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Rolex - 6015 - Oyster Perpetual - Bubbleback - Mens
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Name6015
FamilyOyster Perpetual
SubtypeBubbleback
GenderMens
MovementRolex 620 (Details)
Years in Production1945 - 1960
Case Diameter (mm)32
Lug Width17
MechanismAutomatic
ChronometerYes
HackingNo
Date FunctionNo
QuicksetNo
Power Reserve (Hours)41
Frequency (bph)18, 000
Jewel Count17
Water Resistance (m)30
Thickness (mm)13.5
Second HandSweep
Case MaterialStainless Steel
ShapeRound
Bezel MaterialStainless Steel
Crown Position3 O'Clock
Crystal MaterialAcrylic
Band TypeStrap
Band MaterialLeather
Band ReplaceableYes


Notes: Oyster, Ref:6015, 1950's Jewelled automatic movement. Appears with arrowhead, roman or arrowhead/roman combination hour marks. The dial is typically white. The face has a sweep center seconds. This model features a unique milled bezel with screw down Oyster crown and screw on back, and is fitted with a leather strap.

The Ref. 6015 is frequently referred to as the Ovetto Bubble-Back. It features some water resistance.
Mechanism:
The 620 was Rolex's first automatic mechanism. Rolex introduced it in 1931. The Self-winding movement features a unidirectional winding rotor, 18,000 A/h, 17 jewels, small seconds. The world's first self-winding movement with rotor winding (Perpetual). These mechanisms seem to be chronometer certified (COSC), but I am not 100% sure that all of them are.

Rolex designed this mechanism in response to other watchmakers' self-winding innovations. Hence, the 620 was not, by any stretch of the imagination, the first automatic design. However, it was better than its competitors' similarly priced models by a good margin, and hence rapidily propelled Rolex forward in market share.

As most Rolex fans know, Rolex did not make its own movements until 2004. Until that time, they contracted Aegler watchmaking to produce all their mechanisms. However, the Aegler factory was completely integrated with the Rolex company and starting in 1936 exclusively produced movements for Rolex. Hence the design of the 620 was credited to Emil Borer (one of th Aegler partners) and Hans Wilsdorf (Rolex founder) jointly. The new automatic design was not very revolutionary. They simply took the very successful Hunter 10 1/2 design and put it inside a ring that allowed it to rotated inside the watch case. The rotations then effectively 'wound' the 10 1/2. That being said, some of the simplest ideas can be some of the biggest game-changers and this idea certainly was.
Family Notes: In 1926, Hans Wilsdorf introduced the Oyster watch which used a waterproof case, hence the name. He added "Perpetual" to the name when in 1933 he introduced a reliable automatic self-winding watch. Hence the name means "Waterproof, Self-Winding" in Rolex-speak and generally means the watch is water resistant to a depth of 100 meters.
Type: The Rolex Bubble Back or Bubbleback was first manufactured in 1933. These watches got their name due to the fact that the auto wind mechanism appeared to simply be bolted onto the basic Rolex movement. This attachment was rather large so it was necessary to round out the case back in order to accommodate the mechanism in order to allow proper functioning of the oscillating weight which made complete 360 degree rotations within the case. The Rolex Bubble Backs were produced possibly as late as the early 1960's. Many good examples exist to this day possibly due to the simple and durable basic 18 jewel design of the movement.

Most of these watches were time only and also had a sweep second hand. Later models included a date mechanism and were possibly the first DateJust models produced by Rolex such as the model 6075 which was manufactured in 1948. Some of these early Bubble Backs also had subsidiary seconds bits and many also had the popular California dials which had both Roman numerals and Arabic numerals. None of the Bubble Back cases had bezels that could be removed. Rather than the watch crystal being held in by compression using a bezel crystals were installed by the constriction method. The most common crystal used for these watches is the Tropic 30 crystal. It measures 2.6mm in height. The inside diameter is 24.6mm and the outside diameter is 25.5mm. The Bubble Back shown below has a Registered Design of 6015. Case sizes for the gents watch is 31mm, the ladies is 24mm. Lug sizes for the gents watch is 16mm and the ladies is 13mm.
Item created by: gdm on 2018-10-02 10:28:51. Last edited by gdm on 2019-02-26 09:27:23

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