1930s 9ct rose & white gold vintage Rolex Prince ‘Railway’ watch
Date: 1931
Case: 9ct rose & white gold, 23 x 42mm
Movement: Chronometer, manual wind
Dial: Silvered with Arabic numerals
Lugs: 16mm
A stunning, rare early vintage Rolex Prince ‘Railway’ watch, in superb condition! A truly collectable Art Deco watch!
A 1931, 9ct rose and white gold vintage Rolex Prince ‘Railway’ watch. The case measures 23 x 42 mm (including lugs) with 16mm lug size. The case is signed Rolex, 25 Worlds Records, Geneve-Suisse, hallmarked Glasgow 1931, RWCLtd. (Rolex Watch Company Limited), and numbered to the back, with reference 1527m (known as the Railway model). The manual wind Chronometer movement is signed Rolex, Swiss Made, Timed to 6 Positions, Patented Superbalance with 18 Rubies and numbered. The two-tone silvered dial has black Arabic numerals to the quarters, with a large seconds dial below. The dial is signed Rolex Prince above the centre, with Chronometer below.
The Rolex Prince with the two dials is often referred to as a ‘doctors watch’ or ‘duo-dial’. The large seconds dial enabling the wearer to time beats, etc more accurately.
Rolex Prince
‘The Rolex Prince has its place in watch making history as being one of the most groundbreaking watches released. Rolex released this watch in 1928 and its accuracy and ease of use set the standard for luxury watches. The Rolex Prince featured a stylish rectangular shape as well as two easily legible dials. Hours and minutes were tracked by the larger dial on top and seconds were counted on the smaller dial on bottom.
The special movement, initially made by Aegler and Wilsdorf , when in 1927 a patent was filed for a shaped watch movement with a seconds dial. In this new watch the winding barrel and the balance wheel were at opposite ends of the movement allowing for a larger balance wheel and thus more accuracy. A larger winding barrel also meant that the watch could run for longer on a single wind. This allowed most Princes to be chronometer rated.
The ‘Railway’ Rolex Prince watch was a variation of the ‘Classic’ and given the reference 1527. The new style did not prove as popular as the ‘Brancard’ or indeed the ‘Classic’ case. It is now highly collectable, due to the limited number made, giving this ‘Railway’ model a rarity value!
