Passions Watch Exchange

About This Watch

Vintage. No box or papers and a Passions box will be given.

This is a very rare vintage Rolex Oyster Imperial without the crown and dating back to mid-1930s with an unusual flat bezel looking almost identical to Patek's Ref.96 Calatrava of the same period and shown here next to the Ref.488 that we have which is a smaller sibling but in the same Calatrava design.

The model name Imperial is unique and signed off as Extra Precision above the small seconds and this is confirmed by the high grade movement fitted inside which is signed as Extra Prima and adjusted to 6 positions. This was the pre-chronometer certification era when manual winding Rolex movements were graded in different levels, from base to Prima, Extra-Prima and Ultra-Prima with the last usually fitted in 18ct gold cases. There is no ref. model for this watch as the inner back cover shows the markings of a 1st generation Oyster with Oyster Watch Co and five European countries' patents followed by the ancient Rolex crown with 7 prongs & SAR.

The case has been professionally finished & ready to wear. A new old stock Bund style brown leather strap is fitted to it as seen & a new acrylic crystal has also been replaced. The silvered dial is original and aged gracefully with embossed gold Arabic numerals. There is an unusual mark at the bottom of the dial IMPORTE DE SUISSE (Imports from Swiss) beneath the usual SWISS MADE which would tell us that this watch was an export model, something never seen on Rolex watches before. It has a period correct & precious pre-war style Oyster-Patent crown. The back cover shows several uneven dents from use over the years but no holes whatsoever.