1940s steel vintage Rolex Oyster ‘Bubble back’ watch

A steel vintage Rolex Oyster ‘Bubble back’ watch, 1949. The case measures 32 x 40 mm (including lugs). The case is signed Rolex Geneva Swiss, Patented 5050. The automatic movement is signed Rolex Perpetual Chronometer, Swiss Made, Patented, with a Rolex Oyster crown. The rare black dial has white luminous Arabic numerals with a red centre sweep seconds hand. The dial is signed Rolex Oyster Perpetual above the centre with Chronometer below.

The ‘Bubble Back’ was the first completely watertight automatic watch developed by Rolex. It was named the ‘Oyster Perpetual’. The self-winding movement was quite thick and the rounded case back was made to house it rather than the original Oyster case. This gave the name the’Bubble Back’. Rolex only produced this watch from 1933 – 1955.