ROLEX 18K Yellow Gold Datejust "Thunderbird" White Dial 1970s

The watch presented here is the Rolex Datejust Ref.1625, known as the "Thunderbird". It is a Datejust fitted with Rolex's rotating Turn-O-Graph bezel, and this example is cased in 18K solid gold, a version that has all but disappeared from the market.

The name comes from the Thunderbirds, the US Air Force aerobatic team formed on 25 May 1953 at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. That same year Rolex introduced the Ref.6202 Turn-O-Graph, its first watch with a rotating bezel, and in 1954 it combined that bezel with the Datejust as the Ref.6309. The model grew up alongside the first Submariners, references 6200, 6204 and 6205, and found its own place next to those early tool watches.

With the Ref.6609, Rolex made a special series for members of the team with the Thunderbirds emblem painted on the dial, and in the United States it advertised the model under the Thunderbird name. The word never appeared on the dial, but this is where the Thunderbird legend entered the history of the watch.

If the 6309 was the first and the 6609 the second, it was the third generation, the Ref.1625, that gave the line a world of its own. The 1625 was made for close to twenty years, from around 1959 to 1977, and its movement moved on from Cal.1560 and 1565 to the date-equipped Cal.1575, a calibre often praised as one of the best Rolex ever built. Together they did much to carry the Datejust around the world. Rolex later revived the rotating-bezel Datejust under the Turn-O-Graph name, which in a sense confirms that the Thunderbird had been the true Turn-O-Graph all along.

We are happy to call this one a Thunderbird. The 1625 is a standard Datejust, yet among Cal.1575 Datejusts it has always been one of the most sought after. Most examples of this reference were made in steel or steel and gold, and solid 18K gold pieces like this one are rarely seen today. The lug is stamped 18K and the clasp of the Jubilee bracelet carries the 750 mark. The glossy white dial is the later type and shows almost no corrosion. The case has light scratches and signs of past polishing, but its lines have not been thinned at all.

For anyone who wants the cut edge of the Turn-O-Graph bezel and the soft light of 18K gold on the wrist, this is an exceptional piece.

- wrist size in our picture is 17cm circumference -