Again, the below applies only to the black dial Rolex 6034. There is enough variety of dials in this section that it raises questions as to which of these dials are original and which are refinished. Proceed with caution with outliers.
I am dividing the black dial Rolex 6023 into two different sets, based on one of the first features that distinguish the pieces: what appears as the hour marker for 12 o’clock.
Applied coronet dials
These dials have an applied coronet as the 12 o’clock marker. Looking between examples we can see slight differences in the coronet, most easily seen when comparing the hole in the coronet and also the width of the points of the coronet. Most all are silver, with one example in gold.
On one of the thicker coronet dials, 692583, we see main hands, chronograph second hand, and lume that is not consistent with other applied coronet dials. That case number is also outside the expected range for a black dial 6034.
Arabic 12 dials
The pieces with the Arabic 12 only have the number 12 as hour mark, the rest of the hour marks are pyramid (see below, ‘Index marks’ section). These dials also have a coronet, appearing in negative relief, positioned between the Arabic 12 and above the ROLEX text.
Depending on which dial design, there will be differences in text, scales, index marks, lume and hands between ‘Applied coronet’ and ‘Arabic 12’ pieces. Generally speaking, the ‘Applied coronet’ pieces have earlier case numbers than the ‘Arabic 12’.
Text
All pieces have text centered at 12 o’clock:
ROLEX
OYSTER CHRONOGRAPH
and with text at 6 o’clock, either:
ANTI-MAGNETIC or ANTIMAGNETIC
This text may be curved around the hour register, or straight.
For the pieces with applied coronet at 12, I have not been able to determine any pattern for case numbers to determine when the 6 o’clock text is straight versus curved. If it is straight, however, we see ANTI-MAGNETIC in all cases. And if the text is curved around the hour register, it is ANTIMAGNETIC (one exception, below).
There is a single piece, 847268, that features an underline below ANTI-MAGNETIC on the dial. I cannot say whether the underline is original to the dial.
Two exceptions:
a. 692583, which does not have any text at 6 o’clock. I will point out that this case number is a significant outlier of those seen in the database (the next higher number being in the 847xxx range). Additionally, the applied crown at 12 and fonts are different than all others (for font, take the example of this with an open 6 in the second register, with all others closed)
b. The only piece with different spelling, ANTIMAGNETIQUE. This text is curved around the hour register.
For Arabic 12 pieces, the text will always be ANTI-MAGNETIC and curved around the hour register.
All pieces should have “SWISS” at the edge of the dial at 6 o’clock. I have additional comment in the “Luminous plots” section, below, on the use of “T”.
Scales
The Rolex 6034 features both tachymeter and telemeter scales, and was available in both mile and km dials.
When the telemeter scale is shown in km, the tachymeter scale will not provide km as unit of measure. When the telemeter scale is shown in miles, the tachymeter scale may or may not provide mile as unit of measure (of course, there is no reason a telemeter scale should have a unit of distance). Curiously, we see tachymeter scales with mile base both with low and high case numbers within the range of those seen.
Further, for applied coronet pieces, we see scale text listed as “BASE 1 MILE” or “BASE 1000” (either before or after 12 o’clock). When the “BASE 1000” text appears prior to 12 o’clock, the scale starts at 1000. In all other cases it starts at 300.
For Arabic 12 pieces, the telemeter scale is always miles, and there is no unit of measure on the tachymeter scale. All Arabic 12 tachymeter scales start at 1000.
Registers
All pieces have registers that overlap the telemeter track, but do not overlap the tachymeter track.
Rolex 6034 all have 30 minute and 12 hour counters.
Index marks
The index marks on the applied coronet dials are all dagger style, with the daggers slightly cropped at the edge of the register for hours 2, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 10. There are no daggers at 3, 6 or 9. The piece with the applied gold coronet has consistent gold dagger marks.
For all Arabic 12 pieces, the index marks are gold and pyramid style, appearing at all hours except 3, 6 and 9.
Luminous plots
For applied coronet dials, we see luminous hour plots between the daggers and telemeter track. Dials are marked as “SWISS” as previously noted, with exceptions below:
We see three “T SWISS T” applied coronet examples, which strikes me as unusual given the period of production of the black dial 6034 (approximately 1950 – 1953). Additionally, each of the dials differs from the others.
The first piece, 847235, has T’s that were added later, and appear just inside/on the tachymeter track.
The second, serial unknown, has “T SWISS T” at the outer edge of the dial at 6 o’clock.
The last piece, serial unknown, with “T” markings also has “T SWISS T” at 6 o’clock, but unusually has no luminous plots. This is also the only known dial that has the “ANTIMAGNETIQUE” spelling.
Arabic 12 dials were produced with and without luminous plots between the pyramid markers at 12 and the telemeter track. These all have “SWISS” text only (not “T SWISS T”).
