Explorer 1016, special dial information!

[blue.]

First of all, Merry Christmas to all the members, their families and beloved ones!

 

This year Santa brought some special surprises under the tree, one of them being from Japan!

That special present contains some historic information about one of my favourite Rolex models, the Explorer 1016!

 

Long story short, what I was able to find inside that "present" was an all so important information about the Explorer dials that isn´t available anywhere else on the web.

As an owner of two Explorer 1016 reps (the first being a MBW version and the second a Franken) I had a hard time understanding the dial of the MBW 1016 Explorer, as has been discussed a number of times.

The main topic being, that the MBW Explorer dial is marked "Swiss Made" instead "Swiss - T<25" (Tritium radiation less than 25 mCi).

 

Every time someone (me inclusive) has asked here on the forums, if an Explorer 1016 marked "Swiss Made" ever existed, the answer was: "No, never existed one ...".

 

I managed to find that special dial that existed in the 1960´s ( Officially Certified Chronometer not SCOC):

 

This "new" discovery would make some Explorer 1016 owners, having dials marked Swiss Made a bit more happy

Edited December 25, 2013 by blue.

[alligoat]

Prior to 1963 when Rolex started using tritium, dials were typically marked 'SWISS'. But you've found one that was marked 'SWISS MADE'. Cool!

Seems like OCC also went out around 1963, but I'm not sure.

Early 1016s would have had the 1560 movement since the 1570 didn't come out until around 1965.

[1680]

The book has some flaws, some fakes in it as well. That on page 39 is one example (another on page 40). I don't know any 1016 with a matte dial with the OCC text only SCOC, OCC would be correct for a 6350.

 

The "Swiss Made" is another thing. It could indicate a service dial, but I certainly know that the latest service dials produced by Rolex in-house are still marked Swiss T<25.