The Rolex Oyster

The Oyster is the sealed wristwatch case that Rolex introduced in 1926 and named for its tight closure; Rolex says it gave the movement 'optimal protection'.^1, 2, 5

Its key part, the screw-down crown, was patented by Paul Perregaux and Georges Perret (Swiss application 30 October 1925); Wilsdorf held the British patent as their assignee, and Wikipedia says Rolex bought the patent.^3, 6, 8

Wilsdorf's own Swiss patents of September and October 1926 add a crown that slides on the stem and screws down onto a tube in the case, and a shaped case closed by a screwed back and bezel; the US version, granted in 1929, shows an octagonal case.^4, 9, 10

Donzé dates Rolex's patent application for a hermetically sealed case to 1926; Wikipedia says the original cases were made for Rolex by an outside casemaker.^5, 6

The movements came from the Aegler factory in Biel, Rolex's sole movement supplier, which, Donzé shows, raised the share of its movements earning a rating certificate with distinction from 10.8 per cent in 1926-27 to an average of 63.1 per cent in 1932-37 and hired the adjuster Jean Matile in 1927.^2, 5

Further patents kept the design moving: a winding and setting device for hermetic watches (1929), a hermetic watch (1933) and a tightness-testing apparatus (1934), all in Wilsdorf's name.¹¹

The launch advertisement filled the front page of the Daily Mail on 24 November 1927. It calls the Oyster 'the greatest Triumph in Watch-making ... the Wonder Watch that Defies the Elements', for men or women, and carries Mercedes Gleitze's picture.^5, 6, 12

Rolex dates its 'Testimonee' idea, the use of famous wearers, to that advertisement.¹

Which swim the watch survived is told differently: Rolex says it crossed the Channel with Gleitze; Wikipedia, citing John E. Brozek, says she wore it on the failed second attempt of 21 October 1927, hung round her neck, and The Times reported it had kept good time.^1, 6, 13

Rolex displayed Oysters submerged in aquariums in the windows of its retailers, Wikipedia says.⁶

Donzé records that on 7 December 1927 Wilsdorf warned 'any counterfeiter or imitator' in La Fédération horlogère suisse that he owned the patents and the trademarks Oyster, Aqua and Submarine.⁵

Rolex calls it 'the first waterproof and dustproof wristwatch'; Watkins (Dennison patents of 1872 and 1915) and Wikipedia (Depollier) point to earlier sealed cases.^1, 6, 14

With the self-winding rotor of 1930 or 1931 it became the Oyster Perpetual, an automatic, and the sealed case led to the diving watches of the 1950s.^1, 2, 6