Well, this was the watch that put Rolex on the horological map. Launched in 1926, it was the first mass produced water and dust proof watch; it was said Hans Wilsdorf was watching a waiter trying to prise open an Oyster when he decided on the name….
This is the larger size at 32mm across excluding the winding crown. The solid 9ct gold (yellow) case is in very good condition with some mild tarnishing and scratches and a couple of minor dings on the outside case back. Very rarely the serial number is on the outside case, 38138, dating it to 1937. It also a genuine ‘Patent Oyster’ gold screw down winding crown (many come with generic crowns). The Rolex Crown was only registered in 1943. The ivory/paper Rolex signed dial is again in very good condition. The black painted Arabic hour numbers, railway line minute markers, Sub-Second dial and blued steel hands create a stunningly simple look. The original Rolex signed manual wind movement is in excellent condition and has just been serviced by our professional watchmaker (whilst the movement is fairly robust it will gain/lose 2 minutes/day and we wouldn’t recommend this for anything other than special occasions). The watch sits on a new black Hirsch crocodile skin skin strap with gold plated Hirsch buckle.
We will give a 12 month guarantee on the movement and just to stress again this isn’t an everyday watch.
