Manufacturer: Rolex Year: 1958 Reference No: 6611 Case No: 425'470 Model Name: Day-Date Material: 18k pink gold Calibre: Automatic, 1055 Bracelet/Strap: Rolex Jubilee, end links numbered 53 Clasp/Buckle: Folding deployant buckle Dimensions: 36mm. Diameter Signed:Movement, dial, case and bracelet signed
Catalogue Essay
Reference 6511 was the first Day-Date model to feature the designation Superlative in its Officially Certified Chronometer designation. It also features the typical reeded bezel but, compared to later generations, the facets are less raised and more subtle.
This example is a wonderful representative of the Day-Date earliest years. Fitted with a black lacquer dial with copper coloured printing and scales, it is the same finish as Rolex’s sports watches of the same era. In fact it is a galvanic-finished dial with the first three lines above the centre sunk whereas the chronometer designation is superimposed on the surface. These dials of the golden era are considered by many scholars the finest, most attractive and collectable specimens.
Preserved in wonderful original condition and completed by the correct period Jubilee bracelet, this reference 6511 is not only a fantastic example for the avid Day-Date collector but can be compared, in many ways, with the finest gentlemans watches produced by the world’s most distinguished manufactures, notably Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet.
Founded in 1905 England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, it soon became known as the Rolex Watch Company in 1915, moving its headquarters to Geneva in 1919. Like no other company, the success of the wristwatch can be attributed to many of Rolex's innovations that made them one of the most respected and well-known of all luxury brands. These innovations include their famous "Oyster" case — the world's first water resistant and dustproof watch case, invented in 1926 — and their "Perpetual" — the first reliable self-winding movement for wristwatches launched in 1933. They would form the foundation for Rolex's Datejust and Day-Date, respectively introduced in 1945 and 1956, but also importantly for their sports watches, such as the Explorer, Submariner and GMT-Master launched in the mid-1950s.
One of its most famous models is the Cosmograph Daytona. Launched in 1963, these chronographs are without any doubt amongst the most iconic and coveted of all collectible wristwatches. Other key collectible models include their most complicated vintage watches, including references 8171 and 6062 with triple calendar and moon phase, "Jean Claude Killy" triple date chronograph models and the Submariner, including early "big-crown" models and military-issued variants.