expert opinion on authenticity of explorer 1 5500 please

[ile]

hi guys,

i know this is a gen rolex in terms of case, movement... but i am wondering weather this is a redialed airking 5500 or a real out of the factory exp 1 5500 ?

i'd think it's more likely a re-dialed AK but i know there are over the moon superior experts than me on this board so i'd really appreciate your opinion:-)

Edited April 8, 2012 by ile

[ile]

update on the case and the answer to my question:

Genuine examples were produced only from 1958 to 1967. this one is 1974 so definitely a franken exp 5500

[lhooq]

Where did you get production years of '58 to '67? I'm pretty sure 5500 Explorers were sold up to the late 1970s.

However, I'm suspicious of the one pictured in your OP because the dial bears a strong resemblance to one that's made by Yukiwatch. The immediate tells are the puffy lume and the overly-rounded appearance of the numerals.

[automatico]

Your dial looks good. Genuine or not, I do not know.

There is really no way to tell an 'original' 5500 explorer from a genuine 5500 AK with a genuine 5500 explorer dial and hands added later unless you have the original sales slip with the dial type noted (maybe in hand writing?) at the time of sale and I would guess these are few and far between.

If a 5500 AK is all genuine and the explorer dial and hands are genuine...it should have the same value as an all original 5500 AK explorer from the factory as long as the factory model does not have b/p etc or proof of an explorer dial at the time of purchase.

Otoh you can usually spot a genuine 5500 AK 'explorer' with an aft/mkt or refinished dial and genuine hands or genuine 5500 AK 'explorer' with aft/mkt or refinished dial and hands.

A high quality naturally aged or artificially aged aft/mkt dial can be hard to spot.

For example, I have a 'refinished' 6694 dial on a genuine dial blank from 'YKC' 6 or 8 years ago that is every bit as good as genuine and the only way to spot it is that it is light blue (and probably has Lumi dots).

A 'refinished' dial is usually easy to spot.

Some aft/mkt high quality dials are called 'refinished' to get by on eBay etc. 'Refinished' in this post refers to dials refinished by a dial refinished such as IDC, Kirk Rich etc. The 6694 dial above is really a 'refinished' dial but it is super high quality and quite a bit sharper than a normal 'refinished' dial.

I like 1016 explorers and have a nos dial from the 1980's so I can compare it to better aft/mkt dials...that is how good some of them are now. Without something to compare them to I can sometimes not tell aged or better aft/mkt dials from genuine every time (I do not have a Geiger counter).

If it is any help...my nos 1016 dial markers and numbers look like they are made out of a smooth waxy substance and not 'fuzzy' at all. You will see this same texture on many dials with tritium in gold settings...before they get sunburned etc. Aging over the years may change this as I have seen a lot of 'fuzzy' genuine markers/numbers.

I have a few other swiss made watches with this waxy type of markers/numbers, one being a Kienzle Atlantis from 10 or 12 years back. Maybe the same dial company.

AK 5500 'explorers' are like the flood of 'original' Spaceview 214 Accutrons 20 years back that were genuine but not 'original' because factory made SV are identical to regular 214 of the same case style that have been sent back to Bulova in the 1960's or 1970's to be modified into a SV or one changed over to a SV by a repair shop using genuine parts. I have changed a few over and there are no differences as long as you use oem parts and a case design that was originally offered as a SV from the factory. They were genuine but not original.

Remember what the 'experts' say:

"Buy the seller, not the watch."

The catch is that some of the 'sellers' are not as sharp as they think they are and some are outright crooks.

I say:

"Buy it cheap enough and it does not matter."

[freddy333]

Genuine examples were produced only from 1958 to 1967. this one is 1974 so definitely a franken exp 5500

Your dates are correct, but I am afraid your dial is probably not. It looks aftermarket to me. Here is a gen from the end of the series (late 1960s) for comparison

[ile]

Many thanks guys :-)

I didn't actually buy it. I just spotted it on ebay unusually cheap for a real exp 1 and a bit to expensive for a 5500 Air King priced 1350 GBP so it simply caught my eye. It looks very good all together but it's simply not what is listed to be.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110852306433?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_3492wt_1041

[Dani Cica]

On 4/8/2012 at 2:05 PM, freddy333 said:

Your dates are correct, but I am afraid your dial is probably not. It looks aftermarket to me. Here is a gen from the end of the series (late 1960s) for comparison

 

I know this thread is old but there's a big variation within these vintage Rolex 5500 Explorer dials. and as an owner of one of these watches, I've done a bit of research about them and I know that there are a few variants dials around. Their differences are really easy to spot. Within the PRECISION models, we can group them in 2 kids of dials: "SMALL GAP LOGO" and "BIG GAP LOGO".

 

The first variant have a small gap between the ROLEX logo letters. Invariably, they show a visible bigger gap between the letters R and E in "PR ECISION".

Sometimes they have rounded numerals, some times square. The < aligns left of the seconds markings. No difference in thickness of the EXPLORER type.
**This variant is identical to YUKI's but I really believe many are genuine examples, like the ones bellow.

 

 

On the second variant, the ROLEX logo shows a bigger gap between the letters, specially around the letter O, like in "R O LEX".

Sometimes the numbers are square, sometimes puffy rounded. No difference in thickness of the EXPLORER type.

The word "PRECISION" does not have a gap like the ones above. The < aligns left of the seconds markings.

 

 

Id like to point out the example posted by freddy333 as "genuine" but it is the one which shows the most inconsistencies. The < is not aligned with seconds marking. The hour hand has a slightly smaller circle. Contrary to what freddy333 said, this watch could actually be the one using aftermarket dial and hands. It also shows a thiner EXPLORER type for the name, which is very weird. In my opinion: FAKE.

 

 

That said, the dials by YUKI are pratically identical to the 1st variant. See images bellow, both posted by users saying they were using YUKI dials.

 

 

Conclusion: want to buy a 5500 Explorer? Go for the "BIG GAP LOGO" variant as it's more likely to be a gen dial.

 

Edited June 28, 2017 by Dani Cica