Kinda Interesting Read

[pdoukas]

Thought I'd share this as a "quickie" vintage read for enthusiasts.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/y...-in-the-world/

Pete

[dddrees]

Neat, thanks for sharing.

[STEELINOX]

[Jagatai]

Great!

[77T]

...according to Popular Mechanics, that is...Article Here

So what do you think - is the Rolex Oyster case properly #3 on the list?

If not, where would you stack it?

Here is #1...

[sleddog]

Originally Posted by 77T

...according to Popular Mechanics, that is...Article Here

So what do you think - is the Rolex Oyster case properly #3 on the list?

If not, where would you stack it?

Here is #1...

I've merged your thread to this one...as it was already posted earlier today!!
An interesting read it is...

[77T]

Originally Posted by sleddog

I've merged your thread to this one...as it was already posted earlier today!!
An interesting read it is...

Thanks - I thought I had searched for an earlier post on this topic but missed this one. I guess I was reading PopMech while the OP was reading Yahoo...

[buke45]

Thank you for sharing

[padi56]

Originally Posted by pdoukas

Thought I'd share this as a "quickie" vintage read for enthusiasts.

Pete

Well the Rolex facts are not quite true it was around 1924,that the company named RWC now called Rolex,launched the first trademarked water resistant wristwatch called the "Submarine" .As we all should know the biggest enemy of any watch is water.And without proper seals etc
even on a warm day the crystal could mist up on wrist when worn.
Now old Hans Wilsdorf was a clever man,and wanted to increase sales worldwide and especially in tropical climates.So he tried to make a watch that was waterproof,now the evolution of the oyster case was started.His idea was very simple,he would fit a case inside a case,and he called it the Submarine.Now this worked,but had certain drawbacks you had to open the case to wind it,and the outer case had a threaded screw on bezel to protect the watch.This was not very user owner friendly and caused wear on the hinges and bezel threads.So he started to look for a new idea for a waterproof wrist watch.

First Rolex Submarine.





So later in 1925 he heard that two watchmakers one was Paul Perregaux other George Perrolet they had taken out a Swiss patent for a twin lock screwed stem system crown.Now Hans Wilsdorf of Rolex grasped that a hermetically sealed case, together with careful fitting of the crystal and a special stem mechanism, would produce a better water proof wristwatch.He quickly negotiated to have the Perregaux patent assigned to him. Wilsdorf then obtained a British patent on October 18 1926.

Paul Perregaux patent screwed stem system 1925,which Hans Wilsdorf of Rolex acquired,to make the first oyster cased Rolex.


And it was a was a guy called John Harwood from the Isle of Man UK,now he in 1923 took out a UK/World patent for the first truly automatic winding wrist watch.Now he went on with backing to produce many thousands of these watches,but mainly owing to the very hard industrial depression in the mid 1920s to 1930s in the UK he went broke.Now old Hans Wilsdorf of Rolex being a very clever but very shrewd man bought and took up this auto-winding patent for the Rolex Watch Company. And in the very early 1930s incorporated it into the oyster design case. And with the newly acquired waterproof screw down crown patent that he got from Perregaux and Perrolet .And with the Oyster case,now with screw down twinlock crown and this acquired patent auto wind mechanism but in those early days it only wound around 300 degrees the Rolex Oyster was born.Now Rolex did improved the design by the help of Hans brother in-law,who made it more efficient by winding a full 360 degrees,and a power reserve then of around 36 hours
And then soon after the Rolex Oyster was born and became a commercial success.And later In 1927, a stenographer, Mercedes Gleitze, swam the English Channel with the unheard of accompaniment of a wristwatch –the Rolex Oyster— on her wrist for the entire 15 hour, 15 minute,swim and the rest is Rolex history,and we had to wait 30 odd years for the rebirth,from Submarine, to the modern day Submariner

[HL65]

Very interesting...Thanks for sharing!!

[mjclark32]

Thanks for posting
Thanks Padi