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Rolex Mens SS Datejust. circa 2004. Oyster Bracelet — view 1 of 4
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Wristwatches · Wristwatch

Rolex Mens SS Datejust. circa 2004. Oyster Bracelet

DocumentedDocumented from an auction catalogue; attribution as stated by the auction house.
Maker / attribution
Rolex (maker)
Date
c. 2004
Country of origin
Switzerland
Object type
Wristwatch
Materials / technique
crystal, sapphire, stainless steel
Lot
Item 12747350
Credit line
Auction lot record: lot 296, SWISS WATCH CONNECTION, Swiss Watch Connection (2012), via LiveAuctioneers
Catalogue title (original)
Rolex Mens SS Datejust. Circa 2004. Oyster Bracelet. (English)

View the source record (auction lot) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction

Record summary

Catalogued by LiveAuctioneers auction archive (lot Item 12747350), this is a wristwatch by Rolex, made in Switzerland, dated c. 2004. The Atlas places it in the Mechanical Renaissance period (1990 – 2010) of its Wristwatches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: crystal, sapphire, stainless steel. The record is illustrated with 4 photographs.

Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.

Catalogue description

Lot description — Swiss Watch Connection

Rolex Mens SS Datejust. Circa 2004. Oyster Bracelet. Rolex, Mens, Stainless Steel, Oyster Perpetual, Datejust, Circa 2004, Sapphire Crystal, Quickset, Automatic, Oyster Bracelet, Deployment Buckle, Swiss Made.

Historical context

Mechanical Renaissance (1990 – 2010)

Mechanical watches return as cultural objects; independent watchmaking flourishes.

Mechanical watches returned as cultural and luxury objects. Complications, tourbillons and new materials proliferated; independent watchmakers such as George Daniels, F.P. Journe and Philippe Dufour revived artisanal watchmaking; collecting vintage watches became a major field.

Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Quartz Revolution

Atlas type guide

Dive and water-resistant watches

Keeping water and dust out of a wristwatch was a long-standing challenge. Rolex's screw-down Oyster case (1926) and Omega's Marine (1932) were landmarks; in the early 1950s Blancpain's Fifty Fathoms and Rolex's Submariner defined the professional dive watch with rotating bezels for timing dives, luminous dials and high water resistance. The ISO 6425 standard (1982) later codified what a 'diver's watch' must do.

Dive watches became icons of post-war design and exploration, and their evolution — helium escape valves, ceramic bezels, saturation-diving depth ratings — records the history of underwater work.

What to look for

  • Unidirectional or bidirectional rotating bezel with minute markings.
  • Screw-down crown and case back; depth rating printed on the dial.
  • Luminous hands and markers (radium before c. 1960, tritium c. 1960–1998, then Super-LumiNova).
  • Reference numbers on the case between the lugs or inside the back.

Dating clues

  • Screw-down Oyster cases: from 1926.
  • Professional dive watches: from 1953.
  • Tritium 'T' marks on dials: c. 1960–1998.

General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.

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