Rolex Two-Tone Oyster Perpetual Datejust with Service Papers 1981

A stainless steel and eighteen carat gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust reference 16013.   This is an exceptional, and quite rare dial; a navy blue base with large stamped gold Roman numerals, chapter ring and printing for the text.  This is a very rare   combination.  These dials are often seen in white with black printing, gold with black, or even the navy with white printing.  It is very beautiful in the flesh, and in natural light. It is very hard to capture this dial on camera. The dial is stamped "T Swiss T" at the six o'clock position, meaning that it contains tritium luminous material.  This material replaced the highly dangerous, and radioactive Radium in 1963. Just like radium, tritium was also radioactive; however, it came with a much lower level of radiation and a much shorter half-life. While tritium was exponentially safer than radium, it only had a half-life of twelve years. This meant that after just a few decades, only a tiny fraction of the initial luminescence woul