How the very first Oyster fits together (and why I find that slightly annoying).

[Matt]

I'll admit it, I have a complex relationship with Rolex.

On the one hand, I have nothing but admiration for Hans Wilsdorf, the utter genius behind pretty well everything that Rolex should be admired for. The Golden Age Oyster case is as beautiful as it is effective and the 15xx series movement are my second favourite vintage movement.

On the other hand, oh everything.

Which brings me to the watch in question. This Oyster.



I've been after any sort of first generation Oyster for a while now for the simple reason that Eric Shipton wore one solidly on every single Everest expedition from 1933 to 1951. Two things come from this, firstly, it must have been a damned good watch for him to keep wearing it and secondly it must have been a damned good watch to not break! More to the point, literally the only watch that's spent more time on Everest is Mallory's Borgel and that just doesn't count! As if that wasn't enough. I seem to have slid unwittingly into collecting early waterproof watches. A collection of the first waterproof watches without a Rolex Oyster is... well...

And this is where my problem with Rolex resurfaces. It's simply a fact that Borgel patented the first fully waterproof watch in 1898 and turned this into a wristwatch in 1905. To add insult to injury, it's equally true that they patented an identical case design to the Oyster (sans screw down crown) in 1903. That's right, Rolex had to wait for the Borgel patent to lapse before they could claim it for their own. There's no possibility that Rolex didn't know, because there are Wilsdorf & Davies watches with precisely that case. As for the screw down crown...

However, the fact is that, even knowing this when this Oyster came up as a BIN on ebay it lasted precisely two minutes and thirty three seconds. The watch arrived almost as rapidly and, having done my post hoc due diligence, I thought I knew what I was getting. I'd done my research, I knew what I was expecting and then I was completely caught out.

Firstly, this is a watch that has lived a very very full life and it's been remarkably loved:



Forget about the patents and all the early Oyster Gubbins, check out the service marks! It's almost worth taking a series of photos to catch all of them and point out the ones that are not on the case back. There's at least seventeen distinct service marks. That's got to be a record for me and it really catches my imagination. 1071 appears to be a model number but appears to be shared randomly across other early Oyster and Rolex Oyster variants of this watch.

The second surprise comes from never having properly played with either an early oyster or a very early Borgel of the same design. I'd always assumed that the inner case was somehow solidly mounted and the two screw threads simply protruded. This is the approach used on the waterproof military pocket watch produced by Dennison for about forty years to more than satisfy a series of 'General Service' specifications. (and incidentally the watch that Noel Odell was using on Everest in 1924 when he made his last sighting of Mallory).

However, I couldn't have been more wrong! The threaded tube that carries the movement is almost entirely free:



being loosely held in place by the stem and a small protrusion on the other side of the case. This is a very satisfactory arrangement as it solves the problem of aligning the stem and makes the middle case a remarkably simple lump of metal:



Sadly, the middle case on this watch is made of 'Snowite'. Back in 1927, this was a material that was dead easy to manufacture and took chrome well, but ultimately it's not really suitable over the long run as can be very clearly seen. I intend to solve this. One option, and one that has been widely taken elsewhere, is to sand the snowite back and rechrome. However, that seems a brutal and irreversible way to treat a watch that appears to have earned its wabi the hard way. There has to be a better, reversible, solution, probably involving scrap silver, a blowtorch, a couple of cuttlefish and a bit of swearing, followed by a lot of patient sanding...

Because this is a watch that keeps almost all of its complexity on the inside. It's a real pity that there are not any modern watches made this way. There's a simplicity and elegance about it that really appeals to me:



Sadly, it means that I really need a 1903 style Borgel; curious minds must know, because the Rolex is, when you get down to it, merely an homage of the Borgel. And it's this sort of irony that partly explains why I find my delight at this superb little jewel of a watch slightly annoying.

Meanwhile:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/382582351462

I nearly forgot to bid on the worlds least appreciated space watch...

I do love this hobby...

[tribe125]

Nice exploded picture -

[Matt]

Nice exploded picture -

Absolutely, but that's the 1898 patent. the one I'm keen to see is the 1903 one. They are all fantastic watches though.

[tribe125]

There seems to be no internet trace of the 1903 patent - other than some advertising references which you will have seen.

Einstein was working in the patent office at the time.

My theory: Einstein had a bright idea, scribbled it down on the back of the 1903 patent and took it home by mistake.

[FuzzyB]

Fantastic write up and pictures! It’s great to see how the case was constructed. Quite a clever design and by the looks of it, it has served its purpose well.

[OhDark30]

Great piece again Matt: history, tech, intrigue - all the things you do so well!

I love the service marks!
Back when I was after a French Navy Type XX, examples with lots of service marks sang to me of the service they’d put in - all those sea hours put in, bar openings predicted :-)

[CFR]

I would gladly wear that.

[CFR]

Thank you very much for such an interesting and informative post, Matt.

[OhDark30]

I would gladly wear that.

I know - lovely aren’t they!

[CFR]

I know - lovely aren’t they!

Yes they are. Their new models are not so bad either, but the price they ask for a modular chrono seems a bit too much.