Rolex Unicorn Sterling Silver 1926

Rolex

The late 1920s and early ’30s saw Rolex at its most creative and dynamic. Having launched the world’s first truly waterproof and commercially successful (Oyster) watch in 1926, this relatively young company, est. 1906, went on to launch its first automatic waterproof wristwatch, the Oyster Perpetual Chronometer in 1934. These groundbreaking achievements are the foundations on which the company we know today was built. However, even at this early stage of development, this highly ambitious company offered a wide range of models to the market, many of which we seldom see today, due to relatively low production numbers.

The wristwatch we see here is just such an example, which if we take a moment to consider, bears little relationship with the pocket watch from which it descended only fifteen or twenty years earlier and which continued to remain popular right up and until the Second World War.

Though not officially referred to by Rolex as the ‘Tank’, there is little doubt this model was produced in response to the success of the Cartier Tank model, released in 1919. This was so called, because the outline of the watch case somewhat resembles the aerial view of the WW1 military tank. Prior to this, all watches were round, reflecting the shape of the movement. However, during the 1920s and ’30s, rectangular case design watches became hugely fashionable, which is why now perhaps, we loosely associate these designs with our Grandfather’s watch.

Finding good examples of any pre-WW2 Rolex has become increasingly hard over the past 10 years, however finding an example of this design is very difficult. Most are in the hands of collectors and seldom come to the market.

Description

Here we have a beautiful Sterling Silver Rolex Unicorn in wonderful, fully original, unrestored and untouched condition. Not only is this watch in incredible condition, it also carries the very high grade Unicorn, 15 jewel hand-wound movement which is running perfectly. This watch is absolutely outstanding with the wonderful 1 – 12 breguet style standard Arabic numerals and guilloche effect dial.

The Dial

Many rectangular watches of this period carried dials with ‘art-deco’ influences and this can be seen, in the design of the numerals. The wonderful black 1 – 12 breguet standard Arabic numerals look perfectly in place against the incredible off-white guilloche effect dial and are swept by black steel ‘leaf’ hands. Square and rectangular watch dials present certain challenges to dial designers, but here the approach is very simple. This dial also carries an attractive outer black rail track for the seconds.

This dial is simply signed with ‘Rolex’ at the very top of the dial below 12.

The dial is original and unrestored and 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 Unicorn, 15 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.

Rolex went to considerable lengths and expense to ensure its smaller series movements performed equally as well as its larger gents Precision movements. These are high precision movements and the example here is running perfectly, having been calibrated to run consistently within plus or minus +9 seconds per day! This is excellent for any small mechanical watch and has been checked and confirmed on our electronic watch timegrapher.

This particular movement is in beautiful condition and with similar care and 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*.

The movement is correctly signed ‘Unicorn 15 Jewels’ and ‘3 Adjustments’.

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

The Watch Case

The beautiful sterling silver case measures 22mm across, excluding the correct Rolex unsigned crown, and 29mm from top to bottom. This may seem a little small, but it is in fact a very large watch for the period, especially when one considers it is 31mm across the diagonal and 39mm including the wonderful triangular lugs. This watch carries a two piece case with a press-fit case back that pops back into place perfectly.

When acquiring such a rectangular or square watch, especially in gold, it is important to ensure the case shows no wear, no fatigue cracks and no pinholes, particularly around the hinge and corner areas. This type of case is prone to wear and damage in these areas, which is another reason these watches are rare, as cases become beyond repair and restoration. Fortunately, this example has been very well cared for and lightly used, so apart from our usual careful examination and cleaning, the case has required little work apart from some very light hand-polishing. There are no scratches or dings, and no damage/wear visible to the naked eye.

Inside the case-back is simply signed ‘R.W.C.Ltd’ for Rolex Watch Company Ltd and carries the correct sterling silver hallmarks. On the exterior of the case-back, the case reference number 515 is shown.

Please note – as always, our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.

The Strap & Buckle

The watch is fitted with a brown leather strap and plain stainless steel 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 most types and colours from our partners at ‘Watch Obsession’ within 48hrs. Please take a look at their huge range of straps if you wish here.

Box and Papers

Although there are no original papers with this watch, the reference numbers, markings, signatures and hallmarks are all correct and indicate the date of manufacture as 1926.

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 Rolex presentation box, as shown in the photographs.

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.