One of the many things we love about Rolex is that even in the more affordable lines there are plenty of rare gems to be discovered.

The Air-King has become a cult classic since it was introduced after World War II to honor the United Kingdom’s wartime fighter pilots. Most Air-Kings are made of stainless steel but small batches have been made in precious metals. This one is an exceptionally rare one among those as it’s made of 9k yellow gold. Gold watches are usually made of an 18k alloy (or less commonly, 14k). 9k watches are very uncommon, because they have a relatively low gold content and for historical reasons almost always originate from the United Kingdom. Yet, the lower gold content actually makes it more rare and thus more collectible!

This ref. 5500 from 1964 has loads of amazing mid-century details. The pristine white dial has a lovely embossed honeycomb pattern and features a raised smooth outer ring with a printed minuted track. On the dial we find applied yellow-gold hour markers in a fancy spearhead shape, which are complemented by elegant alpha hands. The uncommon 9k yellow-gold case features a matching 9k yellow-gold domed bezel. If all of this weren’t enough, the watch comes on an ultra rare 9k yellow-gold Rolex brick bracelet.