A 1971 Datejust with the dial collectors named.

The 1600 is the steel Datejust of the 1960s and 1970s with the smooth bezel; the 1601 has the fluted white gold one. It runs the calibre 1570, which is Rolex’s great automatic of the period and has no quickset date: you set the date by winding the hands round through midnight. The crystal is acrylic, which scratches and polishes out; sapphire came with the 16000 series that replaced it.

The seller gives a 286xxxx serial, which is about 1971, and includes the branded box. The bracelet is sized to about 9 inches. Condition is Excellent with light tarnishing throughout, which for a fifty-year-old steel watch is what you want to hear: worn, not over-polished. Whether the Buckley dial is original to this case is not stated; Buckley dials were also fitted at service, so ask. Every figure here comes from the listing and from Rolex’s published description of the 1600, not from handling the watch.

Rolex is pre-owned only on Amazon. This unit is sold by What Goes Around Comes Around through Amazon Luxury Stores, authenticated by the seller with Amazon’s 30-day return window on top; it is one piece, and when it sells the listing goes away, so the second button opens the live search for vintage Datejusts.

Vintage steel Datejusts with collector dials have resold close to what people paid for them and often above plain ones, sometimes more, sometimes less; that is a pattern, not a promise, and nothing here is investment advice.