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Hands

Mercedes hand set

Probable

The hour hand with a three-spoke circle at its tip, used across the Oyster Perpetual sports line since the 1950s. The circle exists to carry lume mass on the hand that most needs to be readable in the dark; the resemblance to a car badge is coincidence, and the name is collector vocabulary rather than Rolex's.

Part reference

Brand
Rolex
Material
Steel or gold with luminous fill
Identifying marks
The three spokes are of even width and meet the rim cleanly; the lume fill sits level within the circle without doming or shrinkage away from the edges. Hands and dial were lumed together, so their colour and texture under the same light should match — a mismatch says one of the two has been replaced and does not say which.

Documented variations

Classification

FactoryDocumented as shipped from the factory for this reference and period.PeriodNot original to this watch, but correct for its production period.ServiceFitted by the manufacturer's own service network. Not a defect.AftermarketThird-party part. Affects originality, not authenticity.ModifiedGenuine parts in a configuration the factory did not sell. Affects originality and value, not authenticity.CounterfeitDeceptive reproduction intended to pass as genuine.UnknownEvidence on file does not settle the question.

  • Period hands, aged with the dial

    FactoryProbable

    Whole production

    Original set. On a vintage watch the lume will have aged, and it should have aged consistently with the dial markers.

  • Service hands

    ServiceProbable

    Whole production

    Rolex service replaced hands as a matter of course, and a watch serviced in the 1990s will carry hands lumed with a modern compound that will never match a tritium dial. Extremely common, an originality finding, and not evidence against the watch.

  • Relumed hands

    AftermarketProbable

    Whole production

    Relumed to match an aged dial. Affects originality and value, and it removes the dial-to-hand ageing comparison as a check — which weakens every inference made after it, and should be recorded for that reason as much as for the value.

Documented on these references

  • Rolex 5513Factory

    Whole production

    Compare the ageing of the hand lume against the dial markers before treating either as original.

  • Rolex 1680Factory

    Whole production

Provenance of this record

Sources & Evidence

Secondary sourceSpecialist publication

Dowling, James M. & Hess, Jeffrey P. — The Best of Time: Rolex Wristwatches

Schiffer Publishing

Published
2006-01-01

Cited for

This referenceProbable
Secondary sourceCollector research

Rolex collector research on caliber transitions, dial generations and case marks

Rolex Forums, VRF and allied collector communities

Accessed
2026-08-18

Cited for

This referenceProbable

Last verified: Not yet reviewed