1920s silver octagonal vintage Rolex Oyster watch

Date:           1928

Case:            Silver, 32 x 34mm

Movement: Rolex Extra Prima

Dial:             Silvered, black Roman numerals

Lugs:            16mm

A rare, early silver octagonal vintage Rolex Oyster watch from 1928, with silvered dial and Roman numerals.

A 1928, silver octagonal vintage Rolex Oyster watch. The case measures 32 x 34mm, 16mm lug size and an Oyster Patent winding crown. The case is signed Rolex, 20 World’s Records, Great Britain Patents and marked .925, sterling silver. The manual wind, Extra Prima movement is signed Rolex, Timed to 6 positions, For All Climates with 15 jewels. The silvered dial has black Roman numerals with subsidiary seconds dial and fine blued steel ‘cathedrales’ 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.