; that lot sold for CHF 75,600 and Phillips's catalog called it among the rarest known. The Forum documentation places honeycomb 6204s in the early-1953 batch, alongside the pencil-hand pencil hands that match the texture's manufacturing window.

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A US/Canada-market reading also appears in the corpus, but on a single auction-house lot rather than across the editorial sources. Antiquorum NY 2008 lot 154 documents an early-owner provenance from the Chicago Submariners dive club — letters between the original owner and Rolex USA dating to 1954 accompany the lot, the watch having been received as a sample at a scuba demonstration in Milwaukee. That lot is the "Blackout" variant rather than a standard Sub-Aqua signed dial (model name obscured by black paint, pre-trademark workaround), and it sits inside the trademark-painted-out narrative rather than the British-market dedication. Both attributions deserve mention; the dominant editorial reading places Sub-Aqua dials on the British market via BSAC, with the Chicago Blackout as a separate US-market trademark-paint episode.

Specialist coverage counts only a handful of Sub-Aqua examples and notes top-end values above EUR 100,000. Antiquorum Geneva 2013 lot 577 (Sub-Aqua tropical, case 988'929) ~~hammered at~~ CHF 43,750 with original guarantee. Monaco Legend 2019 lot 69 (case 42'439, post-reset, marketed as a "real prototype") ~~hammered at~~ EUR 78,000.

Specialist coverage counts only a handful of Sub-Aqua examples and notes top-end values above EUR 100,000. Antiquorum Geneva 2013 lot 577 (Sub-Aqua tropical, case 988'929) sold for CHF 43,750 with original guarantee. Monaco Legend 2019 lot 69 (case 42'439, post-reset, marketed as a "real prototype") sold for EUR 78,000.

=== Blackout ===

A small group of 6204s shipped with the model name painted out in black — a pre-trademark-resolution workaround on dials where Rolex could not yet legally print the "Submariner" name in a given market. Antiquorum NY 2008 lot 154 is the canonical example: the original owner received the watch at a 1954 scuba demonstration in Milwaukee for the Chicago Submariners dive club, with letters from Rolex USA documenting the loan. The caseback shows double-stamping (prior Rolex property), and the lot ~~hammered at~~ USD 50,400 (Antiquorum, 2008).

A small group of 6204s shipped with the model name painted out in black — a pre-trademark-resolution workaround on dials where Rolex could not yet legally print the "Submariner" name in a given market. Antiquorum NY 2008 lot 154 is the canonical example: the original owner received the watch at a 1954 scuba demonstration in Milwaukee for the Chicago Submariners dive club, with letters from Rolex USA documenting the loan. The caseback shows double-stamping (prior Rolex property), and the lot sold for USD 50,400 (Antiquorum, 2008).

@@ Line 74: / Line 74: @@
 Documented case-number bands run in four clusters. The earliest 6204s sit in the 900,xxx range. The 949,xxx band carries the split-logo dial — Mondani records about a dozen confirmed split-logo examples. The bulk of standard-print 6204s populate the 988,xxx band, which dominates the auction-house corpus surveyed (Phillips, Sotheby's, Antiquorum). After Rolex's serial reset from 999,999 back to 10,000 around 1954, a small Sub-Aqua tail surfaces in the 42,xxx range — the Monaco Legend 2019 lot 69 carries serial 42'439 and is marketed as a Sub-Aqua prototype.
-The cleanest production figure is Foulkes's 2,881 across 1953 and 1954 (cited via Goldammer's reading; Foulkes does not break the figure down by variant). Even compromised surviving examples attract serious attention at auction. Phillips's 2021 New York lot 79 hammered at USD 233,100 for a pencil-hand 988'923, anchoring the upper end of the unmolested standard-gilt market.
+The cleanest production figure is Foulkes's 2,881 across 1953 and 1954 (cited via Goldammer's reading; Foulkes does not break the figure down by variant). Even compromised surviving examples attract serious attention at auction.
 <span id="movement-notes"></span>
@@ Line 93: / Line 93: @@
 === Standard gilt ===
-The dominant 6204 layout. Glossy black lacquer over the galvanic gilt printing, "Submariner" on a single line above 6 o'clock (Monochrome, 2020). Pencil hour and minute hands paired with a lollipop-tip seconds hand. A chapter ring frames the layout on most Series-1 examples. Aging characteristic: surviving non-honeycomb dials acquire "a matte, mottled finish" as the lacquer breaks down, and Hodinkee notes that any 6204 dial that looks too shiny is probably refinished. Phillips 2021 lot 79 (case 988'923) is the cleanest pencil-hand benchmark in the modern auction record at USD 233,100 hammer.
+The dominant 6204 layout. Glossy black lacquer over the galvanic gilt printing, "Submariner" on a single line above 6 o'clock (Monochrome, 2020). Pencil hour and minute hands paired with a lollipop-tip seconds hand. A chapter ring frames the layout on most Series-1 examples. Aging characteristic: surviving non-honeycomb dials acquire "a matte, mottled finish" as the lacquer breaks down, and Hodinkee notes that any 6204 dial that looks too shiny is probably refinished. Phillips 2021 lot 79 (case 988'923) is the cleanest pencil-hand benchmark in the modern auction record at USD 233,100 sale.
 <span id="honeycomb-dial"></span>
 === Honeycomb (also called waffle) ===
-A pressed cross-hatch texture under the gilt printing replaces the smooth lacquer surface. Same dial under two collector names — the article does not split them. Phillips's 2020 Geneva XII lot 177 carries a honeycomb 6204, serial 949'136, with two-line "Submariner Perpetual" text; that lot hammered at CHF 75,600 and Phillips's catalog called it among the rarest known. The Forum documentation places honeycomb 6204s in the early-1953 batch, alongside the pencil-hand pencil hands that match the texture's manufacturing window.
+A pressed cross-hatch texture under the gilt printing replaces the smooth lacquer surface. Same dial under two collector names — the article does not split them. Phillips's 2020 Geneva XII lot 177 carries a honeycomb 6204, serial 949'136, with two-line "Submariner Perpetual" text; that lot sold for CHF 75,600 and Phillips's catalog called it among the rarest known. The Forum documentation places honeycomb 6204s in the early-1953 batch, alongside the pencil-hand pencil hands that match the texture's manufacturing window.
 <span id="split-logo-dial"></span>
@@ Line 163: / Line 163: @@
 A US/Canada-market reading also appears in the corpus, but on a single auction-house lot rather than across the editorial sources. Antiquorum NY 2008 lot 154 documents an early-owner provenance from the Chicago Submariners dive club — letters between the original owner and Rolex USA dating to 1954 accompany the lot, the watch having been received as a sample at a scuba demonstration in Milwaukee. That lot is the "Blackout" variant rather than a standard Sub-Aqua signed dial (model name obscured by black paint, pre-trademark workaround), and it sits inside the trademark-painted-out narrative rather than the British-market dedication. Both attributions deserve mention; the dominant editorial reading places Sub-Aqua dials on the British market via BSAC, with the Chicago Blackout as a separate US-market trademark-paint episode.
-Specialist coverage counts only a handful of Sub-Aqua examples and notes top-end values above EUR 100,000. Antiquorum Geneva 2013 lot 577 (Sub-Aqua tropical, case 988'929) hammered at CHF 43,750 with original guarantee. Monaco Legend 2019 lot 69 (case 42'439, post-reset, marketed as a "real prototype") hammered at EUR 78,000.
+Specialist coverage counts only a handful of Sub-Aqua examples and notes top-end values above EUR 100,000. Antiquorum Geneva 2013 lot 577 (Sub-Aqua tropical, case 988'929) sold for CHF 43,750 with original guarantee. Monaco Legend 2019 lot 69 (case 42'439, post-reset, marketed as a "real prototype") sold for EUR 78,000.
 <span id="blackout-dial"></span>
 === Blackout ===
-A small group of 6204s shipped with the model name painted out in black — a pre-trademark-resolution workaround on dials where Rolex could not yet legally print the "Submariner" name in a given market. Antiquorum NY 2008 lot 154 is the canonical example: the original owner received the watch at a 1954 scuba demonstration in Milwaukee for the Chicago Submariners dive club, with letters from Rolex USA documenting the loan. The caseback shows double-stamping (prior Rolex property), and the lot hammered at USD 50,400 (Antiquorum, 2008).
+A small group of 6204s shipped with the model name painted out in black — a pre-trademark-resolution workaround on dials where Rolex could not yet legally print the "Submariner" name in a given market. Antiquorum NY 2008 lot 154 is the canonical example: the original owner received the watch at a 1954 scuba demonstration in Milwaukee for the Chicago Submariners dive club, with letters from Rolex USA documenting the loan. The caseback shows double-stamping (prior Rolex property), and the lot sold for USD 50,400 (Antiquorum, 2008).
 <span id="serpico-y-laino-retailer-signed"></span>