Rolex Precision Cal.1200 9ct 1966

Rolex

Founded in 1905 in England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, the partnership soon became known as the Rolex Watch Company in 1915, moving 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 simply wonderful early Rolex Precision gentleman’s dress watch. A stunning watch in every regard with a beautiful, original, unrestored dial, wonderful movement and an exceptional 9ct yellow gold case. The dial is particularly unusual and attractive, characterised by a mix of ‘baton’ and standard Arabic hour indices on an ivory-cream dial.

This is a very clean and well cared for example which has undergone some very light and sympathetic restoration to bring it back to the almost new condition you see here. The watch also carries a high grade Cal.1200 hand-wound movement, which is in spectacular condition.

Note –  At 31.5mm this watch would originally have been marketed as a gentlemans watch, as during the 1960s, 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

Classic Rolex simplicity and typical of the 1950s and ’60s.  Beautifully balanced and symmetrical and complemented with a subsidiary seconds dial at ‘6’. The original unrestored ‘Lance’ hands are in remarkable condition and are paired with ‘baton’ hour indices and standard Arabic numerals at ‘3 – 9 -12’.

The dial is correctly signed and branded with the Rolex Coronet at 12, along with ‘Rolex’ and ‘Precision’ below, with Swiss at the very bottom.

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.

The Movement

The high grade Cal.1200 manual wind movement is incredibly clean and also in incredibly good condition. It has just been overhauled and serviced by our expert watchmaker and is running perfectly. These movements are very highly regarded for their accuracy and reliability and this movement has been calibrated to run arrow straight within +10 seconds per day, checked and confirmed on our electronic watch timer. This is excellent for any watch of this age and the movement also has a really excellent 58-hour power reserve when fully wound.

The movement is signed ‘Montres Rolex SA Geneva Swiss’ and ’17 Jewels’ with the calibre number 1200.

This particular movement is in superb condition and with regular servicing, we would fully expect this watch to run quite happily for many more decades to come. We are therefore very confident in offering this watch with a 12-month written warranty*.

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

The Case

The yellow gold case is in excellent condition, having been very well cared for, and shows only the faintest signs of wear visible to the naked eye. The full thickness press-fit case-back clicks securely into place just as it should and is of full thickness, having never been inscribed.

The case measures 31.5mm in diameter, excluding the correct Rolex signed crown. As mentioned above, this was a typical gent’s sized watch during the mid-century but could be considered equally suitable as a ladies watch today.

This is a Dennison made case and therefore is signed ‘Rolex Made in England’ and A.L.D. which was the Dennison manufacturers stamp. The case also carries the reference number 12868, the serial number 463844 and Birmingham 9ct hallmarks which date this watch to 1966. The case, case-back and bezel are all in superb condition with no marks or scratches visible to the naked eye. The watch case has been exceptionally well cared for and so the case has simply required a clean and gentle polish to bring it back to its current ‘like new’ condition.

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

Strap and Buckle

The watch is fitted with a new, high quality, dark brown Lizard strap and gold-plated Rolex buckle. However, if a different colour or style of strap is preferred, we will do our best to provide this at no extra charge. We carry tan, conker, dark brown burgundy and black straps in stock, in plain padded leather, alligator, or lizard skin.

Box and Papers

Although there is no original paperwork with this watch, the reference numbers, markings, signatures and hallmarks are all correct, dating the watch to 1966.

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”.

The Rolex presentation box shown in the photographs is included with this watch.

In Conclusion

This is a truly first class example of a 1960s vintage Rolex Precision 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 gold Rolex prices have risen markedly recently, we still feel good examples such as this are still undervalued. As each year goes by and the world market for vintage gold 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 then 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.

We are happy to accept PayPal as this is the quickest method of payment. However, if you would like to pay by UK cheque or by UK 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 that happen to visit the UK 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 your watch directly to you there.

If you have any questions please call us on Landline 0207 727 7095 or if calling from overseas on +44 207 727 7095.

Please note, we also welcome part exchanges. If you have a watch or small collection for sale, please contact us as we will be happy to discuss.

Please take a look at our other fine vintage gold watches.

Thank you.