freddy333 Posted April 19, 2013 Report Share Posted April 19, 2013 Considering they did produce these (& other traditionally black-dialed sports watches) with white dials For sale at Christie's Geneva Owned by Eric Clapton Owned by a well-known Rolex collector/dealer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldegeneve Posted April 19, 2013 Report Share Posted April 19, 2013 Idk man, that explorer looks iffy. I mean, white lume without any outline on that white dial? Seems kinda impractical. Too bad Rlx is so mysterious about this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted April 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2013 As I have learned (& continue to learn) over the years, Rolex has often made variations-on-a-theme for special promotions, market testing &/or special customers. Many of these are never mentioned in either promotional literature or service manuals, which is why they are so difficult to authenticate. Clapton had (& probably still has) a number of these types of 1 or 2-offs that have since been authenticated by Rolex & other reliable sources. White dials appear to have been the most common of these small-lot variations & is 1 of the salient facts that convinced me of the existence of albino or white '42s. That said, I remain agnostic as to Juan Tripp's involvement &/or the Pan Am 'desk jockey' or 'ground crew' story. I think it more likely that Rolex simply made a handful of white dialed '42s that found their way into the marketplace although they were never meant for retail sale. I mean, knowing Rolex's aesthetic sensibilities in the 50s, I find it nearly impossible to believe that no one at Rolex ever contemplated the profit potential of a beatiful watch like this (all gen (damaged black dial repainted professionally) except for (JoeyB) insert) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldegeneve Posted April 19, 2013 Report Share Posted April 19, 2013 Sure. The white 6542 looks nice. It's that white 1016 that bothers me. Imagine what it would have looked like new. You would barely be able to see the markers. Seems iffy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted April 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2013 The white Explorer has a different model number, but I forget what it is now? I agree that it would have been difficult to read, which is probably why they never appeared in large numbers (or for retail sale). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyB Posted April 20, 2013 Report Share Posted April 20, 2013 (all gen (damaged black dial repainted professionally) except for (genuine JoeyB) insert) Fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praetor Posted April 20, 2013 Report Share Posted April 20, 2013 I'm pretty sure there's both 1016 and 6610 white explorers. Just look at the examples below, first one is 1016 and the second is 6610. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted April 20, 2013 Report Share Posted April 20, 2013 Whether or not the story about Juan Trippe buying the white dial 6542's for the executives is legend or urban legend is not provable until someone comes up with an invoice from Rolex to PanAm for X number of white dial 6542's or a letter from PanAm ordering these watches. It's very strange that there have not been a single one surface over the years with any sort of provenence. A letter from the owner or a family member selling a watch that is tracable back to PanAm. A widow whose husband worked for PanAm and remembers the watch being given to him, just about anything that can be authenticated would do. One thing you can be assured of, unless the company makes a complete about face , Rolex SA is not going to get involved in authenticating the story, one way or the other. What Freddy is saying is in some respects probably more plausable, Rolex made a batch of these as a "trial balloon" testing the market for a white dial 6542, Maybe PanAm bought some or all of them, who knows. the folks who were involved are long gone, and the folks with the records aren't saying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyB Posted April 20, 2013 Report Share Posted April 20, 2013 I trust Melvin. http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/127434-pilot’s-cabin-or-executive-suite-no-the-mail-room/?hl=yuen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost Posted April 20, 2013 Report Share Posted April 20, 2013 If memory serves, freddy's 6542 whitey is as good as it gets. I seem to recall it being painted by the same white, that is used in the dial factory or so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoopy12 Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 If memory serves, freddy's 6542 whitey is as good as it gets. I seem to recall it being painted by the same white, that is used in the dial factory or so... Amen: his 6542 is very droolable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highoeyazmuhudee Posted May 3, 2013 Report Share Posted May 3, 2013 guess what else they made... no denying this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyB Posted May 3, 2013 Report Share Posted May 3, 2013 What, no pepperoni? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grew Posted May 3, 2013 Report Share Posted May 3, 2013 man freddy, i'd probably drop some serious coin on that if you ever decided to sell that albino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted May 3, 2013 Report Share Posted May 3, 2013 Freddy, technical question for you. Did Rolex offer the 6542 with a Jubilee bracelet?I haven't had a watch on a jubilee since the I owned a DJ, back in about 1968-69. I have never been a huge fan, but I do remember it was very comfortable. I've been thinking about trying one on my 6542, as the phong rivet is not very comfortable (might need a good oil soak) as it' pretty new. What would be the proper end links for the GMT? I have a gen clasp that came off my 16750. It had the correct oyster bracelet and end links, but at some point someone replaced the clasp with a Jubilee clasp.Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyB Posted May 3, 2013 Report Share Posted May 3, 2013 None of the Rolex ads on Stefano Mazzariol's site show the Jubilee, but some of the watches pictured have them. They would certainly be a folded Jubilee, as pictured. As I recall, and could be wrong, there were no Jubilee end link numbers at that point in time, but if there was a Jubilee it should have been a 6251 likely with 74 endlinks. According to the chart in the pinned thread 'Vintage Rolex Bracelet and Endlink Guide' there is no Jubilee listed for the 6542. I have Jubilees on mine, one folded and one not, neither have endlink numbers. I'd think there could be no argument that a bracelet would need to be replaced during the 60+ year life span. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted May 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2013 man freddy, i'd probably drop some serious coin on that if you ever decided to sell that albino Not likely, but I will add you to the waiting list (the list is longer than most new steel Daytona waiting lists). Freddy, technical question for you. Did Rolex offer the 6542 with a Jubilee bracelet? What would be the proper end links for the GMT? Not officially, no. The 6542 was shipped with either the 6636 or 7206, each with 80 ends, which is what I have fitted to my black dialed '42 However, as was the case back then, Rolex dealers had alot more latitude & control over which Rolexes they sold & how they sold them. It was common practice for dealers to offer the customer his/her choice of bracelet/strap & I have a couple of pics in my archives of early, 1-owner '42s sold at auction with (big crown) folded link, jubilees. While I love the folded link Oysters, the jubilee is alot more comfortable &, with the more formal whte dial, I think the jubilee compliments it better than the more workmanlike Oyster. I generally pair my Aryan 'Master with a '58 folded link 6251H with 55 ends, which would be chronologically correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyB Posted May 3, 2013 Report Share Posted May 3, 2013 grew, on 02 May 2013 - 9:58 PM, said: man freddy, i'd probably drop some serious coin on that if you ever decided to sell that albino Not likely, but I will add you to the waiting list (the list is longer than most new steel Daytona waiting lists). And likely a lot more serious coin that the Daytona as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted May 3, 2013 Report Share Posted May 3, 2013 Thanks Freddy and Joey for the info, now to find a folded link Jubilee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted May 3, 2013 Report Share Posted May 3, 2013 @Pan153, what do you think of Phong's riveted oyster? Is it much/a lot/no better than Yuki's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted May 3, 2013 Report Share Posted May 3, 2013 @Pan153, what do you think of Phong's riveted oyster? Is it much/a lot/no better than Yuki's? It's hard to say, I have never had a yuki bracelet in my hand, so can only say what I know. First off the Phong is an expansion bracelet, a 6636, which really is a complely different from the 7206 which most of the other dealers sell. It's more expensive, at around 300.00 USD as opposed to 200-300 USD from the other guys. It will accomodate genuine springbars which I don't believe the others will w/o modification. The bracelet is stamped 7206 which is incorrect, I believe for the expansion bracelet.The clasp is stamped 62573HC which, when I googled that number, came up nothing.The 382 endlinks were originally used on Tudors, 7019's and later the 7031-2 Chronographs, so from and accuracy standpoint, the bracelet is all wrong!! When I bought the bracelet, yuki was out of stock, and had emailed me that his bracelet would not accept 2mm spring bars, Natalie (NDT) wouldn't even answer my emails, so I decided on the phong, sort of a last resort. Had I realized at the time that it would take another 6-7 months to finally get my 6542 sorted out, i probably would have not been so quick to pull the trigger! I probably wouldn't buy this bracelet again, unless they got the numbers on the end links, the clasp and the bracelet sorted out. Right now, I'm lookng for jubilee parts to make up a jubilee and that's probably what i will end up using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted May 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2013 The 7206 was available in both expansion & non-expansion form (I have an expansion 7206 on my 6536/1 & it is 1 of the most uncomfortable bracelets Rolex ever made). I have never seen an official explanation of the differences between the 6636 & 7206 riveted bracelets, aside from the fact that the former was discontinued in the mid-1960s & the latter remained in production (on a limited basis) until the mid-2000s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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