Rolex

Released for only a small window roughly between 1956 to 1959, the Ref 6609 Datejust Turn-O-Graph from Rolex was given and additional nick name, the ‘Thunderbird’. The moniker ‘Thunderbird’ was adopted when Rolex aligned with the United States Air Force air demonstration team known as the ‘Thunderbirds’ established in 1953 at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, home also to the mythological creature of the same name found in many American indigenous cultures.

The Reference 6609 was predominantly cased in yellow gold, and featured a unidirectional bezel graduated to 5 minute intervals, and additional fitted with a ‘roulette wheel’ (consecutive red/black lettering 0on the date disk. The current example was purchased at the illustrious and fabled Serpico y Laino boutique in Caracas, and proudly displays its retailers name on its dial that also features gold dart hour markers and luminous alpha hands, making the one of the rarer and most desirable examples. The case of the current example is in excellent condition, with its lugs displaying full proportions, with the hallmark crisp and clear to the underside of the lug. On the exterior of the case back can be seen stamped 750 18k in reference to the purity of the gold, and the casemakers key ‘12’ for ‘Genex SA’, Glacis de Rive 12, originally casemakers for Guy Freres and subsequently Rolex, in Chene Bourg.