ROLEX MARCONI Cushion Ref.038 By Oyster Watch Company Cal.51 Damas

Name: ROLEX MARCONI Cushion Ref.038 By Oyster Watch Company Cal.51 Damas
Brand: ROLEX
Price: 650000 JPY
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)

Japan

￥650,000

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Basic Information

Brand

ROLEX

Model

OTHER

Reference Number

038

Case Material

Nickle chrom painting

Year Of Manufacture

1930

Dial Condition

Aged Patina Due to Vintage Condition

Case Condition (Including Case Back)

Pre-owned (Some minor scratches on case)

Accuracy

Mechanical (±60 seconds/day)

Gender

Male

Location

Japan

Movement

Winding Up

ManualQ

Caliber

Power reserve

Number of jewel bearings

Case

Case Material

Nickle chrom painting

Glass

pastic

Size (excluding crown)

Belt

Belt Material

Stainless Steel

Buckle material

Stainless Steel

Explanation

See translation

While most Swiss watch companies were born from watchmakers, building their brand value upon generations of horological tradition, Hans Wilsdorf followed an entirely different path. Without having trained as a watchmaker himself, he entered the industry as a salesman and founded his own watch company.

By fitting a miniaturized lever escapement into a wristwatch and submitting it to an official testing authority under his own name, Wilsdorf achieved a remarkable milestone in 1910: the world’s first chronometer certificate for a wristwatch. The following year, he registered names associated with the Marconi Lever and Unicorn Lever escapements as trademarks under his own name.

In a Swiss watch industry deeply rooted in the pride and traditions of master watchmakers, perhaps this was, in a sense, a challenge issued by the unconventional Hans Wilsdorf himself.

And with that story in mind, we arrive at the timepiece presented here—a watch that brings this remarkable chapter to its conclusion.

Manufactured under the OYSTER WATCH COMPANY, which Hans Wilsdorf himself registered as a company in 1927, this watch features an Oyster case shared with Rolex. The “SNOWITE” engraving on the case back refers to its distinctive nickel-chromium-plated finish, while the crown is the large Rolex Oyster “MM” type.

Inside is one of the central characters of this story: the distinctive gold-plated Caliber 51-series movement manufactured by Beguelin. Naturally, the ratchet wheel bears the “MARCONI” engraving.

The dial is also original and clearly registers radiation at approximately 3 microsieverts, although it has subsequently been carefully refinished. Interestingly, comparable Rolex models using the same type of case can register radiation levels exceeding 20 microsieverts. This suggests that the distinction between Rolex and its related watches may even have extended to the luminous material used on their dials.

This may be one of the very few surviving watches capable of telling this extraordinary story through the watch itself.

※For those wishing to learn more about Rolex Marconi, further details are available on our website and will also appear next month in our POWER WATCH column, “Mystery-Solving Stories.”

★★★ ROLEX ★★★

Nickel-Chromium-Plated Cushion Case “MARCONI”
by Oyster Watch Company

Ref. 038

☆☆☆ Circa 1930 — Vintage ☆☆☆

(Men’s / measured flat position: +60 sec/day / amplitude: 235° / beat error: 0.5 ms / lift angle: 55°)

※These figures were measured on a timegrapher. Actual performance may vary depending on wearing conditions and environment, so please regard them as approximate values.

Completely original and genuine except for the bracelet and buckle.

☆ Genuine Circa-1930 Nickel-Chromium-Plated Cushion Case ☆

【Condition】Professionally polished by our company and currently in very clean condition.

【Size】32 mm diameter excluding crown × 37 mm lug-to-lug.

☆ Genuine Circa-1930 Nickel-Chromium-Plated Screw-Back Case ☆

【Condition】Professionally polished by our company and currently in very clean condition.

【Engraving】

☆ Genuine Circa-1930 Original Radium-Luminous Dial ☆

【Specifications】Center: hour and minute hands / 6 o’clock: subsidiary seconds.

【Dial Markings】ROLEX OYSTER MARCONI / ANTI-MAGNETIC / SWISS MADE

【Condition】The dial has been carefully restored overall.

☆ Genuine Circa-1930 Blued-Steel Baton Hour & Minute Hands and Blued-Steel Subsidiary Seconds Hand ☆

【Condition】The hour, minute, and seconds hands remain in their period condition.

☆ Genuine Circa-1930 Stainless-Steel Plain Crown — “PATENT” ☆

【Condition】Very clean condition.

☆ Aftermarket Stainless-Steel Caterpillar Bracelet ☆

【Size】Lug width: 16 mm / maximum wrist circumference: approximately 185–190 mm.

【Condition】Unused.

Cal. 51 — Beguelin / Damas

VIBRATION: 18,000 vph

JEWELS: 15

POWER RESERVE: Max. 38 hours

SCREW BALANCE

BREGUET OVERCOIL HAIRSPRING

【Engraving】UNICORN / SWISS MADE / 15 RUBIES