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The nickname “Buckley” refers to the Rolex watch aficionado and collector John Buckley’s favorite dial. This select dial is pure white with a vivid contrast of black painted on Roman numerals. This dial can be found on vintage Day-Date and Datejust models.
The “Patrizzi” dial is named after Osvaldo Patrizzi, a famous Swiss watch auctioneer and author. He observed and is credited for recognizing that the three silver rings around the sub-dials of a Model 16520 Zenith Daytona with a black dial sometimes turn a dark brown in color. This color change is possibly due the aging of the protective coating Rolex used on these Daytona dials during mid-1990s. Today the Patrizzi Daytonas are very sought after by collectors.
The famous actor and race driver gives this important Rolex Daytona Cosmograph dial its nickname “Paul Newman.” In the earlier days of collecting wrist watches, these dials were referred to as “Exotic” dial Daytonas. This is due to their different colors and configuration over standard Daytona dials. Through the years, Rolex produced less of these “so called” exotic dials making them exceedingly rare over the more common standard Daytona dials. These exotic dial Daytonas are especially prized by Italian collectors. When Paul Newman was actually seen wearing one of these exotic dial Daytonas during his personal and racing life, the “Paul Newman” nickname for this special Daytona was born. Mr. Newman’s original Daytona sold at auction for more than $17 million U.S. dollars, breaking the record sale at the time for a vintage wristwatch.
The “Steve McQueen” name, well known among aficionados for this particular Explorer II model, came from a 1970s advertising campaign launched by Rolex, with the aptly named “King of Cool” film star. At the time of its release, it was considered more of a functional tool watch specifically aimed at Speleologists. It’s also interesting to note that although this Explorer II model 1655 is nicknamed after “Steve McQueen,” the actor never actually wore the watch. He was more likely to be seen wearing a Submariner or GMT-Master.
In the follow-up James Bond film to “Dr. No.,” the 007 1964 film “Goldfinger” actress Honor Blackman wears a late 1950s GMT-Master model 6542 with a bakelite bezel. Playing the role of Pussy Galore in “Goldfinger,” Blackman’s watch receives ample screen time showing its now very famous blue and red bezel, thus nicknamed the “Pussy Galore” GMT-Master.
The “John Player Special” refers to the beautiful and rare yellow gold Daytona model 6241. Its clean look with non-screw down pushers, black dial and bezel with gold subdials symbolizes the Lotus Formula 1 racing team colors that was sponsored by the John Player & Sons Special cigarette brand. The gold Daytona 6241 has earned the nickname the “John Player special.”
1960’s celebrity professional French Champion alpine skier Jean-Claude Killy became a Rolex brand representative for advertisements by Rolex. He was famous for wearing the Rolex Dato-Compax Chronograph models which gave them the nickname the “Jean-Claude Killy” models. These special Oyster Chronograph Dato-Compax (complications: Day, Month, Date & Chronograph) are very expensive and very sought after by Rolex collectors; especially the model 6036.
Mr. Eastwood’s favorite Rolex is his GMT-Master model 16753 brown dial or Root Beer now nicknamed “Clint Eastwood.” Not only was this his daily worn watch for many years; he also wore his GMT-Master in several major films playing different character roles.
Jean-Paul Belmondo, French legendary film actor and producer from the 1960s forward, was a huge fan of Rolex watches. His favorite Rolex was a 6263 black dial Big Red Daytona with silver subsidiary dials. He has been photographed many times with this favorite Daytona on his wrist. Jean-Paul Belmondo’s best known credits include “Breathless,” “That Man from Rio,” “Pierrot le Fou,” “Borsalino,” and “The Professional.”
In the 1940s Rolex introduced their first automatic winding and water-resistant sport watch the “Oyster Perpetual.” The automatic winding rotor mechanism on the back of the movement made this new caliber movement thicker. The case thus had to be designed much thicker than a normal manual winding movement to house this new special automatic rotor movement. Where most watches of the day had snap-on style backs which were not dust or water-resistant, the new “Oyster Perpetual” had a screw-on water-resistant style back with a gasket. These 1940s Rolex watches were quickly nicknamed “Bubbleback” by collectors worldwide. The “Oyster Perpetual” or “Bubbleback” were manufactured in all stainless steel, stainless steel with yellow gold bezel, stainless steel with rose gold bezel, all yellow gold & all rose gold models. These new automatic winding, water-resistant, Rolex watches were very popular with younger and more active people.
This very rare, low production numbers timepiece has the nickname “Padellone,” derived from the Italian word for “Big Frying Pan." A 38mm case size was considered quite large at the time of its short production period. This complicated timepiece features three apertures displaying phases of the moon, day and month. The date is displayed on the dial’s outer track with a pointer hand.
Perhaps the most prestigious and well-recognized Rolex watch ever produced is the famous Day-Date. The bracelet was specially designed for the Day-Date model which was made in four metals: platinum, 18k white gold, 18k rose gold or 18k yellow gold. Lyndon Baines Johnson wore an 18k yellow gold Rolex Day-Date watch during his Presidency in the 1960s, hence the nickname the “President.” The legacy of the President Day-Date continues in production still to this day.
The French diving Comagnie Maritime d’Expertises or “Comex” specialized in deep diving commercial operations. Comex issued special Rolex diver’s watches to the deep-sea divers beginning during the 1970s. Rolex tested a special prototype Submariner 5513 with a helium escape value. With success of the 5513 testing, Rolex manufactured the first Comex dive watch model 5514 Submariner with the Comex logo on the dial. Comex needed watches that would stand up to extreme depths, pressure chambers, and was able to endure decompression periods. The specialized Comex dive watches were only issued to Comex employees, they were never offered for sale to the public. Each Comex watch had the official employee issued number on the case back (see photo below). Comex Rolex Sea-Dweller models include: 665, 16660 (Triple Six) and 16600. Less than a total 1,000 Comex watches were delivered by Rolex during the years of Comex watch production.
The model 1680 Submariner was known as the first Submariner with a date and cyclops crystal that the word “Submariner” written in a Single Red line. This most likely was to signify this Submariner was a special edition to the Rolex sport watch selection. Collectors affectionately deem this model the “Red Submariner.” All Submariner generations previously manufactured did not have a date or cyclops crystal making the “Red Submariner” very special.
The nickname “Double Red” came from the two lines in striking, bright red text on a matte black dial that reads “Sea-Dweller Submariner 2000.” Years in production: 1967 - 1978.
All white text on the dial of the Sea-Dweller model 1665 replaced the previous editions’ color of red on the “Double Red Sea-Dwellers Submariners” models. First, the Submariner name disappeared. This helped to solidify the perception that the Sea-Dweller was a distinct and separate model from the Submariner in the Rolex lineup. Next was a change from red to white text, hence the name “Great White.”
The term Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified is what we focus on here. The letter “C” in Chronometer aligns perfectly up and down with the “C” in Certified making a gap in-between the words know as a “Rail.” The “Rail” dial is only found on the Explorer II models 1655 and 16550, Sea-Dweller model 1665 Great White and 1665 Comex.
The Rolex Sea-Dweller model 16660 was launched in 1978 with a significant improvement to the depth rating over the previous model 1665. The new sapphire crystal (replacing plexiglass), larger case size, and improved design for the Helium Escape Valve mechanism, all enabled the watch to function at the depth of 1220m. Roughly double that of its predecessor.
The model 6542, introduced in the mid 1950s, was the first model GMT-Master. This model featured a case with no crown guards to protect the setting crown and a blue/red (Pepsi) bakelite rotatable bezel (see photo A). In the early 1960s, Rolex released the second model GMT-Master, the 1675. The new 1675 model featured a newly designed case with crown guards to protect the setting crown and an aluminum rotatable blue/red (Pepsi) bezel. These crown guards were rather pointed in shape, making this GMT nicknamed the “El Cornino” GMT.
The blue and red bezel on GMT-Master & GMT-Master II models are nicknamed “Pepsi.” The original model 6542 GMT-Master with the bakelite bezel was introduced in 1954 and was the first “Pepsi” GMT-Master. This long-running pilot’s watch having similarities to the color scheme seen on bottles of PepsiCo’s signature soda gives its iconic nickname. But avid watch enthusiasts know the colors were initially inspired by the colors of Pan American Airways, who gets credit for requesting a watch from Rolex that displays a second time zone. It’s also said that the red and blue colors represent day and night.
Rolex introduced its first GMT-Master II, the model 16760, in 1983. This model was only offered in stainless steel with a black/red (Coke) bezel. This new model, 16760, featured two independently setting hour hands, thus making it very easy to adjust one hour hand to home time and the other to destination time. The model 16760 was slightly thicker than the later GMT-Master model 16700 and the model 16710 GMT-Master II, earning it the nickname “Fat Lady.”
Known universally among Rolex enthusiasts for its black and red bezel, the “Coke” nickname for this Rolex is derived from the model’s bezel, resembling the color scheme on the bottle of the Coca-Cola company’s signature soda. These bezels are found on GMT-Master II models 16760 (Fat Lady) and 16710.
The Rolex “Root Beer” gets this nickname from the brown color dial and bezel combinations on the GMT-Master & GMT-Master II models. The first “Root Beer” dial was introduced on the model 1675 in 1970. The GMT-Master II model 16713 was launched in 1989 with several significant upgrades from its predecessor (Model 1675). The most significant of these improvements for most Rolex fans was the model’s ability to display three time zones. The previous model displayed two. This was made possible by adjustable 12-hour and 24-hour hands. The current version of the iconic Rolex “Root Beer” model is the GMT-Master II 126711CHNR. Some technical attributes of this watch consist of a 3285 caliber and power reserve of 70 hours. A Parachrom hairspring vastly improves shock resistance. Additional changes consist of Oystersteel and Everose gold for the case and bracelet as opposed to stainless steel and yellow gold on previous versions. The bezel was upgraded to a more scratch/fade resistant ceramic material Rolex developed known as Cerachrom.
This particular Explorer II, model 16550, was introduced in 1985 with two dial options, black & white. The white version became much sought-after by collectors due to the dial appearing as more of an off-white or “Creamy” white. The Explorer II, model 16550, is also known as a traditional model because it was manufactured in-between the earlier Explorer II model 1655 and the later Explorer II model 16570.
This Explorer II models, 16570 (1989 - 2011), 216570 (2012 - 2021) and the 226570 (2022 - present) were introduced with two dial options, black and white. The white dial version has been dubbed the nickname “Polar” by Rolex collectors.
“Nipple Dials” are very recognizable by their distinctive dome shape and always made of yellow gold with luminous set in the center of each hour maker. These special dials are only found on vintage 1950s - 1970s all 18k gold and 18k gold and stainless steel GMT-Masters as well as 1970s all 18k gold Submariners.
Many early 1960s Rolex dials had a small dot just below their baton hour marker at the 6:00 position making it appear to be an exclamation point at the bottom of the dial. These Rolex dials are known as “Exclamation Point Dials.” These dials are highly sought after by most Rolex collectors.
The Italian Rolex collectors nicknamed certain vintage Daytona’s “Oyster Sotto.” “Sotto” in Italian means “under” giving the vintage Daytona Oyster “Sotto” where examples have the word “Oyster” under the words Rolex Cosmograph.
