My Christmas Rolex-looking to ID and info about it

[ffshoe]

Hi everyone , I am new to this forum. I came across it when researching my Christmas gift. My fiancee bought me a really nice Rolex for Christmas this year coming up. He has a Rolex himself and wanted me to have one. Well, I like the blingy 1920's or so watches and didn't think I'd find a Rolex that I liked. WRONG! Lo and behold in an antique store on Cherry Str in Tulsa, Okla there it was. The most beautiful watch I have ever seen! It was at first sight. And......it turned out to be a Rolex! It was meant to be! It's a little too short for my big boned firefighter girl wrist but we know a jeweler who is going to make some extra links for it. I am posting some pics in hopes that someone out there can help identify this gorgeous watch and tell me about it. I HOPE I am posting pics! I uploaded to photobucket and then pasted the forums code.

PS the BF asks if anyone knows where to get extra links... that it would probably be cheaper than having some made????

Here is the info from the appraisal our jeweler gives us: 1.1 ctw diamonds, vs2, F. Style Cellini and 14K white gold.






Like I said, I am new to this so if I have done something wrong let me know how to correct it. Please.

[mailman]

Welcome to TRF That's a nice looking watch. I hope that my wife doesn't see it

I can't help with any verification of it, but hopefully someone will be along who can do so for you

[bodybump]

Very nice watch rachel very classy!!!!

[TimeToGo]

Beautiful watch,

Is that a badge you are wearing?

[ffshoe]

Originally Posted by TimeToGo

Beautiful watch,

Is that a badge you are wearing?

Yes, I am a firefighter for the city of Tulsa

[Latrodectus]

Very good looking, Rachel
Welcome to the great TRF

[ttannert]

WOW! Welcome! That is a really nice piece!

[1MAC]

That is a beautiful watch! Don't wear it at work.

[meloncap78]

Great looking watch. My wife would absolutely love that. Welcome to TRF, I am sure someone will chime in with some history behind that model.

[Alcan]

Hi Rachel, welcome aboard!

Thank you for running into burning buildings when we're all running out!

Looks like you have a very well preserved Rolex cocktail watch. Everything about it looks to be in superb condition; dial, hands, case and bracelet. Without access to the serial number I'd guess it to be about late 40's - mid 1950's vintage, and probably driven by the caliber 1400 movement, the smallest that Rolex ever made.

A beautiful example of a vintage Rolex, congratulations!

[Dr.B]

OMG!!!
Keep that away from my wife, I won't be able to buy any more for myself....

[ffshoe]

Here are some pictures of the movement, not very clear but about the best I could do. My jeweler is suppossed to email some better ones. Maybe this will help someone out there that really knows their Rolexes! Thanks

[ffshoe]

Hey all! I receievd a post on another forum about my vintage Rolex! Here it is:

A couple of things about the watch.

1) The "Precision" on the dial is there for a reason, and it's not marketing. Let's take a small step back in time to when Rolex first was starting out: Rolex didn't simply spring out of some Swiss gnome's head, but rather was created by a couple of marketing guys who sold high-end watches to the gentry in London (and I don't mean marketing in a derogatory way, but that's really who they were!). They learned what their customers wanted and set up their own watchmaking company to meet that demand (and Rolex knows what their customers want unlike any other watch company!).

They weren't alone in their pursuit of finding great movements at a decent price, as there were a couple of other companies who were in the same situation. One such company was Gruen watches, located in Ohio. They, along with that certain Mr. Wilsdorf who founded Rolex, got together with other makers to found the Union Horologère (aka Union of Alpine Watchmakers), and the line of "Precision" movements was born, not just for Rolex, but also for Gruen and a select few other sellers. Hence that "Precision" isn't just some sort of marketing, but rather refers to some of the best watch movements really ever made, especially for that time period. This type of movement ended up with the Aegler family, which now works exclusively for Rolex (and is owned by them, but kept as an independent unit). This use of the word "Precision" is a long and fine tradition, going back to 1883.

2) Ladies' watches were extremely difficult to make and make well. It's not so much that the dimensions are smaller, but more that you can't make compromises when you are working with such small dimensions. There's less room for error, there's less room for inaccuracies and sloppy maintenance will quickly show up. Ladies' watch movements work at the limits of what you can do in a watch, and are extremely challenging. I fiddle with movements when I have the time, and working on ladies' watch movements is an excellent way of learning how to work on any movement, since there is little or no room for "it's okay", but rather you have to do it slam-dunk right in order to have it run right and proper.

It's also a 17-jewel movement, which means that virtually all relevant friction points on the movement have artificial ruby where movement occurs to reduce wear and tear. This means it's a fairly high-end movement, since putting 17 jewels in such a small movement is not an easy task.

3) There's a reason why the bracelet is 14k and the case is 18k: the bracelet is subject to significantly more wear and tear than the case, and doing the bracelet in 14k is the right way to ensure that your customer isn't constantly coming into the shop with a broken link (or even worse, loses the watch for that reason!). Even so, 14k is pretty soft, and this is, obviously, not a watch to wear when you're putting out fires.

4) I'm not sure where to put the date on the watch. At first I was thinking 1950s due to the dial design and the relatively light patina, but the movement is not shock protected - the balance wheel usually gets this to prevent it from breaking when a shock occurs - which point to something pre-war or immediate post-war, since this is something that is pretty important to add, and would've made it into a watch with this high quality of a movement.

Now, from what I understand, the watch came from a lady who was a buyer for Saks: it may have been a gift from Rolex (they're known for this...). The movement isn't the classic Rolex 210 or 300 (they're dream movements, but are very rare), and the source I use (Shugart) points it to be the Rolex 90 movement, which is the smallest that they have made.

Hence I'd support the estimation that it's from the 1940s, but it's not a usual run-of-the-mill watch, but perhaps from a small batch of watches made for the trade and given out as incentives/thank yous/gifts. That would explain the lower-quality diamonds (but let's be honest: a diamond is a diamond, right?) than what you would find in a watch where someone is paying retail.


Now, we don't do valuations here, but if the watch was professionally maintained and performing well, I think your deal was a fair one for a retail purchase. You'd have to spend probably 10 (that's right, ten) times as much to get a modern watch with the same quality movement, 18k/14k, and the sum weight of the diamonds. The only real difference would be that you'd have first-class diamonds, rather than the "pedestrian" stones that are on the watch.

And damn if that isn't a classy watch. I have around 35 ladies' movements and 4-5 actual ladies' watches from Gruen (I collect Gruen, and got them for a pittance on eBay to practice on), and while I have three ladies at home (52, 18 and 15), none of them usually wears a watch (much to my dismay!). Congrats, especially on choosing the BF who has obviously excellent taste.

But now you have to tell us: what watch do you wear when you are putting out fires? Timex Ironman, Casio G-Shock, what?
Thanks to this poster!!!!
Rachel