Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust Model.16234 2005

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 completely original, unrestored and untouched Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date stainless steel wristwatch, with an original, highly sought after white dial with wonderful stainless steel Roman numerals. The 36mm stainless steel case has thick straight lugs and a screw-down case-back, overall, giving this stylish watch a confident, yet not overstated wrist presence. This watch comes complete with the original Rolex presentation box and original Rolex guarentee and warranty card.

The Dial

This fascinating watch carries an extremely rare, completely original, unrestored and untouched white dial with original ‘stick’ hands and outstanding 1-12 Roman Numerals with, of course, the Rolex Coronet at the very top of the dial. All of this adds wonderfully to the watch and makes it very easy to read when upon the wrist. This dial carries the date at the ‘3’ position and has a cyclops window.

The dial is signed ‘Rolex Oyster Perpetual’ and ‘Datejust’ at the top below 12, with ‘Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified’ just above the 6 and ‘Swiss Made’ at the very bottom.

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 watch carries its original, very high grade ‘Superlative Chronometer’ Calibre 1570, 26 jewel automatic movement which is in sparkling clean condition. The movement has been completely overhauled and serviced which involves fully dismantling, ultrasonic cleaning, inspection under high magnification and replacement of parts, only with new original Rolex parts where required, then careful reassembly and oiling ready for testing and calibration. The watch is now running perfectly, having been calibrated and timed within +10 seconds per day. This is truly outstanding for any watch of this age and has been confirmed by our electronic timegrapher. It is now ready for many more years of faithful service.

These movements are strong, very accurate and very reliable making this watch particularly suited to everyday use should you so wish. This particular movement is in superb A1 condition and with regular servicing, say every 4 years, we would fully expect this watch to run happily for many years to come. We are therefore pleased to offer 12 months warranty on this watch movement*.

The movement is all correctly signed ‘Rolex Geneva Swiss’ and ‘Twenty Six Jewels’ with the Calibre number 1570 along with 26 Jewels and the movement serial number 3 0244534 ROLEX.

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

The Case

The steel watch case measures 36mm, excluding the correct Rolex signed winding crown. The heavy Rolex Oyster Perpetual case with a wide fluted bezel has quite a bold character, with strong straight lugs. It is in excellent condition, having received a very gentle and sympathetic clean and polish, although the watch has obviously been very well cared for, as there are no dings, scratches or marks visible to the naked eye. The case-back is of full thickness and has never been engraved.

The inside of the case back is all signed correctly with ‘Rolex’, ‘Geneva’, ‘Switzerland’, ‘Stainless Steel’ and with the model reference number 2080. On the exterior of the case between the lugs at 6 the case serial number is clearly signed F384868 dating this watch correctly to 2005.

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

The Bracelet

The outstanding original Rolex jubilee stainless steel bracelet is very close to perfect condition. The bracelet has simply been cleaned and lightly polished to bring it back to the condition you see here.

Setting the catch to the shortest adjustment the bracelet will fit a 17.1cm wrist, then when setting the catch to the longest adjustment the bracelet will fit a 18.4cm wrist.

Box and Papers

This watch comes complete with the original Rolex guarantee booklet which dates this watch correctly to 2005.

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”.

This watch comes complete with a green suede Rolex pouch.

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.