1920s ladies silver cushion vintage Rolex Oyster watch
Date: 1929
Case: Silver, 28 x 28mm
Movement: Rolex Ultra Prima
Dial: Black Arabic numerals
Lugs: 14 mm
A 1929, silver cushion ladies vintage Rolex Oyster watch. The case, with a knurled front bezel, measures 28 x 28 mm (including lugs) with 14mm lug size and an Oyster Patent winding crown. The case is signed Rolex, 20 World’s Records, marked 0.925 sterling silver and numbered. The Rolex Ultra Prima, manual wind movement is signed, with 15 jewels, timed to 6 positions, for all climates. The white enamel dial has black Arabic numerals with a subsidiary seconds dial and fine blued steel ‘Romaines Double’ hands. The dial is signed Rolex Oyster above the centre
The Rolex Oyster watch
Following the end of World War I, global trading resumed and Rolex watches were being sent abroad, particularly to the the hot and humid tropical countries of the British Empire. Many of the watches were found to have rusted on arrival following a long damp voyage!
Hans Wilsdorf (co-founder of Rolex) was determined to produce a ‘water-proof’ watch and commented;
“We must succeed in making a watch case so tight that our movements will be permanently guaranteed against damage caused by dust, perspiration, heat and cold. Only then will the perfect accuracy of the Rolex watch be secured.”
The Rolex Oyster watch was produced a few years later in 1926 with a ‘three-piece’ case, (the front and back screwing into the body). An iconic design that has become probably the best selling waterproof wristwatch.
