What To Know About Rolex Winn-Dixie Watches

by Charlie Dunne

Eric Wind recently sat down with John Pietrasz to discuss the interesting subject of Rolex watches associated with supermarket franchise Winn-Dixie. As you may recall, the two previously discussed the Rolex and Domino’s connection in December 2021. Similar to the Rolex Domino’s watches, the Winn-Dixie signed Rolexes were never bought in stores, but rather watches that were earned.

Rolex Winn-Dixie watches have a few basics to know:

1) Each will be a Rolex Air-King model, either:

• The reference 5500 (for watches from the 1980s), or

• The reference 14000 (for watches from the 1990s)

2) The dials are depicted with either:

• “10 Year Safe Driver”

• “10 Year Safe Maintenance”

Unlike the Rolex Domino’s watches, the Winn-Dixie bracelets will not feature any corporate decoration.

Rolex Winn-Dixie Air-King Reference 5500 “10 Year Safe Driver”

The “10 Year Safe Driver” watches were given to Winn-Dixie employees who had performed for a decade without any incidents while behind the wheel. The logo resembles the shape of a truck, and this has resulted in many mistakenly referring to it as the “Truck Logo”.

Introduced in circa 1957, the reference 5500 remained in production for over 30 years. The case measures 34mm in diameter (with a lug-to-lug length of 40mm). The lug width is 19 mm and the height is 12 mm including the crystal. Each reference 5500 will feature drilled lugs.

Rolex Winn-Dixie Air-King Reference 14000 “10 Year Safe Maintenance”

Transitioning from the reference 5500, the reference 14000 will replace drilled lugs with solid end links. At 6 o’clock, the dial features the printed “T SWISS MADE T”, indicating the luminous material is tritium.

Introduced in circa 1989, the reference 14000 was produced until 1999. The watch is slightly over 34mm in diameter (with a lug-to-lug length of 43mm). The lug width is 19mm and the height is slightly lower at around 11.5mm including the crystal. This is due to the thinner automatic calibre 3135.

Rolex Winn-Dixie Air-King Reference 14000 10 Year Safe Maintenance with "Big 10"

Dial Variants

Within the reference 14000, collectors can find two dial variants for both “10 Year Safe Maintenance” and “10 Year Safe Driver” models. One caveat to note is that the “10” will be larger on driver dials, because of the amount of letters. The first will accompany dials with tritium lume, signed “T SWISS MADE T” at 6 o’clock. Around 1998, Rolex transitioned to using Super-Luminova, and it is around this time that the dials would undergo a new look with the Winn-Dixie logos. Most notably, the numeral is elongated to what is referred to as a “Big 10”. B, “Big 10” dials will feature subtle differences in the red Winn-Dixie font, in that some will remain in the earlier format, while later become slightly smaller and more compact.

Charlie Dunne is the Director of Content and Research for Wind Vintage and has been published and quoted in numerous other watch publications. You can also find more of his writing on StrictlyVintageWatches.com.