Rare 1945 Mens 14kt Gold Stainless Rolex Datejust Ref. 6605, A vintage 100% original pre-owned Rolex Ref No.6605 gentleman's 14kt yellow gold and stainless steel Oyster Perpetual Datejust, Serial No. 352840, Manufacture Date 1945, (First Year Datejust Model Production), 36mm. screw down oyster case, original 14kt yellow gold and stainless steel Oyster band with deployment clasp, 14kt gold fluted bezel, screw down 14kt gold Rolex insignia crown, charcoal Gray-Black tone dial with minute markers, gold bar hour designations, matching gold bar pointed hands, sweep seconds, sapphire crystal with cyclops eye magnifier date window. Rare alternating color RED and BLACK Calendar Dates. The Color of the date alternated every day. SO for example the calendar reads, "19[BLACK], 20 [RED], 21 [BLACK], 22 [RED], etc". Although it has normal wear consistent with age, this Rolex has just been professionally serviced, comes with a Rolex Box and is in excellent running condition, keeps great time and would make an impressive gift or addition to any fine collection. BACKGROUND: Rolex Datejust History The Rolex Datejust was introduced in 1945 and appeared very similar to the Rolex Bubbleback. This was also the same year of the 40 year anniversary of the Rolex company. The Datejust was introduced as the world's first pressure-proof, self-winding calendar wrist chronometer which automatically changed the date in its dial window. The key differences in the Datejust was the introduction of the date function at the three o’clock position and is slightly thicker than the Bubbleback to accommodate the date wheel, which contained alternating red and black date markers to distinguish between odd and even days. It was fitted with a coin-edged bezel and a "pie-pan" dial. This coin edged bezel was later evolved into what is now known as the "Rolex Fluted Bezel". The cyclops feature, a magnified two and one half power lens (window) to allow easy visibility of the date, was first released on the Datejust. Rolex also introduced the Thunderbird version of the Datejust, where the only large difference between the two is the bezel: the Thunderbird model uses the Rolex Turn-O-Graph bezel. The Rolex Datejust remained the premier model in the Rolex line of watches until 1956. At this time, Rolex introduced the Day-Date President as its premium model. In the 1970s, there were four key features that were updated to significantly change the shape of the Datejust from its original design. A new 3135 movement was built to accommodate the quick-set feature and because of this, the Datejust had a smaller profile, a new case, and new dial design. A sapphire crystal soon replaced the plastic acrylic crystal, helping to secure the Datejust as the classic face of the franchise it is today. Over 50 years after the datejust was introduced it remains a highly sought after model in the-Oyster Collection, and is available in a large variety of designs and sizes. "The Lady Datejust shares all the features of its larger counterpart. Every model has a case hewn from a single block of metal. Every model contains a Perpetual self-winding movement. and every model is equipped with a Twinlock winding crown, ensuring that this most precious of timepieces remains pressure-proof to a warranted depth of 330 feet or 100 meters." BACKGROUND: Rolex Oyster Perpetual Timeless timepiece? The Rolex Oyster Perpetual watch is exactly that. This masterpiece of horological engineering has become the world's most sought after wrist watch. Introduced in 1926, the Rolex Oyster was the first airtight, dustproof, and waterproof watch. The Perpetual Rotor, a self winding mechanism, followed soon after, in 1931. Since then the-Oyster Perpetual has survived all conditions from 35,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean to a 500-degree oven to the summit of Mount Everest to outer space, without losing a single beat. Rolex Oyster - the pedigree Hans Wilsdorf's preoccupation with excellence is marked by a number of 'firsts' which came to set the-Oyster Perpetual apart from the rest, and define to the watch as a classic. In 1910 Wilsdorf & Davis obtained from the School of Horology in Switzerland the first official chronometer certification awarded to the movement of a wrist watch, but whilst this was a measure of accurate timekeeping the question over reliability remained in Wilsdorf's mind. Dust and moisture could still find their way into the movement, with a consequent effect on performance. So he developed a case and special winder to produce the first-ever waterproof watch. Jewelers began to display Rolex watches submerged in fish tanks. Shortly after, in 1914, a Class A precision certificate was awarded to a Rolex wrist watch by the renowned Kew Observatory in England, a standard previously achieved only by marine chronometers. By now the wrist watch - the Rolex in particular - was replacing the traditional pocket watch for men and with the arrival of the war was especially popular in the armed forces. Rolex continued to develop the water resistance of their watch case but the winder remained a problem, until the company bought the rights to a patent for a screw-down winder originally proposed by another Swiss watchmaker, Perret & Perregaux. This led to the introduction of the new 'Oyster' in 1926, with a fully-waterproof case and a double-locking winder. The Rolex Oyster was endorsed very publicly the following year with a celebrated cross-channel swim by Mercedes Gleitze (inset) wearing one on her wrist. The Perpetual self-winding movement One niggling imperfection of the-Oyster was that the winder had to be unscrewed to wind the watch. If the owner forgot to screw it back in tightly, or as the threads or waterproof seals wore out over time, the watch was no longer fully waterproof. This was solved by Rolex in 1931, with the introduction of the Perpetual self-winding movement. A self-winding watch contains an internal rotor - a semi-circular metal plate which rotates back and forth with any movement of the wrist, rewinding the mainspring that powers the watch. The concept had first been introduced in 1770 by the Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Perrelet. Emile Borer, head of re and development at Rolex, perfected the mechanism. Now, the external winding knob (the crown) was needed only for occasional time adjustments and the watch's waterproofing system became more reliable (and cheaper). Thus, in the space of less than 30 years, the company founded by Wilsdorf (inset) had introduced the first certified chronometer wrist watch, the first waterproof watch case, and the first self-winding wrist watch. There was more to come. In 1945 Rolex invented a date-display mechanism and launched the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust. This pedigree is what gave (and still gives) the brand its fundamental credibility as the world leader in its market. In the 1990s the Rolex Oyster was voted by the industry as "The Watch of the Century."

Excellent. See description for eventual details.