I have come across a Tudor Ref. 7944 Prince Oysterdate automatic where the odd-numbered dates are in black, and the even-number dates are in red. It seems to me that Rolex has done this (and maybe still does) on some of their date models. Was there any particular significance to this? Are these watches considered any more "rare" than those with all black dates? Tried to find something about this in the index of the Dowling/Hess book, but to no avail. Also searched this discussion group under "red date" and came up empty. Perhaps our esteemed Mr. Hess can shed some light on this?

The eearly datejust with the "bubbleback" style of case had red letters adn are more desirable!

And yes you are correct Mr. Shawkey! Rolex had JUST INTRODUCED at BASEL THIS YEAR a renewed RED DATE DATEJUST!

I gotta tell ya, for a modern watch it is very very good looking!

Jeff Hess

Jeff (or anybody): Not to belabor the point, but what do you think was Rolex/Tudor's rationale behind the alternating colors on the date? It's just a guess, but my hunch is that during the "early days" of the date feature, Rolex/Tudor did this to emphasize to the wearer that the date had, in fact, changed (as if by magic!) overnight. This explanation would certainly be line with Rolex's penchant for "over-engineering."

I contacted James Dowling and here's what he said about the red/black date:

Hi Bruce;

Interestingly it was not present on the first Datejusts from 1945 but
seems to have been introduced in the early 1950s when the 1035 movement
arrived. It also seems to have died out by the end of the 1950s, at
which time the 103X movements had already gone too.

My gut feeling is that the period 1953 to 1958 would most likely cover
the 'roulette' date feature but I could be wrong (I have been
previously and I know I will be again).

I hope this has been of some help.

Good Luck
James

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Thanks to those who replied. The consensus seems to be that the "roulette wheel" date feature was a limited production, circa 1950s, although Rolex has apparently re-introduced it. No one seems to know what Rolex's rationale was for the feature. But then who out there (including Rolex itself) understands its rationale for anything? I think it's safe to say it was simply a marketing gimmick.