9ct Pink Gold Officers with White Enamel Dial and Luminous Figures, Mechanical Movement,Enamel Dial ÂŁ9,900
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The Gentleman’s Journal
colour that they don’t already have!’ It’s the luxury equivalent of historical stamp collecting. The fact is that Rolex isn’t by any means a brand stuck in history. Quite the opposite: Rolex’s luxury tagline also comes with one that reads “innovation”. Rolex have led the market with some visionary modernisations, including the self-winding Rolex mechanism that it introduced in 1931, DQG WKH ÀUVW ZDWHU SURRI ZULVWZDWFK (the Oyster) back in 1926. The brand ZDV DOVR WKH ÀUVW ZULVWZDWFK WR VKRZ two time zones at once (the Rolex GMT Master), automatic changing on the dial of the date (the Rolex Datejust) and the day and date (Rolex Day-Date). $OO WKHVH ZHUH UHÀQHPHQWV WKDW UDLVHG the brand to high and mighty success. It’s also made history in other ways. The Submariner watch alone has been part of expeditions both at sea, such as the Moana expedition during which time the same watch withstood in excess of a thousand dives, and overland in the Antarctic, where it withstood temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius below zero. Thor Heyerdal, the Norwegian anthropologist, also wore a Rolex Submariner in his 1970 Ra II sea expedition. Reminiscing over some of the ground-breaking moments witnessed by the brand, David reveals that if he’d had the chance to jump back to any point in the brand’s history he would revel in the opportunity to watch the
swimmer Mercedes Gleitze swim the Channel in 1926 wearing one of the ÀUVW ZDWHUSURRI 5ROH[HV RQ KHU ZULVW ‘I would like to have been part of the welcoming committee in France when she emerged from the water with the watch still ticking! It was a moment that catapulted Rolex from a relatively small company into the global brand it is today’. A testimony to the importance of the brand’s advancement is that even today, every Rolex Oyster design uses the same mechanism that ticked away on that very day! On average, pieces in David’s collection sell for anywhere between £30,000 and £130,000, making them truly collectable. Evidence of their status as an investment can be found in the sale of items from the collection of Continental Airlines CEO Gordon Bethune by Christie’s New York which generated $590,000 for a 1950 Rolex Oyster that showed obvious signs of wear and tear! You know where to head.
David Silver is the Founder of The Vintage Watch Company, 24 Burlington Arcade. vintagewatchcompany. com BELOW (left to right): Silver Officers Watch With Full Arabic Numeral Dial, Red “12”, Mechanical Movement, Enamel Dial £6,900, Yellow Gold Extra Large Rectangular with Luminous Arabic Numeral Dial, Subsidiary Second Dial and Manual Movement £19,900
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Festive Sparkle For her This Christmas treat her to a timeless sprinkle of festive sparkle. We recommend going for an elegant silver design with a frosting of diamonds where possible. Keep it simple and sleek with these classic dress watches from the leading designers in the industry.
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