Rolex Air King ref 5506 gilt dial

The Rolex Air-King has one of the most complex histories of any Rolex model spanning nearly 70 years of continuous production.  During the Second World War, Rolex would supply their SpeedKing or other specified model on credit to British POWs. As the war drew to a close, Rolex founder, Hans Wilsdorf, chose to honor the RAF pilots of the Battle of Britain with a series of aviation themed watches. The "Air" series included the Air-Lion, Air-Giant, Air-Tiger, and of course the Air-King. Today, only the Air-King remains.

The first true Air-King was introduced in 1945 with the 4925. The 4925 was the follow-on to the 4365 series of "Air" models. For the international market the progression was from the 4925/4365 (sub-seconds), 4499, 6552, 5500, 14000, 14000m, then finally the super cased 114200. 

In 1958, however, a separate line evolved independently for specific markets. These included the Air-King-Date and the 5500, 5501, 5504, 5506 models for the Commonwealth market. To make matters more complex, the 5500, 5501, 5504, 5506 cases were also used for both the Air-King and Explorer. This is the uncommon reference 5506, 40 micron, gold plated, 34mm., with stainless steel Rolex Oyster steel back automatic watch from the 1950s. This is with a rare gilt dial, which made it very collectible.

The models preceding the 5500, with the exception of the 6552, used Hunter movements. Rolex continuously issued new reference numbers as they refined the Air-King line. The 6552, introduced in 1953, can be considered a transitional model to the 5500 as they appear very similar.

while everyone is chasing the Rolex sports models, there are many nice and unique Rolex watches that went under the radar of the collectors. The Unique feature of the Rolex 5506 gilt dial is that under different light conditions, one sees different shades of brown. There is a different between a collector and connoisseur.