Rolex Oyster Royal Ref.3121 1938

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 Royal stainless steel and pink gold wristwatch, with a wonderful original honey dial with bold 1 – 12 standard Arabic numerals. The 29mm stainless steel case has thick straight lugs and a wide bezel, overall, giving this stylish watch a confident, yet not overstated wrist presence. This watch also comes complete with an unbranded, expandable stainless steel bracelet.

Note –  At 29mm 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

Here we have a truly unique, completely original Rolex Oyster Royal with an impressive unrestored honey dial. The honey dial against the steel and pink gold case is a wonderful look and perfectly suitable for casual, office and evening wear.

The dial carries bold 1 – 12 standard Arabic numerals which are swept by unique light honey hands. All of which remain in beautiful, unique condition.

The dial is simply signed ‘Rolex Oyster’, ‘Royal’ at the very top of the dial.

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, 17 Jewel, hand-wound movement is in incredibly clean and sparkling condition and has just been fully overhauled and serviced by our expert vintage Rolex specialist watchmaker.

The example here is running perfectly, having been calibrated to run consistently within plus or minus 11 seconds per day! This is truly outstanding for any mechanical watch and it is no exaggeration – we have checked the test results on our electronic watch timegrapher.

The movement is signed ‘Rolex Geneva’, ‘Patented Superbalance’ and ‘17 Seventeen Jewels’. This particular movement is in beautiful condition and with regular servicing, say every 3 to 4 years, we would fully expect this watch to continue to run very happily for another 50+ years! We are therefore totally confident in offering this watch with our 12 months written warranty*.

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

The Case

The mixed stainless steel and pink gold Rolex Oyster case measures 29mm in diameter, excluding the original Rolex Super Oyster crown. As this is a Rolex Oyster case, it was marketed as waterproof when new*. This watch has the wonderful addition of a pink gold bezel, we believe this contrasts perfectly with the unrestored honey dial and stainless steel case.

The case, case-back and plain bezel are all in superb condition with no marks or scratches visible to the naked eye. The watch case has seen only very light use and has been very well cared for so following close inspection, the case has simply been gently hand-polished to bring the watch to almost new condition once more. The outside of the case-back, importantly, has never been engraved and equally importantly it is of its original thickness.

Inside the case-back, the markings are all correct for a Rolex Geneva Swiss made case. It is signed ‘Rolex S.A’, ‘31 Victories Haute Precision’, ‘R.W.C.Ltd’ along with the reference number 3121. The exterior of the screw down case back is correctly signed with the model reference number 3121 and the case serial number 53158.

*The screw-down case-back and Super Oyster crown seals have been replaced, however, although this watch was specified as waterproof when new, this has not been tested and it is not guaranteed.

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

The Strap & Buckle

A high quality Hirsch brown leather strap has been fitted, along with a steel Rolex buckle. However, if a different colour or style of strap is preferred, please let us know and we will do our best to oblige free of charge. We carry tan, conker, dark brown and black in stock in plain padded leather, crocodile skin or lizard skin. We can also obtain some other types and colours of strap, from our partners at ‘Watch Obsession’ within 48hrs. Please take a look at their range of straps if you wish.

As mentioned above, this watch comes complete with an unbranded, expandable stainless steel bracelet that can be swapped with the strap quite easily.

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 1938.

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 high quality hardwood presentation box.

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 truly first class example of an early 1930s vintage Rolex Oyster Royal which is ready to wear and completely practical for everyday use. If treated with care, it will make an excellent investment or heirloom piece and even though vintage Rolex prices have risen markedly recently, we still feel excellent examples such as this, are still undervalued. As each year goes by and the world market for vintage Rolex watches continues to expand, prices will continue to climb ever higher.

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 watches.

Thank you.