acw1974
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Rolex 1530 Info
This is a stunning timepiece and very rare by Rolex standards. The 1530 was manufactured by Rolex for just three years from 1974 to 1977 with an estimated production of 500 to 1,500 pieces during its short production period. It was the prerequisite design to the OysterQuartz whereby Rolex replaced the 1530 to exclusively utilise the integral case/bracelet design to house its new 5035 and 5055 analog-quartz movements which were introduced in 1977 and ran until 2001. The introduction of the OQ ended the 1530's short run. It was unsuccessful on launch but remember that in the mid 70's quartz was everything and mechanical considered passe.
The 1530 is the only steel Rolex Oyster ever made which housed an automatic movement in an integral design. It was also the first steel Rolex with a sapphire crystal, solid centre links and two-piece dial. To find one with an original 96660 bracelet reference in excellent condition is difficult as so few and far between. Note that these watches, being all steel, were not designed for the higher end of the Rolex client base and were frankly bang around watches for daily wear some 40 years ago so not only were few made (by Rolex standards) but to find one in original, excellent condition today takes some serious searching and a bit of luck. I will never sell mine.
I took my 1530 to the Rolex boutique in London for a service enquiry and the Consultant had never seen anything like it and gave the impression that she thought it was a fake. She returned from showing the watch to the watchmaker at the UK Rolex service centre in Kent (via Skype) who asked the consultant to pass on his complements to me and how highly impressed he was by the watch - no Rolex watchmaker had ever said that before with any of my other Rolex watches, including a Day-Date and Sub.
The 1530 is the most underrated and best value for money vintage Rolex on the used market today: Rare, important and very niche. It is not a quartz. It houses the Rolex calibre 1570, 26 jewel COSC certified automatic movement and despite my 1530 being made in 1977, it still performs to COSC specs today and the 96660 bracelet has limited stretch. Fantastic watch and do not sell it... It's value will only go up!
More posts:
Rolex 1530, Is it really rare?
Well i really don't know, I never had the pleasure to read something about it, it never appeals me too much actually, until the wrist test! Guys, this is a cool watch, it fits nicely on the wrist, he winks to the 3700 / 5402 and it seems to be also a rare...
Not too familiar with the Rolex 1530 Oyster
It does appear to be a rare bird. But Maybe not so much so with collectors when looking at choices. I guess the Die Hard collector who need every model. Bill
Yes u're right
I don\'t remeber exactly the references of the other guy but I think we have 2 more cases like this with quartz mov. It\'s totally new to me, it deserves more study. Ciao
Sure about the reference?
To my knowledge, there were two references where an automatic was in an oysterquartz case: the 1630 Datejust in gold and steel, and the 1520 Date model in steel. I have not heard of a 1530.
It's a 1530
Rolex made a number of integrated designs during the 70's but never made a reference 1520. They did make the following: - 5100 'Texan' in solid 18K gold with a Beta 21 quartz movement from 1970-72 - with an official limited production of 1,000 pieces 1530...
Rolex 1530 Info
This is a stunning timepiece and very rare by Rolex standards. The 1530 was manufactured by Rolex for just three years from 1974 to 1977 with an estimated production of 500 to 1,500 pieces during its short production period. It was the prerequisite design...
Pleasure!
They are very unique and not much is known about the piece so all that I have written is from research carried out over several months. They are very rare! Here's a wrist shot with my 1530 ...
I own a 1630 which is the steel and gold version of this watch...
... Regretably, I found my example with a wrong bracelet which actually belongs to the Quartz TT model which differs from the correct one which should have a single row of gold links. There were two models: reference 1630 called "Datejust" (steel and gold...
Also rare
But you do need to be careful when buying these rare pieces. The original bracelet that came with the 1630 has three centre rows in 14K gold with the outer links in steel and is referenced 96673. Your bracelet has two links in 18K gold and is probably ref...
Hello Acw! Thank you for your comments and completely agree with you. As I explained in my post above I knew this watch came with the wrong bracelet...
... when I bought it as it is a reference 17013 from an Oyster Quartz TT model. The correct one for my reference 1630 is bracelet 96673 as you well say with three gold rows. I asumed my watch was from 1978 as per serial number 5.44x.xxx . As you know, it ...
Hi
I'm led to believe that the last serial number from 1977 was 5,430,000 so a 5.44mil serial would be very early 1978 so your piece could well have been one of the last 1630's ever made! The dial, bezel, crown, hands and crystal look perfect so I suspect th...
Hello again Acw! Appreciate your kind comments and suggestions. Yes, I will be in the look for a correct bracelet, though ...
... I feel it will be hard to get it! I always look for completely original examples for my collection, but sometimes like in this rare reference I bought it in spite of its drawback. Interesting your comment about serial number and year data. Thank you a...
