Editor’s note: It seems to be yet another sub-sub-sub-culture within the watch collecting community. And that is the people that get some kind of a kick out of Rolex imperfections. I suppose, in lots of ways, it makes sense. They are so rare as to be freaks of nature. Recently, a new Oyster Perpetual model with misplaced double batons has been doing the rounds. While it is treated, naturally, with a very high does of skepticism, for a few days there, it was everywhere. But this one, that was first uncovered last year, is certified legitimate and next level curious. How could something so detectable, so obvious, have slipped past QA? Revisiting the confounding case of the ‘Double 9’ Air-King… It’s a modern-day escape from Alcatraz, where the escapee is a defect on a watch that makes it to market, and Alcatraz is the Rolex manufacture. That, I suspect, is flattering Alcatraz. Because, the fact that a modern Rolex with a defect you can actually see even exists is unthinkable to the point of immediately being suspected as a hoax. But here it is. Not only does a ‘double nine’ Rolex Air-King 116900 — with a nine where the ‘3’ numeral should be — allegedly…
The post How did this Rolex get past QA? Revisiting the suspicious case of the ‘Double 9’ Air-King… appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.