116
Rolex
Ref. 19000
Stainless Steel Day-Date Oysterquartz "L’École d’Horologerie de Genève"
勞力士，極度罕有，精鋼石英鏈帶腕錶，備日期、星期顯示，後底蓋刻有「L’École d’Horologerie de Genève」。
完整圖錄內容
Rolex brought in its first class of watchmaking apprentices in 1984, but before that, research shows that the manufacture sometimes donated watches to watchmaking schools for future watchmakers to use as practice, much like other brands at the time. Interestingly, Rolex chose to donate their reference 19000 Oysterquartz Day-Date, powered by the quartz movement caliber 5035. Even more surprisingly, Rolex cased these donated watches in stainless steel unlike any other reference 19000. In all likelihood, the students at L’École d’Horologerie de Genève needed practice working on complicated quartz movements that were barreling into fashion at the time since the late 1970s, and steel was chosen for cost purposes.
School watches are highly sought after by collectors as a window into the past, or the incongruity of seeing the engraved name of a young watchmaker on the movement of an otherwise familiar reference. The present lot is the fourth appearance of a Rolex OysterQuartz school watch at auction, with the characteristic engraving “L’École d’Horologerie de Genève” on the caseback, a subtle wink of rarity to those who are in the know.
Rolex
Swiss | 1905Founded in 1905 England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, it soon became known as the Rolex Watch Company in 1915, moving its headquarters to Geneva in 1919. Like no other company, the success of the wristwatch can be attributed to many of Rolex's innovations that made them one of the most respected and well-known of all luxury brands. These innovations include their famous "Oyster" case — the world's first water resistant and dustproof watch case, invented in 1926 — and their "Perpetual" — the first reliable self-winding movement for wristwatches launched in 1933. They would form the foundation for Rolex's Datejust and Day-Date, respectively introduced in 1945 and 1956, but also importantly for their sports watches, such as the Explorer, Submariner and GMT-Master launched in the mid-1950s.
One of its most famous models is the Cosmograph Daytona. Launched in 1963, these chronographs are without any doubt amongst the most iconic and coveted of all collectible wristwatches. Other key collectible models include their most complicated vintage watches, including references 8171 and 6062 with triple calendar and moon phase, "Jean Claude Killy" triple date chronograph models and the Submariner, including early "big-crown" models and military-issued variants.