The Rolex Air King (Past and present)

[jon84gt]

Lets get a thread going on these guys and gals! I would like to see some pics with some reference to production years on all the models as well as some variations on the bezel and different band combination's ie the 5501,5500,14010,14000,14000M, 114234,114210 and the 114200, Thanks, Jon

[beerformeplz]

My 5500 1962 Air King, Has the original bracelet but I took it off for this photo.

[jon84gt]

Experts get in here and tell us some history, I would like to hear some facts about model numbers and production years! When was the Air King introduced and what model number was first? Nice pic beer!

[Deyn Man]

mine was given to me in '97... but was acquired earlier (after '92).. it's not COSC and has "precision" written at the bottom.. black face with baton hour markers (pics to follow)...
i have the papers at home but was curious what the model number is for this model... based on some research, would it be 14000? "140" for Air King, "0" since it "doesn't have" a bezel, lastly another "0" for stainless steel... would this be correct?

[Deyn Man]

saw the papers already.. I own an X series 14000! hehehe those references are easy to use! thanks trf!

[Quarterblood]

Mine is a 1995 model 14000.
Purchased in Feb'95 from Alexanders Jewelers in Farnham England.
I wore it daily for about 9 years then it started to loose quite a bit of time and stopped regularly. I did a bit of shallow'ish scuba diving in it wihich I dont think helped either - some condenstation appear under the crysal for a few days after that event - which I bearly recall I was so drunk!
It was well due a service, but I never got round to it - until now!
Just done last week - pretty hefty cost of £295 via a high end Jewelers in Glasgow but it went to 'Rolex' in London for the work.
It had a couple of wheels replaced. You could hear it 'whirring' when you gave it a good shake and there was plenty of internal wear.
It's now as good as new and is looking fine !

[dieseldragon]

This is one of mine, part stripped for restoration. Its from 3rd quarter 1958 and has a butterfly rotor. I think the 3-6-9 dial is quite unusual.

[Widows Son]

Originally Posted by Quarterblood

Mine is a 1995 model 14000.
Purchased in Feb'95 from Alexanders Jewelers in Farnham England.
I wore it daily for about 9 years then it started to loose quite a bit of time and stopped regularly. I did a bit of shallow'ish scuba diving in it wihich I dont think helped either - some condenstation appear under the crysal for a few days after that event - which I bearly recall I was so drunk!
It was well due a service, but I never got round to it - until now!
Just done last week - pretty hefty cost of £295 via a high end Jewelers in Glasgow but it went to 'Rolex' in London for the work.
It had a couple of wheels replaced. You could hear it 'whirring' when you gave it a good shake and there was plenty of internal wear.
It's now as good as new and is looking fine !

Beautiful overhaul!!! No more scuba diving with her, that's an order!! Mine looks similar to yours except mine has a silver dial. The Airkings are a very underrated watch IMHO.

[Jun Cajayon]

Hi Jon,

The Air King has always been one of my favorite Rolex models. I'm not sure if you've read through this excellent link in the Rolex Watch Reviews which pretty much shows all variations of the Air King. I've attached the link nevertheless.

http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=67230

Just some pictures of my 14010 with the engine turned bezel. Acquired locally (Philippines) in 2001 but U serial number dates production around 1997.

[padi56]

Some say the first Airkings were particularly designed for pilots as such but IMHO they were not, but world war 11 did have a part to play with the Airking. And many models now becoming collectable especially the Airking dates especially the red date roulette.Now before WW11 Rolex was always popular with the armed forces in the UK.Now old Hans being a good business man saw there was a market for a slightly bigger watch.Now watches at these times were quite small 30m was the average size.Now Rolex started producing 33m models under the names of Air Lion,Air Tiger,Air Giant and the Air king.They all used a 15 jewel manual wind movement,then came in steel even TT plus all gold but then mainly 9ct.And were in production from the mid 1940s to early 1950s when they were all dropped,except for the Airking.Now over the next few years the Air king gained a auto movement and now the same size as OP,and some of the most sort after Airkings now are models like the 1960s 5504 with the honeycombed dial.Now the first Airking date arrived on the scene late 1960s Ref 5700 were only sold in the then Commonwealth countries like Canada and the UK.Now they made a 5700n Explorer Date but that was only sold in the USA.Later 1970s 5701 Airking dates had the cal.1525/35 movements,and they made a TT version of the 5701 quite rare, but again for the Canadian only market but the Airking date faded out of production in the 1980s. IMO a shame the Airking has quite a lot of history, and IMHO now a very underrated watch.


The Air King is a classic and the one of the longest continuously produced models in the whole Rolex line

Air-King models though the years.
4365,4499, 4925, 5500, 5501, 5506, 5520, 6500, 6552, 7784,14000, 14000M, 14010, 14010M

[Czechman]

Here's my 5700... Sweet little watch.
All original and bought right here on TRF.

[Deyn Man]

Originally Posted by Quarterblood

Mine is a 1995 model 14000.
Purchased in Feb'95 from Alexanders Jewelers in Farnham England.
I wore it daily for about 9 years then it started to loose quite a bit of time and stopped regularly. I did a bit of shallow'ish scuba diving in it wihich I dont think helped either - some condenstation appear under the crysal for a few days after that event - which I bearly recall I was so drunk!
It was well due a service, but I never got round to it - until now!
Just done last week - pretty hefty cost of £295 via a high end Jewelers in Glasgow but it went to 'Rolex' in London for the work.
It had a couple of wheels replaced. You could hear it 'whirring' when you gave it a good shake and there was plenty of internal wear.
It's now as good as new and is looking fine !

this looks like mine too! black face with stick hands and smooth "bezel"...

[sakuraba]

Originally Posted by Deyn Man

saw the papers already.. I own an X series 14000! hehehe those references are easy to use! thanks trf!

You really don't need to look for the papers to tell what the modle number and series is, Dean. If you remove the bracelet, you can check between the lugs. On the 12 o'clock side it should say the model number, and the 6 o'clock side should have the serial numbers.

Now you need to decide which is easier: fishing out the papers, or removing the bracelet!

BTW, here's mine

[Air King Dan]

Here is my Rolex Air-King as requested!

Dan

[ayecarumba]

Great thread! Thanks for kick starting this. My latest arrival:

Model# 114200
34mm
COSC
Domed Bezel
Sapphire Crystal
Self Winding
Water resistance 100m/330ft



--Paul

[violetman]

WOW, very informative!!


I suggest all of you come across this link, you can know more about the "AIR-KING STORY"

www.rumiz.it


Cheers Cheers Cheers!!



Regards,

Jacky from HK

[jon84gt]

Wow Paul!! What a beauty! I love those orange numbers, Jon

[Deyn Man]

Originally Posted by sakuraba

You really don't need to look for the papers to tell what the modle number and series is, Dean. If you remove the bracelet, you can check between the lugs. On the 12 o'clock side it should say the model number, and the 6 o'clock side should have the serial numbers.

Now you need to decide which is easier: fishing out the papers, or removing the bracelet!

BTW, here's mine

hahahha! thanks for the tip!

i think we have the same AK!

[PandaScout]

Hello-
I am a new user to the forum, and just bought my first [hopefully genuine] Rolex, a 1981 5500. it came with the original papers, boxes, and polishing cloth. I took it to an authorized dealer, and they said it was real, but did not take off the back. They removed the oyster bracelet, and it had the correct markings, and the numbers matched the paperwork. (cut out with a bunch of holes like my passport number.)

So, here's my question: it is not marked "precision" or "suer precision". is this an indication of a fake, or does this imply something esle? it beats 5.5x per second (19,800), so i think it is a calibre 1520?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

How do you post pictures on this thing?

[David AP]

OK, I'm really sorry for the phone pic - but have got a decent camera shot since it came back from RSC.



The picture really doesn't do it justice, and yeah I know the strap is too narrow....

It's on my list ok kids.

[uta]

hi all I'm new in this forum and this is my first post. This is my 14010 ca. 2002.

[jeanlee411]

Originally Posted by ayecarumba

Great thread! Thanks for kick starting this. My latest arrival:

Model# 114200
34mm
COSC
Domed Bezel
Sapphire Crystal
Self Winding
Water resistance 100m/330ft



--Paul

WOW, very informative!!


I suggest all of you come across this link, you can know more about the "AIR-KING STORY"

[Yazo]

Originally Posted by uta

hi all I'm new in this forum and this is my first post. This is my 14010 ca. 2002.

Woo Hoo we have the same watch! Here's mine:

[level]

Here's my 14000.

[uta]

Originally Posted by Yazo

Woo Hoo we have the same watch! Here's mine:

engined turn bezel make this watch looks bigger IMO. What do you think?

[mmanzara]

Here is a pic of my 57/58 Explorer 5500 and bracelet. Still keeps excellent time.

[MJCox]

Love my Air-King!

[edge of midnight]

Did any mid 60's air king precision come with a plain blue dial with no markers or numbers?

[ac001]

I just received this back from Michael Young at Classic Watch Parts. I had the bracelet tightened. These are Iphone pics, so they are not the greatest. The Model is 5501 and the movement is 1570. I know they used this movement for the Rolex Sub back in the late 60s or early 70s and I am guessing that this watch is from 1970, give or take a couple of years.

[GJS]

Originally Posted by uta

engined turn bezel make this watch looks bigger IMO. What do you think?

Definitely!

It's the same with the Date I have. If not for the engine-turned bezel it would look too small for me.