What separates a Rolex Midas ref9630 from a Rolex Cellini Midas ref3580? See the first part of this comparison here: a subtle difference in the two almost identical watches, *klikk. Indeed, before Rolex started to reduce the amount of gold in its watches and especially the later (3rd and following) Midas' it produced the 2nd series ref3580 with the same weight as the original. But there are some differences:

• The Rolex Midas-series (see 1961-magazine advertising on the right) consisted of the rare but popular King Midas (ref9630) and the even rarer (but same weight: 200g) Queen Midas (ref9904) and the rarest of the triology: the Princess Midas (ref9903, "just" 150g) and these three watches made up a standalone-series in the Rolex product-portfolio next to Oyster etc; while the later ref3580 was part of the wider Cellini-series.
• The Rolex-Archive knows all 1st owners of the original Midas, while the Cellini-Midas was more a commodity-watch.
• The popular 1st owners / recipient of the precious Rolex to be gifted, Rolex Midas ref9630 are Elvis (best singer), John Wayne (best actor), Jackie Stewart (best car driver, F1 champion) and probably many others -- there is not a single similar popular owner of a ref3580 known.
• So, basically we see a difference like between a Rolex ref6239 "Paul Newman" and a Rolex ref116528 -- just that Rolex produced approx 14'000 of the "Paul Newman" and just approx 800 of the ref9630.
• The 1st series was made between 1961 and 1972 and so they are of course older than the until-1974-made 2nd series: more of the 1st series were heavily used and outworn, more of the 1st series were lost or smelted -- making a excellent preserved example of the 1st series a more special Rolex.

And all that in a brand where collectors look for tiny tiny differences to separate their watch and make it stand-out -- from a mass-product, that it basically is. All this is the reason why we think the 1st series Midas is something completely different and stand-out, not comparable to 2nd or especially to later series.

We have compared the real thing (1st series, ref9630) to the Cellini-series at all earlier -- interesting as it is in the light of the gold-price development between 1970 (USD35) and 1980 (>USD800): *klikk here.