Rolex Oyster Speedking 5056

Oyster → 5056

Ref. 5056 is the steel, hand-wound Oyster Speedking most often associated with Rolex’s Kew A wristwatch trials. The surviving catalogues show small seconds, a 10½-ligne movement, and case measurements of 30 or 32 mm. The located watches date from the late 1940s; the full production run remains unknown.

Core facts

Detail	Documented record
Model	Oyster Speedking
Reference	5056
Case material	Stainless steel in the records reviewed
Movement	Manual wind, 10½ lignes; Kew A-tested on documented examples
Seconds	Subsidiary seconds at six
Case diameter	30 mm in Bonhams and Monaco Legend; 32 mm in Christie’s
Case and crown	Screw-down caseback and crown in catalogue descriptions
Documented dates	Individual catalogue estimates cluster around 1947–1949; one repeat Bonhams catalogue calls the same watch circa 1961
Related Kew A reference	Gold Oyster Observatory Chronometer 6210

Where it sits in the line

The 5056 is the steel Speedking branch of Rolex’s Kew A wristwatch program. Vetroplastica assigns 112 of 136 reported certified movements to steel 5056 watches and 24 to gold ref. 6210. Eric Wind’s Hodinkee account, drawing on James Dowling, also gives 136 certified movements. A Rolex advertisement reproduced by Marco Strazzi at 10e10.ch in 1953 says 140 movements had qualified for and received the certificate. Christie’s says roughly 140 model 5056 Oysters were submitted; Vetroplastica reports 145 movements submitted and 136 passed. Bonhams also reports 136 passes, with 16 movements receiving an “Especially Good” classification. The published totals vary by source; the full production count remains unknown.

Production outline

The best dated examples are tied to Kew testing records; the available case numbers are isolated examples, too sparse to map a continuous sequence. Bonhams says movement 4215 passed on 24 June 1947 and dates its case 629518 to circa 1947 in one catalogue. The same watch appears in another 2018 Bonhams sale, identified by the same case and movement numbers, but is dated circa 1961. That estimate conflicts with the register date and the earlier Bonhams entry, leaving the case date unresolved.

Christie’s records case 628830 and movement 4237, with a certificate dated 20 July 1948. Its 1999 catalogue says the watch had previously sold at Christie’s London in 1997 as lot 143, so the two Christie’s pages are repeat appearances of one watch. The 1999 lot essay says a certificate accompanied it, while the sale-room notice says the watch was sold without one. Monaco Legend dates case 630309 and movement 4183 to 1949. Vintage Times Amsterdam lists those same numbers and says it obtained the Kew record. Its page documents the Monaco watch a second time.

The available examples place documented Kew-tested 5056 watches in the late 1940s. The records leave the reference’s production start and end open.

Movement notes

The catalogue photographs show manual movements signed “Rolex Kew A Tested.” Bonhams describes movement 4215 as a 10½-ligne Cal. 700 base reworked into what Rolex called Cal. 720. Vetroplastica describes the Kew movement as Cal. 700-based with Cal. 720 components. The standard Movements page lists Cal. 720 under the automatic branch, so these manual Kew A uses should remain tied to the sources that name them. Public sources use the Cal. 700 and 720 labels differently for the manual Kew movement, and a factory designation for every 5056 remains unresolved.

Bonhams describes movement 4215 as “Especially Good” and reproduces register copies for that result. The classification applies to movement 4215 alone.

Manual-wind Rolex Kew A movement 4215 inside case 629518 — Movement 4215, case 629518; Bonhams, lot 21.

Dial map

Christie’s describes a silvered dial with gilt Arabic numerals, luminous hands, and small seconds. Bonhams records gilt Arabic numerals, a black minute track, blued steel baton hands, and small seconds. Monaco Legend’s case 630309 has similar printed Kew A wording, but its dial is cracked. The examples document individual configurations; a complete dial chronology remains uncharted. “Kew A Certificate” is dial wording; “Kew A Tested” is the movement signature.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

The catalogues give 30 mm or 32 mm diameters and describe the case as round or tonneau-form. They agree on a steel Oyster case with a screw-down crown and back. The catalogues use both case-shape terms; a crystal specification remains undocumented in the sources. Case numbers 628830, 629518, and 630309 are observations of individual watches, too sparse to map a serial-year table. The conflicting estimates for case 629518 leave the reference-wide dating range unsettled.

Bracelet, clasp, and packaging

Bonhams records case 629518 on a rivet-link Oyster bracelet with a signed folding clasp and two spare links. Monaco Legend lists case 630309 on a steel bracelet and with a fitted Rolex presentation box. The listings document the watches as catalogued; original delivery and reference-wide bracelet or end-link fitment remain unproven.

Documented examples

The source set contains three separately numbered watches: Christie’s case 628830/movement 4237, Bonhams case 629518/movement 4215, and Monaco Legend case 630309/movement 4183. Repeat listings are counted once. The image gallery follows the same order from whole watch to dial condition and movement.

Rolex Oyster Speedking 5056 case 630309 with cracked dial, photographed for Monaco Legend Auctions — Case 630309 and movement 4183; Monaco Legend Auctions, lot 192 (2025). The cracks record this example’s condition; the sources do not identify a factory variant.

Auction record

Source appearance	Case and movement	Catalogue details
Christie’s London, lot 143 (1997); repeated as lot 270 (1999)	628830 / 4237	32 mm; silvered dial; certificate dated 20 July 1948; the 1999 certificate notice conflicts within the catalogue.
Bonhams, lot 42 (2018); repeated as lot 21 (2018)	629518 / 4215	Same watch; circa 1961 in lot 42 and circa 1947 in lot 21. Bonhams gives 24 June 1947 as the movement’s Kew pass date.
Monaco Legend Auctions, lot 192 (2025)	630309 / 4183	30 mm; case dated 1949; cracked dial; fitted box listed.

Gallery

Case 629518 and movement 4215, Bonhams, lot 21 (2018)
Case 630309 and movement 4183, Monaco Legend Auctions, lot 192 (2025)
Kew A Tested marking and movement 4215, Bonhams, lot 21 (2018)

Sources