1999 Rolex Air-King ref. 14010 “Exploding Star Tropical Dial”

Up for grabs is a Rolex Air-King in steel

Reference 14010 with 34mm case and engine turned bezel.

A5 serial number circa 1999 production.

The case is clearly unpolished on this watch. Still shows crud from not being touched or cleaned. Upon your request, can be cleaned up without polish. The numbers between the lugs show typical bracelet wear as most U and A serial Rolex do, but the numbers are still legible.

The star of show is the dial here, of course. It has aged to a very dramatic color and pattern. To me, it sort of resembles a explosion. Because of the black print on the dial, this dial must’ve started its life as silver in color. Though most typical tropical dials turn brown from either original blue or black colors. However, the blue and black dials used a white font, while only silver and salmon colors used black print. As you can see, there is no damage to the lume dots and not discoloration suggesting moisture damage. Why or how this dial aged this away, I cannot tell you, but over the years I have seen and owned similar aged dial, on originally silver dials, from about this era.  Here is a quick example of a DateJust with a wild tropical aged dial I’ve had: https://lunaroyster.com/product/1997-rolex-datejust-ref-16220-tropical-sunburst-dial/

The bezel remains sharp and shows some crud on it.

Caseback is sharp and seeming unpolished.

The bracelet is original Rolex Oyster 78350 with 557B ends, full 13 links, moderate stretch from use, and correct X date code on clasp.

No box or papers. No documented or known service history. The watch winds and runs currently at about -11 seconds per day with ~230 amplitude.