1997 Rolex Datejust 16238 Complete Set "Jubilee Dial"
Ref: 16238
Specification
Lugs : 20mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box & Papers : Box & Papers
Case Material : 18ct Yellow Gold
Warranty : 12-Months Non-waterproof Warranty
Points of Mention
This watch is sold with its original Rolex box, purchase invoice, finance paperwork, original Rolex paperwork, and swing tag. The watch comes paired with its original 18k Yellow Gold Jubilee bracelet. The watch is from April 1997 and is sold in worn unpolished condition. All full case and bracelet refurb can be provided at an additional cost. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.
For more photos see here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DKPvvM6R4xRGg54tvbIUrRwWa8oDb9tX?usp=sharing
4K YouTube video, skip to 3:21 - https://youtu.be/OWen3FoSmZg
The Watch
Here we have a 1997 Rolex Datejust 16238 Complete Set "Jubilee Dial'' with a 36mm 18k Yellow Gold Oyster case, the case gently curves over your wrist with tapered lugs, and a lug-to-lug length of 44mm and a case thickness of 11.5mm ensures a comfortable fit on your wrist. On the right side is a signed screw-down crown. The 18k Yellow Gold fluted bezel holds a domed crystal above a striking white "Jubilee Dial'' which is a repeated pattern of the word Rolex across the dial. Applied 18k Yellow Gold Arabic numerals shimmer in the light as you rotate your wrist, a rare dial configuration that makes this stand out from the crowd. At 3 o’clock a date window with a cyclops magnification on the crystal, at 12 o’clock the 18k Yellow Gold Rolex crown, text is precisely applied to the dial, and slender 18k Yellow gold baton hands have a strip of luminance complemented by a tapered sweeping second hand. On the reverse, a screw-down case back with coin edge detailing, it still has the green sticker applied to the back, inside an automatic Rolex Cal. 3135, 31 jewels, 28,800 beats per hour, this movement was first introduced in 1988. The watch comes fitted on its Rolex 20mm 18k Yellow Gold Jubilee bracelet with a signed concealed clasp and also comes as a complete set with its Rolex presentation box, outer box, purchase invoice, Rolex cloth, and papers including a swing tag.
Personal Note
Watches this good do not come up often, condition, set, example, and configuration are all top ticks! Rarer than a Day/Date and easily better value when you compare the same sets, I wouldn't sleep on solid gold Datejusts as we will look back and remember the time when a "Batman" or "Pepsi" GMT were more expensive than a complete set full gold Datejust, insane!
The Brand
In 1905, German-born Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis set up a company in London that imported Swiss movements which are installed in British cases and sold to jewellers who put their names on the dials. Recognising the potential for their brand, Wilsdorf created the brand name Rolex in 1908. In 1910, a Rolex became the first wristwatch to carry the Swiss Certificate of Chronometric Precision, awarded by the Official Watch Rating Centre in Bienne, Switzerland. Demand for Rolex watches rose swiftly, and British taxes on the Swiss movements Rolex used prompted Wilsdorf to move the business to Geneva, Switzerland, in 1919. With production costs lowered, Wilsdorf quickly set out to solve the age-old problem of moisture and dust entering a watch case and damaging the movement. The Rolex watchmakers came up with a fully sealed watch case, which Wilsdorf named the Oyster, and released to an appreciative audience in 1926. In 1931, Rolex introduced the first automatic winding wristwatch, giving it the legendary name Oyster Perpetual. In 1945, they released Datejust. The Datejust was the first watch to have the date jump instantaneously at midnight. The 1950s saw a whole lot of releases such as the Air-King (1958), the Explorer (1953), the Submariner (1953), the GMT Master (1955), the Day-Date (1956), the electromagnetic field resistant Milgauss (1956), the Lady-Datejust (1957) and the first Deep Sea model (1960). Wilsdorf’s death in 1960, saw ownership of Rolex S.A. (a collection of sub-companies) passed to the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation which was founded by Wilsdorf in 1945, the mission of which is simply to sustain Rolex S.A. indefinitely.