Rolex - The Geneva Watch Auction: XIV Geneva Friday, November 5, 2021 | Phillips
  • Manufacturer: Rolex
    Year: Circa 1955
    Reference No: 9022
    Movement No: N10178
    Case No: 170'811
    Material: Stainless steel and diamonds
    Calibre: Manual, 17 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Leather
    Clasp/Buckle: Stainless steel Rolex buckle
    Dimensions: 35mm Diameter
    Signed: Case, dial, movement and buckle signed

  • Catalogue Essay

    An incredibly impressive and most elegant specimen, the present watch is a most definitely unpolished and virtually new old stock timepiece found as it was when it left the Rolex factory over six decades ago. Displaying a warm, opaline dial with diamond-set indexes, the dial displays an arresting pearl-like tone. Perhaps the case is the most impressive aspect of the watch. Displaying sharp, vertical finishes and bevels on the back of the lugs, it is a study in how Rolex timepieces were originally designed in the 1950s. Such gems are incredibly hard to find on the market, preserved in such unspoiled condition. It comes thus at no surprise, that the present watch was sold 23 times its original estimate when it first appeared on the market in 2011 meaning that it outperformed the original estimate by 2300%.

  • Artist Biography

    Rolex

    Swiss • 1905

    Founded 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.

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172

Ref. 9022
An astonishing and virtually new-old-stock stainless steel and diamond-set wristwatch with center seconds

Circa 1955
35mm Diameter
Case, dial, movement and buckle signed

Estimate
CHF10,000 - 20,000 
€9,300-18,600
$10,800-21,600

Sold for CHF77,490

Contact Specialist

Alexandre Ghotbi
Head of Watches, Continental Europe and the Middle East Director
AGhotbi@phillips.com

The Geneva Watch Auction: XIV

Geneva Auction 5 & 7 November 2021