Mar 11, 2026
Description
Pre-owned. Comes with orig. period boxes but no papers.
This is a rare Rolex Datejust Turn-O-graph Thunderbird dating to 1973 while in inner back cover has a manufacture date stamp IV.72 meaning the 4th quarter of 1972 which is a matching nos watch. It has just been completely refurbished by our watchmaker, the case & bracelet were disassembled, ultrasonic cleaned & polished to Rolex specs while the movement was stripped, overhauled, oiled & regulated. It works in perfect order now & will serve you well for many years to come.
This model is also nicknamed as the “Thunderbird” because it was selected by the elite USAF aerobatics team for their pilots on it’s navigational function of the bezel. The Turn-O-graph dates back to some 70yrs ago as it was launched in the 1953 under Ref.6202. This is the 3th generation model and the model has ceased production completely.
A brief history of this model can be found here.
The bi-direction rotating bezel can be used to time anything within 60mins such as a parking meter, swimming or a Zoom meeting.
This watch has benefitted with a later bracelet that has solid steel links and the more valuable 18ct gold center instead of the earlier 14K. This is a common situation when old bracelets were worn out then replaced by later production pieces and the bracelet alone costs over S$4K in the 1990s from Rolex. The selling point of a Turn-O-Graph is the bezel and it’s fine solid gold fluted bezel is often subjected to abuse over the decades so many turn up with a very worn out bezel and their value plunges. Our specimen here is in superb condition as can be seen from the images with no rust from the case & bracelet is tight. The original pie-pan dial is also in excellent condition.
A collector’s piece not to be missed. Value for this model can be over S$10K with one dealer asking for S$13K but remember, condition & accessory so don’t miss this.
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