Rolex Datejust 1600, 1601 and 1603: Reference Guide

The 1600, 1601 and 1603 are the three bezel variants of the same 36mm Datejust that Rolex made from around 1960 until the five-digit 16000 series replaced them in the late 1970s. The 1600 has a smooth bezel, the 1601 a fluted bezel and the 1603 an engine-turned bezel; the case, movement and dials are otherwise shared.

The Datejust was Rolex's everyday watch through this period and was sold in steel, two-tone and gold, on Jubilee and Oyster bracelets, with dozens of dial colors and marker styles. That variety is the reason these references reward attention. A steel 1601 with a silver dial is common; a steel 1600 with a gilt dial that has gone tropical, or a 1603 with a grey Buckley dial that has ghosted, is not. Same reference family, very different watches.

The four-digit 1600 series ran from roughly 1960 to about 1978. Early watches use the caliber 1560, the 1570 arrives in the mid-1960s, and the hacking 1575 is standard from about 1972.

The dials tell the story more clearly than the movements. The earliest watches carry pie-pan dials, so called because the outer edge steps down like the rim of a pan, often in gilt with gold printing and applied markers. Through the 1960s the pie-pan flattened out and gilt gave way to silver, black and colored dials with white or black printing. The 1970s brought the wider range of colors, including grey and blue, and the Buckley dial with painted Roman numerals. All of these were fitted with a non-quickset date, which is the single biggest practical difference from the 16000 series that followed.

Gilt pie-pan dials from the early 1960s and any dial that has aged into a tropical brown or a ghost grey are the most valuable; Buckley dials with painted Roman numerals, especially in grey, are a strong second tier; plain silver and champagne dials are the everyday examples.

The gilt dials are the ones we watch for. On the 1962 example below the black gilt lacquer has broken into a bark-like pattern of black, brown and grey with pumpkin-toned lume plots. Ghost dials are grey dials whose printing has faded to nearly the color of the ground, and on a Buckley the effect is that the Roman numerals appear and vanish with the light. Look at hands too: a Buckley dial should have hands that match its numerals, and black hands on a Buckley are scarcer than white.

Check that the bezel matches the reference stamped between the lugs, that the dial is original rather than refinished or a later service replacement, that the hands match the dial, and that the case has kept its lug bevels.

Datejusts were made in large numbers and have been refinished, rebezeled and re-dialed more often than the sports models, so a buyer has to be more careful, not less. What we check:

• Case: reference number consistent with the bezel fitted; bevels and lug holes crisp; no evidence of a gold-plated bezel on a steel case.
• Dial: applied markers tight, printing crisp, lacquer intact. A refinished dial has too-even color and soft text; a tropical or ghost dial has a changed color with the surface intact.
• Hands: style and lume consistent with the dial; black hands on a Buckley are correct and desirable.
• Bezel: smooth on a 1600, fluted on a 1601, engine-turned on a 1603, in the metal the reference calls for.
• Bracelet: Jubilee or Oyster with end links for a 36mm Datejust and a clasp code within a few years of the case.
• Movement: caliber 1560, 1570 or 1575 appropriate to the serial, clean, with the date changing near midnight.
• Service history: who serviced it and whether the dial was left untouched.

The plain examples are among the most reasonable ways into a vintage Rolex and have moved slowly; the unusual dials have been a different market and have attracted serious collector money. We would not buy either as a financial instrument.

What favors these references is volume: there are enough of them that a buyer can be patient and choosy, and enough dial variety that the interesting ones stand out. What argues for caution is that the interesting ones have been faked, refinished and swapped for as long as they have been valuable, so a tropical gilt or a ghost Buckley needs verification a silver 1601 does not. If you buy the ordinary watch, buy it for the wrist. If you buy the extraordinary dial, buy the provenance with it.

The price depends on the dial far more than the bezel: an ordinary silver dial on a steel case is at one end, and a tropical gilt or ghost Buckley dial on an unpolished case is at the other, with box and papers adding on top.

We do not print a range here. See the examples below, listed with their actual sale prices: the 1962 tropical gilt 1600 and the 1977 ghost Buckley 1603 were both offered watch-only. When comparing listings elsewhere, be sure the dial is original, because that single fact separates the two ends of the market.

The 1601 has a fluted bezel, which on a steel watch is white gold, and the 1603 has an engine-turned steel bezel with a fine radial pattern; the case, dial and movement are otherwise the same.

The fluted bezel is dressier and catches more light; the engine-turned bezel is quieter and reads as a tool watch on the wrist. Neither is rarer in any meaningful way, and the choice is taste. Our comparison of the Datejust 1601 and 1603 covers the differences in more detail. If you want a quickset date with the same look, read our guide to the 16000, which is the reference that replaced this family.