How much do you know about the first Rolex Air-King?

Why did Rolex introduce the Air-King in the 1930s, and what was the first Rolex Air-King model? Rolex introduced the first Rolex Air-King (Rolex Air-King 4925) in 1945, but why did Rolex ignore the older Air-King models and announce the Air-King 5500 as their first Air-King model? What's so special about the Rolex Air-King 5500?

How much do you know about the first Rolex Air-King?

• Why did Rolex introduce the Air-King?

• What was the first Rolex Air-King model?

• Why did Rolex announce the Air-King 5500 as their first Air-King model?

• What's so special about the Rolex Air-King 5500?

Why did Rolex introduce the Air-King?

Rolex introduced the earliest Air models in the 1930s for the British Royal Air Force and its pilots. The Air models include the Air-Giant, Air-Lion, Air-Tiger, and most notably the Air-King. Rolex produced the four models until the 1960s, after which point only the Air-King persevered.

Rolex introduced the first Air-King in 1945. Its 34mm case was a large timepiece at the time, hence the King's name. The British Royal Air Force and its pilots relied on Air-King's high accurate timekeeping during high-intensity flight runs.

What was the first Rolex Air-King model?

Rolex introduced the first Rolex Air-King (Rolex Air-King 4925) in 1945. The dial is creamy white, and the hour markers are Arabic numerals. The hand-wound calibre 10.5 had 17 jewels.

Rolex introduced the second Rolex Air-King (Rolex Air-King 4499) a year later with similar specs.

Rolex introduced the third Rolex Air-King (Rolex Air-King 6552) in 1953, powered by another self-winding calibre 1030 movement.

The Rolex Air-King 4925, 4499 and 6552 are high-precision chronometer timepieces. The British Royal Air Force and its pilots relied upon it to ensure highly-accurate timekeeping during high-intensity flight runs.

Why did Rolex announce the Air-King 5500 as their first Air-King model?

Rolex introduced the fourth Rolex Air-King (Rolex Air-King 5500) in 1957. It came with serial number records.

Rolex considered these inaugural references to be the official beginnings of their respective collections, although there were Air-King watches that date back to as early as 1945. Rolex chose to ignore the older Air-King models.

What's so special about the Rolex Air-King 5500?

The Rolex Air-King 5500 has a solid and durable construction – with both steel case and Oyster bracelet. It came with a twin-lock waterproofing system with a water resistance of 100 meters. It also had an acrylic protective crystal which proved to be a solid front glass.

The dial was light silver, adorned with silver index hour markers. It also shared the same movement as the Rolex Submariner. The Rolex Calibre 1520 was a Rolex in-house self-winding movement made with only 17 jewels.

The Rolex Air-King was never chronometer certified. You would not see the familiar Superlative Chronometer Certified on any vintage Air-King dials. You will see the words Precision for the Rolex Air-King 5500 with the Calibre 1520 or Super Precision for the Rolex Air-King 5500 with the Calibre 1530.

All Rolex Air-King watches from this generation feature 34-millimetre cases, self-winding movements, and acrylic crystals protecting their dials. Rolex positioned these models as entry-level offerings within the catalogue.

The Rolex Air-King 5500 remained in production for more than three and a half decades (an unbelievable 37 years).