1930s 9ct gold cushion vintage Rolex Oyster watch
Date: 1933
Case: 9ct gold, 32 x 32mm
Movement: Rolex Ultra Prima
Dial: Champagne, gilt Arabic numerals
Lugs: 16mm
An early Rolex Oyster watch from the 1930s!
A 1933, early 9ct gold cushion vintage Rolex Oyster watch. The case measures 32 x 32mm, 16mm lug size and an Oyster Patent winding crown. The case is signed R.W.C.Ltd, (Rolex Watch Company Limited), Oyster Watch Co., Geneva Swiss, Great Britain Patents, hallmarked Glasgow 1933 and numbered to the back. The manual wind, fine Ultra Prima movement is signed Rolex, Timed to 6 positions, For All Climates with 17 Rubies. The champagne dial has raised gilt Arabic numerals with a subsidiary seconds dial and fine blued steel ‘Breguet’ hands. The dial is signed Rolex Oyster above the centre, with Ultra Prima above the seconds dial.
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.
