ROLEX. AN EXTREMELY RARE AND SUPERBLY WELL PRESERVED STAINLESS STEEL CHRONOGRAPH TRIPLE CALENDAR WRISTWATCH
ROLEX. AN EXTREMELY RARE AND SUPERBLY WELL PRESERVED STAINLESS STEEL CHRONOGRAPH TRIPLE CALENDAR WRISTWATCH
ROLEX. AN EXTREMELY RARE AND SUPERBLY WELL PRESERVED STAINLESS STEEL CHRONOGRAPH TRIPLE CALENDAR WRISTWATCH
1 More
ROLEX. AN EXTREMELY RARE AND SUPERBLY WELL PRESERVED STAINLESS STEEL CHRONOGRAPH TRIPLE CALENDAR WRISTWATCH
4 More
This lot is subject to standard Swiss VAT rules an… Read more ROLEXSTEEL ‘JEAN CLAUDE KILLY’ REF. 6236 THE PROPERTY OF AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN COLLECTOR
ROLEX. AN EXTREMELY RARE AND SUPERBLY WELL PRESERVED STAINLESS STEEL CHRONOGRAPH TRIPLE CALENDAR WRISTWATCH

SIGNED ROLEX, CHRONOGRAPH ANTIMAGNETIC, ‘JEAN CLAUDE KILLY’ MODEL, REF. 6236, CASE NO. 576’445, CIRCA 1960

Details
ROLEX. AN EXTREMELY RARE AND SUPERBLY WELL PRESERVED STAINLESS STEEL CHRONOGRAPH TRIPLE CALENDAR WRISTWATCH
SIGNED ROLEX, CHRONOGRAPH ANTIMAGNETIC, ‘JEAN CLAUDE KILLY’ MODEL, REF. 6236, CASE NO. 576’445, CIRCA 1960
Movement: Manual
Dial: Silvered
Case: 36 mm. diam.
With: Stainless steel Rolex buckle and 'Watch Certificate' passport: https://certificate.watchcertificate.org/fr/uvd5rzajc
Special notice
This lot is subject to standard Swiss VAT rules and 7.7% VAT will be charged on the ‘hammer’ and the ‘buyer’s premium’

Brought to you by

Remi Guillemin
Remi Guillemin Head of Watches, Europe and Americas

Lot Essay

Many collectors of vintage watches hunt for the perfect and all-original example of this favourite Rolex model. For scholars and aficionados of fine and complicated vintage Rolex wristwatches, this fresh to the market and wonderfully original reference 6236 ‘Jean Claude Killy’ is a dream watch.

The present stainless steel example of this landmark reference must be considered one of the best preserved specimens to come to the market in years. It is blessed with a superb untouched dial, with all the typical features a savvy Rolex collector would expect; indeed, the transfer printing used on reference 6236 dials is regarded as the most perfect of any dial of the period and has rarely been equalled. The blue date ring features the date of the month, and as one would expect for this very late example, the ‘six’ and ‘nine’ are no longer ‘open’, as with previous generations, but rather closed. Furthermore, the typical short hour indexes, highlighted with a luminous dot towards the outside, has remained largely intact and aged to a warm beige-brown tone. The case is stunningly crisp and one may conclude that it has probably never been polished since new, the finely engraved reference and serial numbers in between the lugs are fully legible.

The family of Dato Compax triple calendar chronographs is among the most complex vintage watch lines made by Rolex. Scholars estimate that the total production of steel reference 6236 to be 215 pieces with only 55 known to the market today. Reference 6236 was made in incredibly low numbers for Rolex, which boasted at the time an annual production of several thousand watches. The sporty appeal of this chronograph, distinguished by the iconic tonneau-shaped case, merges with the complexity and practicality of the triple calendar complication. The result is an everlasting classic which captured the hearts of collectors so much that is nowadays the among the most sought-after Rolex vintage chronograph. Since the introduction of this model during the second half of the 1940's, its design has regularly been updated and modernized until it reached its final form as the reference 6236, easily recognizable by the larger, more prominent bezel, which unlike earlier versions, is a separate part and snapped onto the main body of the case. Reference 6236 was the final version of the celebrated Dato Compax model. In production between 1958 and at least 1964, it is easily identifiable by the larger bezel compared to its predecessors. In fact, the case of reference 6236 is now made of three elements, the bezel no longer carved from the same block as the centrepiece of the case.

These watches are linked to a legendary personality: Jean-Claude Killy. Olympic skier and man of extremely refined taste, the name of Mr. Killy has been associated with Rolex for 40 years since he became an official Rolex Ambassador and began serving on the Rolex Board of Directors.

Uniting rarity, history and mechanical complexity, the present timepiece is a rare opportunity for the discerning collector of the finest vintage Rolex watches to add this legendary model to his or her collection.

More from Rare Watches

View All
View All