Rolex - The Geneva Watch Auction: XX Geneva Saturday, November 9, 2024 | Phillips
  • Manufacturer: Rolex
    Year: Circa 1956
    Reference No: 6611
    Movement No: DD608233
    Case No: 236'187
    Model Name: Day-Date
    Material: 18K white gold and diamonds
    Calibre: Automatic, cal. 1055B, 25 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: 18K white gold Rolex Jubilee bracelet, max length 190mm
    Clasp/Buckle: 18K white gold Rolex deployant clasp stamped 2.56
    Dimensions: 36mm Diameter
    Signed: Case, dial, movement and bracelet signed

  • Catalogue Essay

    It is widely acknowledged among Rolex scholars and collectors, that the Day-Date is the most varied, unusual and creative model the firm has ever produced. The Day-Date was Rolex’s first model to display separate day and date apertures. Since the model’s official launch in 1956, the Day-Date has seen a multitude of watch design variations.

    Manufactured the very year of the introduction of the Day-Date model in 1956, the present watch is an extremely rare and early version of reference 6611. Given its early production date, one can surmise that it was among the very first batches to make it on the commercial market following the official launch of the model. Cased in white gold, it is one of a handful of known examples in white metal, as yellow gold examples are the most commonly found version on the market. Even rarer still is the presence of the original Jubilee bracelet, dated to 1956, which is preserved in excellent condition with good rigidity. Other interesting features include the roulette date wheel, alternating between black and red, which can only be found on very early examples.

    This watch is furthermore distinguished by its excellent condition. The "Swiss" signed dial is free of heavy tarnishing, and most importantly, the hands are not painted with luminous material. This is fitting, as the dial does not have luminous dots either.

  • Artist Biography

    Rolex

    Swiss • 1905

    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.

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184

Ref. 6611
An early and attractive white gold calendar wristwatch with center seconds, diamond-set indexes, roulette date wheel and bracelet

Circa 1956
36mm Diameter
Case, dial, movement and bracelet signed

Estimate
CHF40,000 - 80,000 
€42,600-85,100
$46,500-93,000

Sold for CHF88,900

Contact Specialist

Alexandre Ghotbi
Deputy Chairman, Watches, Head of Watches, Europe, and Middle East

+41 79 637 17 24
aghotbi@phillips.com

 

Tiffany To
Head of Sale, Geneva

+41 79 460 55 88

tto@phillips.com

 

 

The Geneva Watch Auction: XX

Geneva Auction 9 - 10 November 2024