Pre-owned Rolex Air-King ref 14000 (1990). The Air King is one of the Crown’s most storied collections. Not only has it been in production on and off since 1945, but it’s also undergone one of the brand’s most dramatic transformations over the years. The example you see here is from the tail end of the original series, before it adopted the sportier “Bloodhound” dial. 14000 came to market around the late 1980s, replacing the outgoing and very popular 55XX generation. With this model, Rolex introduced the Air King to a more durable, scratch-resistant sapphire (replacing acrylic) and the higher-beat caliber 3000. This example still has “vintage” Tritium lume. However, Rolex would eventually upgrade that material to Super-LumiNova near the end of production in the 2000s. What’s more, the movement was eventually upgraded to the modified caliber 3130. Those models have an “M” at the end of the reference number. These Air Kings are fascinating models to study and collect, and are still quite approachable for a broad range of collectors. Shop Rolex Air-King Collection