Rolex Rolco Officers Watch 9ct Pink Gold 1926

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 wonderful, 9ct pink gold vintage Rolex Rolco gentleman’s dress watch in immaculate condition from 1926.  At 32mm in diameter excluding the onion crown, this is an oversized watch for this period. This watch features the classic 1920s Rolex Rolco dial with restored ‘cathedral’ hands and a subsidiary dial at 6 which is all nicely matched with a black alligator strap. Rolco is a brand owned by Rolex, similar to the way Tudor is today.

The Dial

This is a beautifully clean and well balanced white porcelain dial, with bold, black roman numerals. These wonderful numerals are matched with blued steel ‘cathedral’ hands and a perfectly proportioned subsidiary seconds dial at 6 which also carries the same ‘cathedral’ hand. The bold black numerals make this watch very easy to read.

The dial is simply signed ‘Rolco’ at the top of the dial below ’12’.

As this dial is original and unrestored, 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 Rolex Rolco, 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 perform 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 14 seconds per day! This is excellent for any small mechanical watch and is no exaggeration – we have checked and confirmed the test results on our electronic watch timegrapher. This movement also has an excellent power reserve of 44 hours when fully wound.

The movement is signed ‘Rolco’, ‘Swiss Made’ and ‘15 Jewels’. 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*.

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

The Case

The original, solid 9ct pink gold case measures 32mm in diameter, excluding the pink gold onion crown. Opening the back of the double hinged case reveals this is signed with the Rolex Watch Company stamp RWC, along with the case serial number 104543 and UK 9ct hallmarks which date the watch to 1926.

The case is in superb condition, indicating the watch has only seen occasional careful use. Only under very close examination can some of the smallest marks be found, commensurate with the age of this piece.

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

Strap and Buckle

A new, high quality black alligator strap is fitted with a pink 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 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”.

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

In Conclusion

This is a truly first-class example of a 1920s vintage Rolex Rolco 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.