Quote History Quoted:
both of which numbers are wrong?
serial numbers and models numbers are on the cases
bought by my late uncle, not certain the year he acquired it
yes, regularly serviced by authorized Rolex watchmaker
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The year(s) of production. I said that based off of features and because I don’t think the 1603 model was yet released in ‘59. If it was serviced by Rolex or a Rolex accredited shop that may explain the original parts that don’t quite line up with the dates you mentioned, hence my remark about the parts migration. I’m now beginning to lean toward it being a ‘66 and the watchmaker offered him new NOS hands he was sitting on. As mentioned, the movement ID will help, but that too could have been changed at some point. Also, the 1570 was introduced in ‘65 so leftover movements may have been used into ‘66. Are you able to “hack” it, ie the second hand stops when you set the time? That’s an easy way to differentiate between 1560 and 70 movements. Lastly, photos of the bracelet markings and numbers may help yoy narrow down a date range but keep in mind that those were often replaced as well. The commonality of replacement parts on these watches is one of the reasons that DJs are sometimes hard to date. Hopefully someone with more knowledge than I have will chime in and help you out. Again, a Rolex expert/historian will be able to tell you more. Consider asking the question on a dedicated watch forum. Some of those guys really know their stuff.
Beautiful watch and a nice family heirloom. Enjoy it!
ETA: Turns out the 16XX series debuted in ‘59, so it could be from then. If so, I think the dial has been replaced. Trying to find examples of the earliest 1603s online is proving harder than I would have guessed…