The Best Vintage Rolex Watches For Under $10K

As you are probably already aware, there has rarely been a better time to buy a vintage Rolex. In fact, Business Insider was recently quoted as saying that, right now ‘could be one of the best moments in recent memory.’

Preowned market prices have been in steady decline for about a year, with several different factors responsible, cited from a variety of sources.

But while issues such as the crypto crash or Federal Reserve rate hikes have certainly played their parts, the main reason boils down to the most elementary fiscal principle of them all; supply and demand.

There has been a huge upsurge in watches becoming available, as economic conditions post-COVID have started to bite. According to Morgan Stanley, 2022 saw the number of Rolex and Patek models coming to market more than double, with Audemars Piguet seeing an increase of around 75%.

Although prices are now levelling out, we are still currently in a mini golden age for collectors. If you are looking to add another or first vintage piece to your arsenal, you are spoilt for choice right now.

Below, we have picked out four watches from Rolex for your consideration, some of the most iconic timepieces ever made.

The Rolex Submariner ref. 16610

Who hasn’t always wanted a Sub?! Quite simply the most illustrious, esteemed, emulated, counterfeited and accomplished luxury dive watch of all time, the Submariner has set all others trailing in its wake since 1953.

The last 70 years were witness to only minimal aesthetic changes, the most radical in the current era being the relatively short-lived Super Case from 2010 and an unexpected size increase last year, taking it up to a still modest 41mm.

However, the ref. 16610 and its no-date counterpart, the ref. 14060 (another shoe-in for a list of this type) are widely described as the ‘last of the best’.

Why is that? Well, for all of Rolex’s pioneering innovations in materials and engineering technology, the ref. 16610 was, just possibly, the final time the Submariner could be legitimately described as a tool watch.

Launched in 1989, it was released in the age of aluminum bezels, lug holes and tritium—all vintage details dear to collectors’ hearts. And even though it ran for over two decades and the latter two elements were phased out during that time, this is still less of a status symbol reference and more a hardworking companion.

Even better, it is powered by Rolex’s, and possibly the industry’s, finest ever mass-produced movement, the Cal. 3135.

Right now, the market is swarming in ref. 16610s. So if you’ve been on the fence for a while, it’s time to take the plunge.

The Rolex Explorer II ref. 16570

A model with a production run of almost exactly the same length as the Submariner above, resulting in a similar mix of both vintage and modern characteristics.

Like all Explorer II references, the ref. 16570 is one of Rolex’s unsung heroes. The piece has lingered in the shadows cast by its dual time stable mate, the GMT-Master, since the beginning and has attracted a different type of admirer because of it. Typically bought by people who appreciate and have a genuine need for a tough, robust workhorse of a watch, those who know where to go for the best of them but have little interest in demonstrating to the world they own a Rolex; effectiveness over extravagance.

The ref. 16570 was also released in 1989 but outdid the ref. 16610 by a year, not being retired until 2011. It too went through the tritium and lug hole early phase, before its later examples did away with both.

You also get a choice in dial colors. The black faced versions have traditionally been the more affordable option, but these days even the more favored ‘Polar’ dials easily fall within our $10K catchment.

Subtly styled, usefully complicated and built like a tank, the ref. 16570 is an all-weather friend at a bargain price.

The Rolex Milgauss ref. 116400GV

Here’s one which could get a bit interesting in years to come. Although we would never advocate buying any watch purely as a potential investment opportunity, the fact remains that once a model goes out of production, and it is especially true with Rolex, it is not unusual to see its price rise on the secondary market.

The Milgauss ref. 116400GV is one such example.

The brand finally pulled the plug on the scientist’s watch this year, after a long life spent as one of their niche underdogs. Regardless of its impressive and attractive features—excellent antimagnetic resistance, quirky handset and, in its latest guise, that unique colored sapphire—the Milgauss was never one of Rolex’s front runners.

It was its bad luck to debut around the same time as the likes of the Sub, GMT, Datejust and Day-Date, and got somehow so lost in the crowd it wasn’t ever really able to find its way out.

None of that takes anything away from what is a superb timepiece, one with a long history and formidable talents.

The ref. 116400GV was part of the relaunched generation, unveiled in 2007 to commemorate the opening of the Large Hadron Collider after being discontinued in 1988. Like the Explorer II it came with a choice in dials; black and white to start off, the latter retired in 2014 to make way for the intriguing Z-Blue, with its sunburst glacial face.

Coupled with bright orange indexes and lightning bolt seconds hand, and covered with that green crystal, the ref. 116400GV was among the most colorful watches in Rolex’s portfolio at one time.

Now they are all gone, (probably) never to return, this is the perfect time to get your hands on one.

The Rolex Datejust

If you just look up the word ‘watch’ in a dictionary, you will see a picture of a Rolex Datejust. Well, ok, you won’t. But you should.

Second only to the Air-King in the longevity stakes, the Datejust has been the spine of the Rolex collection since 1945. Consistently the manufacture’s bestseller nearly all that time, the number of different guises in which the model has been released is now positively uncountable, with more and more added seemingly every year.

So what can you get for $10K? As it turns out, an awful lot.

Want a sophisticated steel piece in 41mm? 36mm? 34mm, 31mm, 28mm? No problem. Wanna see some Rolesor action with yellow or Everose gold? Easy. Fancy just about every dial color you can imagine? Ten grand will get you that too.

What was once a radical breakthrough for wristwatch technology is now one of horology’s eldest statesmen, but the variety on offer means it has never looked démodé. The Datejust has remained watchmaking’s ultimate blank canvas onto which every individual can implant his or her own personality.

Rock solid and timeless, it is the one watch that can truly do it all.

Featured Photo: BeckerTime’s Archive.