1920s Art Deco 9ct gold ladies Rolwatco watch W&D Rolex sub-brand
This is a high-quality dial. The dial appears a base cream tone in the shade, yet it is a silver tone which still shines brightly in the sun. As it catches the light you can see a sunburst finish radiate around the dial. It also has a textured Guilloche finish whish adds an extra dimension on-top of the sunburst. This dial will not fail to bring you joy with its exceptional execution and the manner in which light interacts with it.
 
The hands are original. They are thermally blued and are of the "Breguet" style. The crystal is a new replacement acrylic lens. The crown appears to be original. It is gold tone and is in good condition with a beautiful coin edge finish.
 
The case measures 25mm x 25mm and is 9ct rose gold and is in very good condition for its age. It hasn’t been polished and therefore wears its original age. It has light surface scratching which is consistent with its age. Overall, it is in good condition for its age.
 
The case back is 9ct rose gold. It is in good condition, with no dents, but some light surface scratching as expected with an un-polished watch of this age. The case hinge is in good condition, closing tightly and opening properly, to a firm 45 degree angle. The inside is signed ROLWATCO SWISS MADE, with the W&D Sponsor mark case signing. It has the reference 3954. It also has English hallmarking for 9ct gold from Glasgow Assay office with the date letter “A” from 1923.
 
The strap has a fold over end which attaches to an ornate clam shell design. The Patent for this kind of lug is marked as 826985. This extends into a 9ct gold plated Fixo-Flex expanding bracelet from the Art Deco Period. The patent for this expanding bracelet design is 1052603. This is not the original strap, but it is from a similar period and is a beautiful piece of design in its own right. It will fit up to a 7” wrist. If you have large hands, it may not pass over them easily.
 
The movement is a Fontainemelon calibre from the 1920s. It has 15 jewels making it a good quality movement for the period. It also has peerlage finishing to the bridge plates and underneath the balance and escapement. This is beyond a standard level of finishing. Service history is unknown, with the time keeping figures being average for a watch of this period.
 
It has a daily gain of +160 seconds, with an amplitude of 215 and a beat error of 1.9m/s.
 
The story of Hans Wilsdorf, Rolex watch company and sub-brands
RolWatco was registered before Rolco. The sub-brand is seen form 1922- 1925 “Rolex” began trading in 1905 as an importer of ladies watches. At this point they were known as Wilsdorf and Davis, with the Rolex name being registered in 1915. Even as far forward as the late 1920s the vast majority of watches in Rolex advertising were for ladies. The wristwatch was not widely accepted as a male accessory until after WW1, when trench watches first became common. A pocket watch was cumbersome and difficult to glance at quickly under layers of clothing.
 
Keeping Rolex as the top end brand, Wilsdorf realised that there was still a market to sell watches at lower price points, whilst maintaining good quality and differentiating from his luxury brand Rolex. Movements didn’t come from the traditional Rolex source, Aegler, but were ebauches from producers such as Fontainemelon and Beguelin. These could still be just as good in quality, with swiss lever escapements and fully jewelled, such as this example. This example seems to be a Fontainemelon movement.
 
This did seek to serve every price point, but also had the downside of identity confusion, detracting from the aim of Rolex being a prestige brand. In the early days Wilsdorf allowed names such as Rolex Watch Company, RWC Ltd or even just Rolex, to be used on the lesser brands. It gave the impression that you were getting a Rolex, just at a lower price point. This meant that by 1945 all other brand names were dropped, apart from Tudor, who eventually became a separate company in their own right. These sub-brands should not been sold AS a Rolex, but rather as a separate watch from within a sub-group of brands.
Other examples include, Marconi, Rolco, Unicorn, Full condition report below. 
 
Dial:
This is a high-quality dial. The dial appears a base cream tone in the shade, Yet it is a silver tone which still shines brightly in the sun. As it catches the light you can see a sunburst finish radiate around the dial. It also has a textured Guilloche finish whish adds an extra dimension on-top of the sunburst. This dial will not fail to bring you joy with it’s exceptional execution and the manner in which light interacts with it. The dial is in good original condition. The numerals are hand painted and show some signs of wear and lighter discolouration. They would have originally been black, but over time this has dulled to a light brown with some loss of paint. That being said it is original and shows some age. All hour markers and tracks are still clear.
 
Hands:
The hands are original. They are thermally blued and are of the "Breguet" style. They are in very good condition with no signs of bending or corrosion. Glass: The crystal is a new replacement acrylic lens.
 
Crown:
The crown appears to be original. It is gold tone and is in good condition with a beautiful coin edge finish.
 
Case:
The case is 9ct rose gold and is in very good condition for its age. It hasn’t been polished and therefore wears its original age. It has light surface scratching which is consistent with its age. Overall, it is in good condition for its age. It has a central piece with the hinged back for the case back, with the wired lugs soldered on. The bezel is hinged onto the front of the case. This sits flush with the case and stays on firmly. The hinge is tight and opens to a 45 degree angle.
 
Caseback:
The case back is 9ct rose gold. It is in good condition, with no dents, but some light surface scratching as expected with an un-polished watch of this age. The case hinge is in good condition, closing tightly and opening properly, to a firm 45 degree angle. The inside is signed ROLWATCO SWISS MADE, with the W&D Sponsor mark case signing. It has the reference 3954. It also has English hallmarking for 9ct gold from Glasgow Assay office with the date letter “A” from 1923.
 
Strap:
The strap has a fold over end which attaches to an ornate clam shell design. The Patent for this kind of lug is marked as 826985. This extends into a 9ct gold plated Fixo-Flex expanding bracelet from the Art Deco Period. The patent for this expanding bracelet design is 1052603. This is not the original strap, but it is from a similar period and is a beautiful piece of design in its own right. It will fit up to a 7” wrist. If you have large hands, it may not pass over them easily.
 
Movement:
The movement is a Fontainemelon calibre from the 1920s. It has 15 jewels making it a good quality movement for the period. It also has peerlage finishing to the bridge plates and underneath the balance and escapement. This is beyond a standard level of finishing. The movement is in good condition for its age cosmetically. Service history is unknown, with the time keeping figures being average for a watch of this period.
It has a daily gain of +160 seconds, with an amplitude of 215 and a beat error of 1.9m/s.
 
Case dimensions:
Case width: 25.5mm x 25.5mm