Rolex Date 1500 'Tropical'

Rolex Date 1500

The Rolex Date made its first appearance in 1950, which offers much of the same design and functionality as the classic Datejust. The Rolex Date was available in a wide variety of different configurations and featured the exact some COSC-certified movement as Rolex’s Datejust watches from the same era. Therefore, the Date makes zero compromises regarding timekeeping and overall reliability.

The Date 1500 was first introduced in the early 1960s and remained in production through the late 1970s. This particular example is from 1970 and really shows us why vintage watches are so interesting. The star of the show? Obviously the dial, which is simply perfect. Let's dive into it! 

This is a factory blue Rolex dial that turned into a so called 'Tropical' dial. As most of you probably know, a lot of watch brands – including Rolex – used to use lume back in the day. Lume is short for the luminous, glow-in-the-dark paint that’s applied to watch dials, so the wearer could read the time in the dark, underwater, and so on.

Back then, lume was mostly made with radium. Radium is radioactive, just like tritium – which is what this particular watch uses. Because of that radioactivity, the dial paint can sometimes react and start to age in a unique way.

It doesn’t always happen though, and the aging process is different with every watch. That’s why it’s pretty rare to come across a dial that has aged evenly or developed really cool patterns. It basically means the watch becomes one of a kind, since no two dials age in exactly the same way. That’s exactly why “Tropical” dials are so appreciated in the watch world – and of course, by collectors too.

Watches like these don't come up often, the reason? Every collector keeps these unique pieces for themselves. It's by far one of the most interesting and unique watches we've offered so far.

The watch is fully serviced by our watchmakers and comes with a 1-year warranty!