The ref. 6062 occupies a unique position in the Rolex canon. Introduced circa 1950, it represents the marque's sole foray into moonphase complications during the Oyster era, produced in minuscule numbers over a three-year period before being quietly discontinued. Fewer than 500 examples are believed to have been made across all metal combinations, with the steel-and-gold variant among the scarcest configurations.
Beneath the dial lies the automatic Cal. 740, a modified Valjoux ebauche finished and adjusted to chronometer standards by Rolex. The movement operates at 18,000 vph and incorporates day and date discs, month indication via a subsidiary register, and a 59-tooth moonphase wheel providing accuracy to within one day every 122 years. The calibre's 17 jewels and Breguet overcoil hairspring speak to the era's watchmaking conventions.
Collectors refer to this reference by the sobriquet 'Stelline', after the star-tipped hour indices that distinguish it from its closest sibling, the ref. 8171. Where the 8171 featured Arabic and baton markers, the 6062 adopted a more refined aesthetic vocabulary. The applied gold stars at each hour, paired with dauphine hands and a sector-style outermost track, lend the dial an architectural clarity that has aged remarkably well.
Culturally, the 6062 arrived during Rolex's post-war expansion, when the firm briefly entertained complications beyond the perpetual rotor and date. The model was never aggressively marketed, appearing instead in select retailers' windows for discerning clients. Its commercial failure, buyers in the early 1950s favoured simpler tool watches, ensured its rarity today. Auction records have climbed steadily since the mid-2000s, with the steel-and-gold variant commanding significant premiums over mono-metal examples.
For the collector, the 6062 represents both a technical anomaly and a reminder of paths not taken. Rolex would abandon complications of this sort, pivoting instead toward the professional line that defined the brand's second half-century. The Submariner, GMT-Master, and Daytona followed; the moonphase did not. That single-generation experiment makes the 6062 among the most historically significant references in the pre-Explorer catalogue.
