Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces.

Hong Kong, Dec 12, 2018

LOT 249

ROLEX EARLY "OFFICER" WRISTWATCH

HKD 12,000 - 15,000

USD 1,500 - 1,900 / EUR 1,300 - 1,700

Silver (0.925 sterling) and enamel, half hunting-case, manual-winding, round-shaped, "Officier" gentleman's wristwatch, screwed case-back, subsidiary seconds at 6 Case based on the Swiss invention patent No. 71 363, delivered on June 23, 1915, to Charles ZurbrÃ?1/4gg, for a "Bo îte-savonnette pour montres-bracelet" (hunting-case for wristwatches).


Grading System
Grade: AA

Very good

Case: 3-6-8

Good

Slightly oxidized

Slightly scratched

Movement: 3-6-8*

Good

Slightly oxidized

Slightly scratched

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense

Dial: 3-8-70-73-04

Good

Slightly scratched

ENAMEL AND VARIOUS TYPES OF DECORATION Hairline

ENAMEL AND VARIOUS TYPES OF DECORATION Chipped under bezel,not visible when closed

HANDS Later

Brand Rolex

Model made for the English market

Year circa 1917

Case No. 807 240

Bracelet black leather strap

Caliber 13''' (by Aegler, Rebberg) rhodium-plated, with going barrel, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance with poising screws and steel flat hairspring

Dimensions Ø 35 mm.

Signature dial, case and movement

Accessories copy of the invention patent

Notes

Rolex, the beginnings of the history Hans Wilsdorf (1881-1960), with financial help from his brother-in-law Alfred Davis, founded the watch importing and distribution firm of "Wilsdorf & Davis" in London in 1905. Wilsdorf was convinced that the wristwatch was the way of the future, and soon contracted the firm of Hermann Aegler to manufacture wristwatches for him. Wilsdorf was a perfectionist, and never ceased pressing Aegler to improve the timekeeping of the watches they made for him, which he now insisted be branded "Rolex" - a name Wilsdorf had invented in 1908. In 1910, Aegler submitted a Rolex wristwatch to the Bienne testing station. It received a First class certificate and thus became the first wristwatch to be officially certified as a "chronometer" in Switzerland. On July 15, 1914, a Rolex wristwatch received a Class A precision certificate from the Kew Observatory in Greenwich, which had previously only been achieved by marine chronometers. Wilsdorf remarked that this was a "red letter day" in the development of his firm, which he would never forget. The ability of a wristwatch to maintain accurate time keeping could no longer be held in any doubt.