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%.
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.
