Rolex Chronometer "Tru-Beat" Ref. 6556 History

One of the recent afternoons, when browsing a bit through my known
hunting grounds, but without a specific target, I was invited for a cup
of good coffee & a chat at my favorite dealer's store.

I was shown several nice Vintages, some Omegas, also Rolex, among which
2 (!) very nice DRSD's ; after my curious question for " La Reserve
du Patron", with some smile I am shown a very nice classical, simple
3-hands Rolex Oyster, one of beautiful appeal: pure, sober, unobtrusive,.

It turns out, it is a 1956 Vintage Chronometer , type "Tru-Beat", a model which
I had never heard about.
Looking at it, I really like what I see: an Oyster case, a beautiful clean dial,
34mm diameter, no numbers on the dial, just indices, Dauphine hands.

And it has a nice feature: a red second hand, a bit exuberant.
but a very nice little red color accent, as a lively sign within a classy silver dial.

But there was to be a second, not immediately evident twist :
after some quick few windings, this red second hand of this chronometer
was running with a dead beat, hacking mode.

After some chatting, and reading, I am getting more of the background story:
I was indeed pleased and quickly in love with this low-key,
but elegant sports watch, complemented by a nice time-related rivited bracelet.

It was now, that I was given more of the background of this "Tru Beat" model,
dating back to 1956, but with an appearance, looking as if fresh from the AD's shop..

I will try to briefly summarize the essence of this unusual model, which
only had a rather short- lived history..

(In case, you get a bit bored by these following dwellings,
just go below to the following collage pic below, otherwise here the story of a seldom
talked about model, AFAIK.)

Let us first go back to the the time of origin, the 50ies:

Technological steps taken in these 50 ies, lead to the introduction
of two of the quite unusual, almost eclectic models, ever produced by Rolex,
the "Tru-Beat" (Ref 6556) and the Milgauss (model 6541).

The Tru-Beat actually was a standard Chronometer Oyster Perpetual,
without date, but with a very special feature:
it had a dead beat seconds hand, instead of the usual sweeping type
around the dial, thus having a hacking second.

Like in early dead beat watches, the part of the motion work, that operates
the second hand, was/is on a special plate between the normal seconds drive
and the automatic winding system; it needed a special pinion and a number
of other parts. I am not yet familiar with.

Furthermore, this way the movement (initially 1030/ soon 1040), operates with 2 alternances:
one with 18.000/h vibrations,the second with 3500/h, thus generating the
reduction as a prerequisite for the "dead beating" & hacking.

Other than that, the movement works as usual and more
or less like other Rolex chronometers of this time.

Conceptually , dead beat watches, are dating back to the days of Breguet, and have
been seen as a quality sign and hallmark of a finely engineered watches.

In the 50ies, however this featured watch was not really much welcomed
and therefore only produced for five years, (and then followed by the 1040 B
caliber, mainly distributed in the US). - This short life of the 6556, in fact,
for today makes an unaltered movement of the Tru-Beat a really very rare model
and hence, difficult to find, but quite desirable among the models of this era..

(Ref. Dowling & Hess, The Best of Time - Rolex watches; p 191-193;
and various internet comments)

So, how did my story with this Reference end :
- Well, after short deliberation, I quickly loved this piece, also the bit of exuberance
of the red second hand, and the noble cleanliness of this whole appearance.

So I went home, just doing a bit more reading, and looking on some very few
other examples on pics on the Web, and some very few entries here in the Forum.

But most important to me, that I like this " reduced" and noble appeal, the clean, simple lines
with the little red color accent and also the story of the Dead Beat..

Therefore,I decided to pull the trigger on this one, although not planned initially
and happily did so the next day.

Thus, please find here the Collage pics of my most recent acquisition,
the first Rolex tic-tac in 2015:

Hope, you liked a bit this little excursion into the fifties,
Sometimes, surprises can lead into unknown, soon welcomed avenues !

- hence I'm indeed happy with my choice !

Best, hs