The 1985 two-tone Datejust with the black tapestry dial, and its papers.

The Datejust 36 is the watch Rolex built its reputation on: the first self-winding wristwatch with a date that changed at midnight, launched in 1945, and made ever since in a 36mm Oyster case with a screw-down crown, an automatic chronometer movement, the date under its Cyclops lens at three, a fluted, smooth or engine-turned bezel, and a Jubilee or Oyster bracelet. Because Rolex made it for eight decades in every dial and metal, the pre-owned market is deep and this is where the money goes when people search for a Rolex that is not a Submariner.

The 16013 is the two-tone Datejust Rolex made from about 1977 to 1988 with the calibre 3035, the first Datejust movement with a quickset date, and it sits a generation behind the 16233 on this page and a step below it in price. The tapestry dial is a woven texture Rolex made for a few years in the 1980s; in black under a gold bezel it is the most 1980s dial there is. Box and papers on a forty-year-old watch are the reason to pick this one.

WGACA gives the reference as 16013, the size as 36mm, the case as steel with an 18 karat yellow gold fluted bezel and sapphire, the movement as automatic, the dial as black tapestry with baton markers, the bracelet as a two-tone Jubilee with a deployment clasp, box and papers as included, a serial, and the condition as Excellent with minor scratching on the caseback. The photograph matches; the calibre 3035, chronometer rating, reserve and 100 metres are Rolex’s published figures for the 16013.

WGACA authenticates in-house and is not a Rolex authorised dealer, and Amazon adds its 30-day return window. Ask for the serial, whether box or papers come with it, and when it was last serviced. Nothing here was measured on the watch.

This unit is sold by What Goes Around Comes Around (WGACA) 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 36mm Datejusts.

Steel and two-tone Datejusts have resold close to what pre-owned buyers paid, sometimes more, sometimes less; that is a pattern, not a promise, and nothing here is investment advice.