1915 silver vintage Rolex ‘Officers’ watch
Date: 1915
Case: Silver, 34mm
Movement: Rolex Manual wind
Dial: White enamel with Arabic numerals
Lugs: 12mm
An early wristwatch from Rolex, known as a ‘Trench’ or ‘Officers’ watch.
A 1915, rare early silver vintage Rolex ‘Officers’ watch. The case measures 34 mm in diameter, with 12mm lugs. The case is signed W&D (Wilsdorf & Davis, founders of Rolex), Rolex, Swiss, hallmarked London 1915 and numbered. The manual wind movement is signed Rolex, Swiss Made with 15 jewels. The white enamel dial has black open Arabic numerals, subsidiary seconds dial and fine blued steel ‘squelettes’ hands. The dial is signed Rolex above the centre.
Early Officers or Trench wrist watches
The importance of watches during the Great War is emphasised by the extract reproduced here from the 1916 British War Office document:
“Instructions for the Training of Divisions for Offensive Action.” A delay of even 30 seconds in starting must be avoided, therefore watches must be synchronised. A later section of the same document gives instructions for this; “All officers must acquire the habit of checking their watches daily with the official time, which can be obtained from the Signal Service. Commanders must pay special attention to this point during training.”
Although wristwatches had been worn by civilian men before the Great War for special purposes, e.g. when bicycling or ballooning, at other times prior to the war a gentleman was expected to carry a pocket watch. During the war the army expanded dramatically and large numbers of new recruits were exposed to the sight of officers routinely wearing wristwatches. Officers were emboldened by their service at the front to continue wearing their wristwatches when they were home ‘on leave’, whereas before the war they might have hidden them away. The regular sight of officers ‘on leave’ from the fighting and wearing wristwatches soon created a fashion that spread through wider society in Britain.
