CIRCA: 1983
CASE MATERIAL: Stainless steel
DIAMETER: 34 mm.
BRACELET: Stainless steel Rolex Oyster bracelet with deployant clasp, overall length of bracelet approx. 165 mm.
DIAL: Silvered matte dial, Domino's Pizza logo, baton numerals, luminous accents, luminous hands, sweep centre seconds,
MOVEMEMT: Cal. 1520, automatic
FUNCTIONS: Time, date
WITH: Rolex Certificate of Warranty and Rolex presentation box

These lots have been imported from outside of the UAE for sale. Should the lots be released into GCC/UAE free circulation, duty will be payable at 5% on the low estimate. Duty paid in Dubai is treated as final duty payment as per GCC''s customs laws. VAT at 5% will be applied to the hammer and buyer’s premium.

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This lot is offered by Christie's Dubai Ltd.

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Lot Essay

How did the logo of a pizza chain end up on the dial of a Rolex? A little insight can be gleaned from Tom Managhan’s 1986 autobiography Pizza Tiger. In the book, Domino’s Pizza founder Managhan explains that it all began when he gave his own Bulova watch to a franchise manager after losing a bet in the late 1970s. Managhan had challenged the manager to turn in $20,000 a week.

In the early days, a manager had to hit $20,000 in sales per week to get a Rolex Air King. Eventually, the Rolex Challenge would require a franchise to hit $25,000 in sales for four consecutive weeks to make the cut. Rolex stopped putting the pizza chain’s logo on the dial in the early 2000s and the Oyster Perpetual models that replaced the Air-Kings had a more discrete logo integrated onto the second link of the steel bracelet.

The Air-King was the entry-level Rolex till it was discontinued in 2014 but was relaunched following a major redesign in 2016.