Rolex Datejust Turn-O-Graph Ref. 1625

A Datejust with something to do.

Dating to 1971, this Rolex Turn-O-Graph Ref. 1625 takes the familiar 36 mm Datejust formula and gives it a useful twist. Instead of the usual fluted bezel, there is a bidirectional 60-minute timing bezel, turning an otherwise elegant silver-dial Rolex into something halfway between dress watch and tool watch.

The silver dial keeps the Datejust side beautifully intact. Applied baton markers, slim hands and the Cyclops date at three make the layout instantly familiar, while the acrylic crystal and subtle pie-pan profile give it the depth we like to see on a four-digit Rolex.

Then there is that bezel. Rotate the triangular marker to the minute hand and it can be used to time an interval, a very simple idea that made the original Turn-O-Graph historically important. When Rolex launched the first version in 1953, it was the brand’s first series-produced wristwatch with a rotating bezel, arriving before both the Submariner and GMT-Master (fun fact!).

The model later became associated with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds aerobatic team, which is where the “Thunderbird” nickname came from. Rolex even used the connection in American advertising. It is a nice bit of history for a watch that otherwise looks remarkably ‘normal’ on its Jubilee bracelet.

That contradiction is what makes the Ref. 1625 fun. A silver-dial Datejust you could easily wear with a suit, fitted with the kind of functional bezel that helped define Rolex’s later sports watches.

Part Datejust, part tool watch, and one of the less obvious chapters in Rolex history. Available at Reestraat 3, Amsterdam.