Air-King Ref. 116900

By ICONEEK January 16, 2023

ROLEX, OYSTER PERPETUAL, AIR-KING, REF. 116900

ICONEEK price: SOLD

Iconeek is proud to present here a nice and attractive Air-King model by Rolex, the Ref. 116900. Ref. 116900 was introduced at the 2016 Baselworld and uses the same case and movement as the Milgauss ref. 116400 (see here).

Produced for the British Royal Air Force and its pilots during and immediately after WWII with ref. 4925, followed by Ref. 4499, the Air-King’s design has evolved over the years much to the delight of collectors who now find a rich variety of different dials, cases and references, each with their own unique attractions. Early Air-king were fitted with a manually winding movement. The dial was only written « Precision » or « Super precision » as the models were not certified chronometer.

Water-resistant to 100m., the model comes with a three-body construction: a large tonneau-shaped stainless steel case, screw-down case back and Twinlock crown, smooth inclined bezel with flat sapphire crystal. The case is engraved between the lugs at 12 with « ORIG ROLEX DESIGN » and at 6 with « STAINLESS STEEL » . The inside back is engraved « 2380 » , as case back are interchangeables. Under the glass, the inside ring is engraved all around « ROLEX » and bears the serial number « 4H963082 ».

Under the sapphire crystal, we find a mint and attractive gloss black dial with applied steel 3, 6,9 numerals, applied luminous triangular index, painted white Arabic numerals, luminous hands, sweep center second, outer minute division. Protected under a screwed antimagnetic cap, the watch is powered by a caliber 3131, mechanical, rhodium plated, certified chronometer, 31 jewels, with hack mechanism, shock absorbers, straight-line lever escapement, blued steel Parachrom Breguet hairspring, monometallic balance with Microstella timing screws, adjusted 5 positions and temperature, self-winding. The stainless steel Oyster bracelet is fitted with an Oysterclasp engraved « 733 » and Easylink adjustment for an extra 5 mm., endlinks engraved H4Y 71200 & K8X 71200. The present watch comes full-set, with its original fitted green presentation box and outer packaging, Air-King booklet, guarantee card dated July 2017, green seal. Dial, case, movement and bracelet are signed.

Condition: 8/10, in very good overall condition, some signs of wear in places, full-set