Description
Here is very rare ref. 5500 Rolex Oyster Perpetual Metropolitan housed in the original 34mm stainless steel (very clean) Rolex Oyster case housing a (just serviced) gilded butterfly rotor, automatic winding Rolex movement. This watch dates to 1957 when Rolex began experimenting with new names of their watches, prior to the introduction of the Explorer. Explorer, Metropolitan, and Meritus were a few of the names that were used on dress-version Rolex watches marketed in Canada in 1954-1955, with only the Explorer making it to mass production. The steel Metropolitan was only sold in 1957. The Metropolitan is the rarest of all three of these experimental dress watches. This example is truly fabulous! The silver dial is completely original, including all the lume on the dial and hands. We purchased this watch from the family of the original owner.
