Rolex Oyster Perpetual 5018

A checked version of this page, approved on 17 October 2026, was based on this revision.

Reference 5018 is an Oyster Perpetual with center seconds. Auction catalogues describe automatic steel, gold, and two-tone examples, with silver, black, and textured dials. The same gold case, 678865, is dated 1949 by one Christie’s catalogue and circa 1959 by another. Examined records place 5018 examples in the late 1940s and 1950s; the production span remains undetermined.

Core facts

detail	documented record
model	Rolex Oyster Perpetual, automatic with center seconds
collector grouping	Bubbleback; catalogues use Bombé and Bombay as additional labels
dated examples	Auction records date individual examples from 1948 through the 1950s; two catalogues disagree on case 678865
case materials	Stainless steel, 18K gold, and steel with yellow gold are reported in individual catalogues
diameter	32 mm in Piguet; 33 mm in several auction lots; 34 mm in Finarte’s 2025 gold example
movement descriptions	Automatic; catalogues report 9¾-line movements with 17 or 19 jewels
dial examples	Two-tone silver, matte silver, honeycomb, lacquered black, and white textured examples
bracelet or strap	Lot descriptions list leather and steel or two-tone bracelets; factory delivery history is unverified

Where it sits in the line

The catalogues identify the watch as an Oyster Perpetual. Collectors use “Bubbleback” for early automatic Oyster watches with a rounded, protruding caseback. Christie’s uses Bombé and Piguet uses Bombay in their catalogue titles.

Production outline

Antiquorum’s 2004 catalogue dates a steel example to the 1950s and omits its case number. Its 2006 Mondani sale dates case 608519 to 1948; another steel watch, case 641743, is dated 1948 in 2014. Phillips dates two-tone case 641602 to circa 1948 and its gold case 670657 to circa 1950. Piguet dates steel case 642294 to circa 1950.

Antiquorum dates steel case 608632 to circa 1959. Christie’s dates gold case 678865 to 1949 in one catalogue and circa 1959 in another. Both entries give the same case number, engraved initials, and black lacquer dial, so they describe one watch with conflicting catalogue dates. Antiquorum and Finarte catalogue separate gold examples in the 1950s, cases 670649 and 670691. Catalogue dates place recorded examples from 1948 through the 1950s; the reference’s production start and end dates remain unknown.

Movement notes

The auction records examined describe automatic winding and center seconds. Antiquorum and Christie’s specify a 9¾-line movement; catalogues report 17 or 19 jewels. The line figure records movement size. The available records identify the movement by size and jewel count; a consistent numbered caliber remains unverified.

Goethe’s 2025 feature calls its photographed white-dial watch hand-wound. Auction catalogues describe other 5018s as automatic. Goethe provides no movement photograph, so the winding method of its pictured watch remains uncertain.

Dial map

The auction records describe several different layouts. Antiquorum’s 2004 steel watch has a matte-silver dial with painted radial Arabic numerals and gold dot indexes. Its 2006 steel example has radial Roman numerals and dots; the 2014 watch has applied steel dart markers, luminous dots, and an outer fifth-second track. Phillips’s 2018 steel example has a honeycomb dial, diamond-set numerals, and red chronometer text. Christie’s gold example has a black lacquer dial with square and baton markers, gilt minute divisions, and gold dauphine hands. Phillips’s 2016 gold watch has a black lacquer dial with unusual numerals; Piguet’s steel watch has applied gold triangles. Antiquorum calls the steel dial on case 608632 a lozenge pattern. Finarte describes a gold watch with an argenté dial and applied indexes. Goethe’s feature pictures a white sector-textured dial with wedge markers. Spangaro describes a white “sandwich” Arabic dial and prints the year field as “’60”; its dating convention is unexplained.

Goethe, 2025: pale textured sector dial and applied markers; Goethe calls this watch hand-wound, while auction catalogues describe other 5018s as automatic
Phillips, Hong Kong Watch Auction X, lot 1043: black lacquer dial with gilt markers on a steel-and-yellow-gold watch

Catalogues record these layouts on individual watches. This sample supplies no reliable dial sequence or provenance for every pictured dial.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes

The examined records give diameters from 32 to 34 mm. Piguet gives 32 mm, several Antiquorum and Christie’s lots give 33 mm, and Finarte lists 34 mm for case 670691. Antiquorum describes a two-body steel case with polished and brushed surfaces, a screw-down back and crown, and shaped lugs. Christie’s describes curved lugs and a screw-down crown on its gold example. Piguet calls the steel lugs rounded, but its description also says the design was intended for leather straps while listing a Rolex steel bracelet on the same watch. That catalogue leaves bracelet fitment unclear.

The lots report case geometry, while bezel finish and crystal material remain undocumented across the reference. Photographs show several dial and case combinations; their original pairings remain unverified.

Bracelets, clasps, and packaging notes

Auction records list leather straps and steel bracelets; Phillips also catalogues a steel-and-yellow-gold bracelet with its two-tone example. Phillips’s 2016 gold watch and Finarte’s 2025 gold watch are listed on leather, each with a Rolex buckle. Goethe’s photographs show a steel bracelet on a steel watch. Each description records the watch as offered; factory delivery history remains unverified. The reviewed material has no end-link or clasp codes.

Antiquorum lists a void guarantee, chronometer certificate, instruction leaflet, and bill of sale with its 2014 watch. These documents are specific to that lot.

Selected auction records

record	date assigned to watch	documented details
Antiquorum, Geneva, lot 372	1950s	Steel; radial Arabic numerals and gold dot indexes; 33 mm; automatic 9¾-line, 19 jewels; catalogue omits the case number
Antiquorum, Geneva, lot 23	1948	Case 608519; steel; two-tone matte-silver dial; 33 mm; automatic 9¾-line, 19 jewels
Antiquorum, New York, lot 77	1948	Case 641743; steel; dart markers and luminous dots; 33 mm; automatic 9¾-line, 19 jewels; papers listed
Phillips, Hong Kong Watch Auction THREE, lot 1043 (2016)	circa 1950	Case 670657; 18K yellow gold; black lacquer dial; 33 mm; automatic, 17 jewels; calf strap and gilt buckle
Phillips, Geneva, lot 214	circa 1949	Case 608645; steel; honeycomb dial and diamond-set numerals; 33 mm; automatic 9¾-line, 17 jewels
Christie’s, case 678865	1949 / circa 1959	18K gold; black lacquer dial; 33 mm; catalogues disagree on date
Piguet, lot 1595	circa 1950	Case 642294; steel; black dial with gold triangles; 32 mm
Phillips, Hong Kong Watch Auction X, lot 1043 (2020)	circa 1948	Case 641602; steel and yellow gold; black lacquer dial; automatic 9¾-line movement
Antiquorum, Geneva, lot 297	circa 1959	Case 608632; steel; lozenge-pattern dial; 33 mm; automatic 9¾-line, 19 jewels
Antiquorum, Hong Kong, lot 243	circa 1950s	Case 670649; 18K yellow gold; 33 mm; automatic 9¾-line movement
Finarte, Milan, lot 137264	1950s	Case 670691; 18K gold; argenté dial; 34 mm; automatic; leather strap and gold-plated Rolex buckle

Gallery

Goethe, 2025: steel example with textured pale dial and bracelet; delivery status is undocumented
Goethe, 2025: alternate view of the same steel example
Goethe, 2025: dial and case detail of the same example
Phillips, Hong Kong Watch Auction X, lot 1043: black lacquer dial detail