1932
Rolex Magazine Ad
Nick Gould recently discovered this fascinating Rolex Magazine advertisement from December of 1932. There are a number of interesting details in this vintage Rolex ad. We notice the Rolex "Oyster" Imperial is prominently showcased, with its "Ultra Prima Movement in new Rolesium case of non-testable metal'.
We also see a few Rolex Prince models, including the Rolex "Prince" Automatic, which is described as "A special model with automatic hour change. The minutes and second can be read at a glance as in no other precision watch". This was essentially a hybrid digital/analog watch dial, as the hour was displayed using an aperture window, and was commonly referred to as Rolex Jump Hour. My understanding is Rolex introduced this beautiful model in 1930.
Perhaps, most notable is the absence of a Rolex "Perpetual", which was another type of "automatic" wrist watch, which, according to the best scholarship didn't make its debut until February 28, 1934, despite the fact it was apparently patented in 1931.
It's worth noting in a February 28, 1934 add in The North China Herald (pictured below), they referred to it as "Introducing The World's Most Modern Watch: The New Rolex Perpetual Oyster Wrist Watch. The Watch that never requires winding or any attention from the Wearer." It also says, "The Greatest achievement in the history of Watchmaking".
Why is all this detail so important? In my upcoming book series on Rolex, we spell out every conceivable detail imaginable.
