OVERVIEW

By 1960 it had become widely known that the use of Radium in watches had the potential to pose at least a mild health risk, especially to those who who applied it to the dials (google Radium Girls) and so watch brands started to phase out its use in the early part of the decade. As Rolex started this transition they put a small lume dot below the 6:00 marker (!) to denote the lesser Radium content in the dial & hands and this was done for only a very short period of time until making the full switch to Tritium lume. These examples are considered a sweet spot for many collectors since you get the most coveted features in one package: Gilt, chapter ring dial with pointed crown guard case plus lower Radium content which is more safe and ages better over time. Exclamation dials are rare, but even more rare is finding a perfect example of one.

CONDITION NOTES

CASE: Beautiful pointed crown guard case with thick, structured & even lugs. The chamfers on the lugs remain in all their original glory and the crown guards are still satisfyingly sharp. Stunning gilt era bezel pepsi insert has faded from red to orange.

DIAL: Galvanic gilt dial is as good as it gets with untouched lume and zero patina on the gloss. The very low radium content in the lume ensured everything aged very evenly.

HANDS: Excellent original flat gilt handset with matching color and original lume. The hands are just as good as the dial.

MOVEMENT: Service history isn’t known but it is keeping time very well and movement has no corrosion.