1930s 9ct gold cushion vintage Rolex Oyster watch
Date: 1934
Case: 9ct gold, 32 x 32mm
Movement: Rolex Prima
Dial: Silvered with Arabic numerals
Lugs: 16mm
A stunning 1930s 9ct gold cushion vintage Rolex Oyster watch!
A 1934, 9ct gold cushion vintage Rolex Oyster watch. The case measures 32 x 32 mm with 16mm lugs and with an Oyster Patent crown. The case is signed RWCLtd. (Rolex Watch Company Limited), hallmarked Glasgow 1934, Oyster Watch Co., Geneva, Swiss and numbered to the back. The manual wind, Prima movement is signed Rolex, Swiss Made, numbered, with 15 rubies. The silvered dial has black Arabic numerals, with subsidiary seconds dial and fine blued steel ‘romaines doubles’ hands. The dial is signed Rolex Oyster above the centre.
The Rolex Oyster
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.
