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Vintage Rolex Oyster Princeton WW2 Military Watch - Image 1
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Vintage Rolex Oyster Princeton WW2 Military Watch

DIRECT PRICE SAVE 10%
EBAY PRICE$1999.00
DIRECT -10%$1799.10

DESCRIPTION

For sale is a remarkable piece of horological history: a genuine Vintage Oyster Watch Company Oyster Princeton from the World War II era. The Oyster Watch Company was owned and operated by Rolex, and during WWII, Rolex used the Oyster Watch Co. name to work around tariffs and import restrictions in certain markets, particularly in the UK and Canada. Because of these regulations, watches were branded Oyster Watch Company instead of Rolex, even though they were manufactured with the same components, built to the same standards, and utilized Rolex’s patented waterproof Oyster case. While the dial does not display the Rolex name, this is still a Rolex-built watch, making it a highly desirable and historically significant piece. This example features the classic Oyster Princeton configuration and is powered by its original Caliber 59 movement. The watch is currently running smoothly and keeping accurate time. The watch has aged gracefully and shows signs of use and age consistent with a genuine wartime-era timepiece. The dial, hands, case, and movement are original, preserving its authenticity and collector appeal. It is fitted with a brand new high-end black leather strap and an authentic vintage Rolex buckle. Key Details: • Brand: Oyster Watch Company (Rolex-owned wartime brand) • Model: Oyster Princeton • Movement: Original Caliber 59 • Case Size: Approximately 29mm • Era: World War II (1940s) • Condition: Running and keeping accurate time; shows signs of use and age • Dial: Original dial with blued steel hands and Arabic numerals • Strap: Brand new high-end black leather strap with authentic vintage Rolex buckle Whether you are a vintage Rolex collector or a fan of historic military timepieces, this Oyster Watch Company Oyster Princeton represents an excellent opportunity to own a true Rolex-built watch from a fascinating chapter in watchmaking history. Ships carefully. Feel free to message me with any questions.
BRAND:
Rolex
UNIT CONDITION:
Pre-owned - Good
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► ARCHIVE FILE: ROLEX — BRAND HISTORY

Rolex began in London in 1905, when Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis founded Wilsdorf & Davis to case Swiss movements for the British market. Wilsdorf registered the Rolex name in 1908, choosing it because it was short, easy to pronounce in any language, and fit neatly on a dial. He then set about proving that wristwatches, still dismissed as jewelry, could be precision instruments: a Rolex earned the first chronometer certificate granted to a wristwatch in 1910, a Kew Class A certificate followed in 1914, and the firm moved to Geneva in 1919.

Two inventions made the modern sports watch possible. The Oyster case of 1926 sealed the movement behind a screw-down bezel, case back, and crown; Wilsdorf proved it in 1927 by having swimmer Mercedes Gleitze wear one for more than ten hours in the English Channel, then announced the result in a front-page newspaper advertisement. In 1931 came the Perpetual rotor, a self-winding weight swinging through a full 360 degrees that kept the watch wound and the crown safely screwed down. Those two ideas remain the backbone of the catalog a century later.

The postwar decades produced the references that define the tool watch: the Datejust in 1945, the Explorer and the Submariner in 1953, the GMT-Master in 1955 for Pan Am crews, the Day-Date in 1956, and the Cosmograph Daytona in 1963. None of these were luxury objects at launch; they were equipment for divers, pilots, and engineers, which is precisely why the early examples matter. Rolex changed details constantly, so dial printing, bezel inserts, and crown guards let specialists date a watch almost to the year.

Vintage Rolex is the most scrutinized corner of the watch market, and originality is everything: an untouched dial outweighs a polished case, and correct period parts outweigh cosmetic perfection. Gilt-dial sports models and early GMTs sit at the top, but honest Oyster Perpetuals, Air-Kings, and Datejusts from the 1950s through the 1970s remain attainable ways into the brand. Serial numbers date production, service history adds real value, and the deep base of parts and knowledge around these watches means a good example can be maintained indefinitely.

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