I honestly don't know. Fully expected this to be fake. Long story short. A friend contacted me today and asked me to look at some watches from her dead x. I barely know Omegas. No experience with Rolex. The band seems cheap but I haven't handled any. Pictures will do best. Let me have it. Smooth second hand movement. The font looks right. Hard to tell with the scratched crystal.

 

At first glance it looks like a legit ref 16013 from the 80s. The degradation of the blue dial around the lume dots is very typical. Look between the lugs at 6 for the serial and between the lugs at 12 for the reference. There should be a date code inside the bracelet clasp.

 

Didn't bring a spring bar tool. Told her best thing to do was take it to the local watch guy. He should know almost immediately. The Tulsa time guy seems good.

 

I think the lugs have holes, so you can probably remove the bracelet with a paper clip or safety pin. But if she's going to take it to a watchmaker, you don't really need our opinions anyway.

 

They do. Meet at the local watering hole. No paperclips.
Asked here to save her the trip to the he watch place.

Thanks everyone.

 

Rolex transitioned the DJ to sapphire crystals around 1978 or so, if the crystal is plastic it is mid-70's watch. Serial number will be definitive.

 

The DJ did not transition until the late 1980s IIRC. I'm pretty sure the OP watch is a 16013 with acrylic crystal (based on the flat dial and domed crystal). It could be from the very late 1970s or most of the 1980s.

 

Nope, I had a TT DJ I bought new in 1976 in Houston from an AD.....acrylic crystal and US made Jubilee bracelet (poor quality and stretched like hell). A couple of years after I got the watch Rolex switched to a sapphire crystal and better quality Swiss made bracelet. I was bummed out because I had the older version and you couldn't put sapphire crystal on a plexi case. Sold the watch around 1980.

 

Some quick Googling seem to show 1988, but maybe that's not correct.

 

Interesting, I have a 1980 DJ ref 16000 with an acrylic crystal and my first Rolex was a 1984 16014 with acrylic crystal. Below are photos of the latter.

In my experience, the first 5-digit SS and two-tone DJs (16000, 16013, 16014, 16030) had flat (not pie-pan) dials, quick-set date movements, and acrylic crystals. And they were made until the late 1980s. Prior to that, the last 4-digit SS DJs (1600, 1601, 1603) had pie-pan dials, non quick-set date movements, and also acrylic crystals. After the 160xx DJs, the SS models moved to sapphire crystals (162xx).

I can't speak about the solid gold DJs, since I've never owned one. They may have switched to sapphire earlier for the gold DJs.

 

My DJ is from '83. All original. Acrylic crystal. Stretched the hell out Jubilee.VERY comfy.