Rolex Precision Cal.700 c1948

Rolex

Founded in 1905 in England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, the partnership became known as the Rolex Watch Company in 1915 and moved to its new Geneva headquarters in 1919. The success of the wristwatch can be largely attributed to many of Rolex’s innovations which made the company one of the most respected and well-known of all luxury brands. These have included its famous “Oyster” case — the world’s first water-resistant and dustproof watch case, invented in 1926 — and its “Perpetual” — the world’s first reliable, self-winding movement for the wristwatch, launched in 1933. These would form the foundation for Rolex’s Datejust and Day-Date, respectively introduced in 1945 and 1956. Also and equally importantly, Rolex is known for its sports watches, such as the Explorer, Submariner and GMT-Master launched in the mid-1950s.

Description

A wonderful completely original stainless steel Rolex Precision wristwatch, with a wonderful silver dial with mixed ‘dot’ hour indices with Standard Arabic numerals at ‘2 – 4 – 6 – 8 – 10 – 12’ which are both in a wonderful off-white colour. The outstanding stainless steel case measures 30mm, excluding the correct crown, making this a smaller watch today.

Note –  At 30mm this watch would originally have been marketed as a gentlemans watch, as during the 1930s, gentlemans watches tended to be much smaller. Today however, the fashion is for gents to wear much larger watches and for ladies to wear this kind of watch. Therefore this could be considered suitable for both.

The Dial

The beautiful, completely original, unrestored and untouched silver dial is in wonderful condition as are the off-white coloured ‘leaf’ hands, making the dial very easy to read. These are also original and are an outstanding feature of this watch. The dial also carries mixed ‘dot’ hour indices with standard Arabic numerals at ‘2 – 4 – 6 – 8 – 10 – 12’, which match the hands in the off-white colour. All perfectly proportioned with a subsidiary seconds dial at 6. This dial carries a beautiful even patina which is one of the reasons we have decided to leave this dial completely original and unrestored.

The dial is simply signed ‘Rolex’ at the very top of the dial just below 12.

As this dial is in original, unrestored condition, this has been left untouched by our restoration team due to its superb condition. Usually, we restore the dials of the watches we sell, however we decided in this case to leave it alone, due to its unusually good condition and to retain its originality and charm for those who prefer this. It also helps to contrast with almost all of the other watch dials you see on our website, which have been restored. The hands, likewise, have also been left in their original untouched condition.

Please note, studio lights, professional-grade digital cameras, and macro lenses can be very unkind to an unrestored vintage watch dial. Also the dial here measures less than 1.25 inches across, so the image you’re seeing may be between 5 – 25 times larger than the watch itself. Therefore please keep in mind you are seeing many tiny flaws which cannot be seen, or will be very hard to see with the naked eye, even under close examination. Suffice to say, on the wrist, in natural light, this dial looks much better and carries a great deal more charm than the photographs portray.

The Movement

The high grade Cal.700, 15 jewel manual wind movement is incredibly clean and also in incredibly good condition. It has just been overhauled and serviced by our expert watchmaker and is running perfectly. These movements are very highly regarded for their accuracy and reliability and this movement has been calibrated to run arrow straight within +11 seconds per day! This is no exaggeration – we have checked the test results on our electronic watch timer. This movement also has a really excellent 45-hour power reserve when fully wound.

The movement is signed ‘Rolex’, ‘Swiss Made’,  and ’15 Rubis’ and marked with the Calibre 700.This particular movement is in superb condition and with regular servicing, say every 2-3 years, we would fully expect this watch to run quite happily for many more decades to come. We are therefore very confident in offering this watch with a 12-month written warranty*.

*Please note – our 12 months’ warranty is only included if the list price is paid.

The Case

The three-piece stainless steel case measures 30mm in diameter, excluding the correct unsigned Rolex winding crown.

The case, as we would expect from Rolex, is very solid and well made and the press-fit case-back closes with a very solid and satisfying ‘pop’, indicating the case has been impeccably built and maintained. It is of full-thickness and has never been engraved.

The case was made for Rolex by Dennison in the UK who made watch cases for many of the top Swiss watch manufacturers at this time. Dennison and Sons in Birmingham and Shackman and Sons in London, both produced top quality cases for almost all of the watch brands you see on this website. The case is signed ‘Dennison Made in England for Rolex’ along with ‘Denisteel’. The case also carries the reference number 12325 and the model reference number 5181. The watch case has been exceptionally well cared for and has simply required a clean and gentle polish to bring it back to its current ‘like new’ condition.

Having been cleaned, carefully examined and lightly hand-polished by our case-maker, the case is totally immaculate, being very crisp with no scratches, dings or other blemishes visible to the naked eye. This, along with the superb general condition of the rest of the watch, indicates this watch has received an excellent level of care and only light use.

As ever, our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.

Strap and Buckle

A high quality brown leather strap is fitted with a steel Rolex buckle. However, if a different colour or style of strap is preferred, we will do our best to provide this at no extra charge. We carry tan, conker, dark brown burgundy and black straps in stock, in plain padded leather, alligator, or lizard skin.

Box and Papers

Although there are no original papers with this watch, the reference numbers, markings, signatures and hallmarks are all correct, dating this watch to c1948.

Detailed particulars will be included with our purchase receipt for your interest and security. A separate insurance valuation for the replacement value of this watch will be provided at the time of sale along with our unique ‘Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee’ which states: “If this watch proves to be anything less than 100% genuine, authentic and original, a full refund will be given at any time”.

A green Rolex suede presentation pouch is included in the sale of this watch.

Payment and Delivery

If you would like to pay by bank transfer, we will be pleased to assist you with this and pass on a 3% saving to you. Paying by bank transfer for a 3% saving will not affect your 12 months warranty. Similarly, if you wish to pay by International SWIFT or Bank Wire Transfer we will provide you with our BIC / Swift number and our IBAN number.

Please check the import duties and any taxes your government may apply, these are different for each country and, unfortunately, out of our control.

We understand there may be some ‘loopholes’ that may help you avoid these charges; however, attempting to use these could impact our ongoing ability to serve our growing international customer base.

For those who happen to visit London on occasion, we are, of course, more than happy to store your watch until we can meet you in our offices in Kensington, London, and hand your watch directly to you there.

As with all our watches, this watch will be sold under our 14 days no-quibble sale or return policy.

In Conclusion

This is a really beautiful 1940s vintage steel watch from Rolex, one of the most highly honored and awarded Swiss watch manufacturers. It is to the credit of the company that this watch is still perfectly useable and reliable, just as it was when it left the factory over 70 years ago!

A word on our prices – We always try our hardest to acquire the very highest quality watches we can find, before restoring them to the highest possible standards. We then offer these at the fairest prices we can, taking into account our pre and post-sales care and service. This approach means we will never be the cheapest, but nor will we be the most expensive. Indeed there are some well-known stores in West London which are highly successful charging between two to three times the price you see here. We, therefore, consider our prices to be fair, given the quality of watches we have to offer.

Please note, we also welcome part exchanges. If you have a watch or a small collection for sale, please contact us as we will be happy to discuss this.

We will also be happy to Service your watch, Repair your watch or Restore your watch, all at ‘sensible’ prices. Please see here.

If you have any questions please call us on 020 7727 7095 or if calling from overseas on +44 207 727 7095.

Please take a look at our other fine vintage steel watches.

Thank you.