Clocks & Watches – Toovey’s Blog

Rolex and the Art of Time

A 2001 Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 18ct gold cased gentleman’s bracelet wristwatch

There is much talk about the potential effects of AI on our jobs and society. I would observe, however, that across the centuries people have always valued the handmade and have been prepared to pay huge premiums for objects that have a direct connection with the craftsperson’s hand. This truth continues to this day and is very hopeful.

Handmade watches fall into this category.

In 1914 the Kew Observatory awarded a Rolex watch a Class A precision certificate for accuracy, a distinction usually reserved for marine chronometers and a reflection of their mastery of the art of time.

Heavy tax duties in the UK after the Great War on luxury imports and exported precious metals used in watch cases caused Wilsdorf to move the company to Geneva, Switzerland.

In 1927 Rolex developed the first waterproof and dust-proof watch named the ‘Oyster’. In 1931 this was complimented by Rolex inventing the world’s first self-winding mechanism.

Rolex diving watches have been design icons since their introduction in 1953. They were the first diving watches to be waterproof to 330 feet. Introduced in 1955 the mechanism was able to simultaneously show the time in two zones allowing it to be used for navigation by those crossing the globe. The movement was improved in 1982 making it easier to use.

A 1984 Rolex Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master stainless steel cased gentleman’s bracelet wristwatch

The 1984 Rolex Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master stainless steel cased gentleman’s bracelet wristwatch with its iconic red and blue bezel is part of this tradition.

The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 18ct gold cased gentleman’s bracelet wristwatch offered a restrained elegance. Both of these fine watches were sold in Toovey’s specialist watch sales for £9000 and £10,000 respectively.

New or old a Rolex combines the status of a handmade design icon with superlative time-keeping. This combination delights connoisseurs and collectors.

Perhaps it’s time to change your wristwatch. Toovey’s Director, Tom Rowsell, is always pleased to offer advice whether you are considering acquiring or selling watches in this growing market.

Collecting Time

A rare Omega Seamaster Automatic 1000m/3300ft Professional stainless steel cased diver’s bracelet wristwatch, circa 1970

Watches which tell the time with exceptional accuracy can be bought for very little and yet we have an enduring fascination with mechanical watches which continue to attract the attention of today’s collectors.

Amongst these are the diving watches inspired by the Rolex Submariner which was conceived in 1953 by Rolex board member and keen diver, René- Paul Jeanneret. He identified the potential for a diving watch which could also be worn every day.

The rare Omega Seamaster Automatic 1000m/3300ft Professional stainless steel cased diver’s bracelet wristwatch dates from the 1970s. The Omega Seamaster 1000 was nicknamed ‘The Grand’ by virtue of its 1000 metre rating and with a total run believed to be fewer than 500, it is regarded as a rare watch. The first ‘Grand’ was personally given by Prince Rainier III of Monaco to Jacques Cousteau, who was director of the Monaco Oceanographic Research Institute and Museum between 1957 and 1988. The French underwater explorer, Jacques Cousteau, invented the aqua-lung in 1943. His underwater adventures aboard the ship Calypso would be made famous by the BBC television series of the 1960s and 1970s.Cousteau declared the Omega Seamaster 1000 to be his favourite diving watch.

In the 1970s Omega was viewed as being more revolutionary and professionally focused than the higher priced Rolex watches.

In the 1960s Japan’s economy grew at an extraordinary rate. It’s well educated work force moved from low-productivity rural jobs into modern manufacturing and services. The US and European economies began to grow post-war providing demand whilst prices for raw materials remained stable and Japan boomed.

Japanese goods entered western markets and began to establish her international brands. Amongst these was the watchmaker Seiko which quickly became recognised for its innovation, precision and quality. The company began to develop diving watches in the 1960s to compete with Swiss manufacturers like Omega and Rolex. The similarities of its style and design with its Swiss competitors is not accidental as east meets west.

A Seiko 6215-7000 Automatic stainless steel cased diver’s wristwatch, circa 1967

The 1967, Seiko released the rare reference 6215-7000 which featured water resistance up to 300 meters. The monobloc case had a screw down crown to protect the watch. It was a technically very complex watch and was produced in small numbers over about a year. It was the reputation of watches like this one that established Seiko’s brand which would come to dominate its Swiss competitors in the Quartz movement era that followed.

Despite their worn condition these two rare diving watches realised £3600 and £7400 respectively in Toovey’s specialist watch sales.

We have a fascination with handmade watches and value them far more highly than homogenous, mass produced timepieces. Interest, demand and prices continue to rise in this exciting field of collecting.

The Art of Time

A Breguet Type 20 Chronograph steel cased gentleman’s wristwatch, circa 1971 © Toovey’s 2021

Over the millennia humankind has sought to record and measure time. Watches which can tell the time with exceptional accuracy can be bought for very little today and yet our enduring fascination with exquisitely engineered mechanical watches remains undiminished. Not only do these watches connect us with the present but they also link us with points of extraordinary human endeavour and adventure.

Breguet and Rolex remain two of the world’s most enduring brands. The art of time is given expression in the Breguet Type 20 and Rolex Submariner illustrated which realised £13,500 and £10,000 respectively at Toovey’s.

The great-great grandson of the founder of Breguet was Louis Charles Breguet (1880-1955). Louis was amongst the early pioneers of aviation building hydroplanes and warplanes used by the French during the First and Second World Wars.

After World War II the Breguet type 20 was one of the most popular watches for pilots.

Amongst the defining characteristics of a Type 20 chronograph is its black dial with two or three registers at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock that count up to 30 minutes. They have luminous hands and Arabic numerals, as well as Flyback function which stops, resets and restarts the chronograph with a single press of the lower button. They also have to be accurate within eight seconds per day.
In an age where we rely on satellites, even in our cars, it is hard to imagine the importance of timekeeping in flight navigation.

Since routes were determined by a series of navigational directions and flight times a pilot’s ability to precisely measure time intervals was vital.
In the 1970s Breguet began to produce a revised Type 20 wristwatch. The distinctive black dial with batten hands and luminescent numerals remained, though the case was made larger and a black anodised rotating bezel was introduced. The chronograph was powered by a Valjoux 725 calibre movement with two, or three counters as you see here.

Perhaps the most iconic of all diving watches is the Rolex Submariner. The idea was conceived in 1953 by Rolex board member and keen diver, René- Paul Jeanneret, who identified the potential for a diving watch which could also be worn every day. The French underwater explorer, Jacques Cousteau, invented the aqua-lung ten years earlier in 1943 and is said to have used a Rolex Submariner himself on occasions. His underwater adventures aboard the ship Calypso would be made famous by the BBC television series of the 1960s and 1970s.

Rolex diving watches have been design icons since their introduction in 1953. They were the first diving watches to be waterproof to 330 feet. Early and rare examples of Rolex Submariners can command five and six figure sums at auction. The stainless steel cased Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner illustrated with its leather strap dates from 1964.

We have a fascination with handmade watches and chronographs and value them far more highly than homogenous, mass produced timepieces. Interest, demand and prices continue to rise in this evocative field of collecting.

The Golden Age of Clockmaking

A late 17th century red tortoiseshell veneered bracket clock, by John Cotsworth of London

The late 17th century saw a revolution in English horology with huge leaps forward in science and technology. The invention of the pendulum and the verge escapement transformed the accuracy of mechanical time keeping. This period has become known as the golden age of English clockmaking.

The introduction of the pendulum shortly after 1650 has been described as ‘the greatest event in the history of horology’. A pendulum has a definite period of swing and gives a repeated unit of time whilst regulating the rotation of a clock’s spring or weight driven wheels.

It was Galileo who first discovered the isochronous properties of the pendulum in 1581. The pendulum clock was invented by the great Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens and patented in 1656. In 1657 he assigned the rights to his invention to Saloman Coster, a clock maker from the Hague. John Fromanteel, a member of the famous London family of clockmakers of Dutch descent, worked with Coster in Holland between 1657 and 1658 and introduced the technology to England upon his return.

The introduction of the pendulum clock to England coincided almost exactly with the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. Charles was a great patron of the arts and returned from the Continent with a taste for the finest art, clocks and objects in contrast to the austerity of the Puritan period which preceded him. England’s new found and rising wealth led to a growing demand for this new fashion and taste.

The Great Fire of London added to this demand as vast numbers of houses were rebuilt and refurbished. And this was the age of Sir Isaac Newton with Britain taking a leading role in the pursuit of science.

A late 17th century ebonized bracket clock, by John Cotton of London

The combination of Royal patronage, rising wealth, science and an increasingly international maritime outlook produced an outstanding generation of clockmakers which included Thomas Tompion, regarded as the ‘Father of English clockmaking’, Edward East, watchmaker and clockmaker to Charles I, Daniel Quare, and Joseph Knibb, who has been described as ‘next to Tompion…the greatest horologist of his time’. The demand for clocks remained strong into the late 17th and 18th century with other clockmakers working alongside them.
The late 17th century red tortoiseshell and ebonized bracket clocks you see here by John Cotsworth and John Cotton are fine examples and sold at Toovey’s for £6400 and £5000 respectively.

Both clocks had eight day twin fusee movements with verge escapements, finely engraved and signed back plates, and square brass dials with Roman hour numerals and Arabic minutes. The red tortoiseshell and ebonized architectural cases with their cushion-moulded tops and brass handles are typical of the period. There is much to celebrate in the quality of their mechanisms and their cases.

Interestingly John Cotsworth (sometimes Cossworth) is recorded as a London clockmaker, born in 1637. He was apprenticed to Jeremy Gregory and made free of the Clockmakers Company in 1669 to 1702. Cotsworth died in 1732, described as ‘aged near 100, formerly a watchmaker in Fleet Street and the oldest inhabitant of St. Dunstan’s Parish’. John Cotton is recorded as a London clockmaker, apprenticed in 1683, he was made free of the Clockmakers Company in 1695 to 1697.

Clocks remain one of the strongest collectors’ fields combining the skill of the clockmaker with that of the cabinet maker. These fine horological instruments give us a sense of our place in the procession of time and history – it is easy to understand their appeal.

Image 1: A late 17th century red tortoiseshell veneered bracket clock, by John Cotsworth of London.
Image 2: A late 17th century ebonized bracket clock, by John Cotton of London.

Rolex – Design Icons and Superlative Timepieces

Rolex Watches at Toovey's — A selection of Rolex gentlemen’s wristwatches which totalled £23,000 at Toovey’s

For more than 100 years Rolex have produced superlative timepieces which today are considered design classics.

Rolex is one of the world’s strongest brands representing more than a century of precision watch making, creativity and aspiration. Many may be surprised to learn that the company we know today as Rolex was founded in London by Alfred Davis and his brother in law Hans Wilsdorf in 1905. It traded as Wilsdorf and Davis. Hans Wilsdorf wanted his watches to bear a name that was memorable, short and easy to say in any language. In 1908 he registered the trademark ‘Rolex’. In the same year he opened an office in Switzerland.
In 1914 the Kew Observatory awarded a Rolex watch a Class A precision certificate for accuracy, a distinction usually reserved for marine chronometers. Heavy tax duties in the UK after the Great War on luxury imports and exported precious metals used in watch cases caused Wilsdorf to move the company to Geneva, Switzerland.

In 1927 Rolex developed the first waterproof and dust-proof watch named the ‘Oyster’. In 1931 this was complimented by Rolex inventing the world’s first self-winding mechanism.

As a fine art auctioneer in Sussex I have spent some thirty-five years journeying with people sharing the stories of their lives told through objects. I have often reflected that the most precious objects in our lives are those that allow us to tell these stories – the prompts to fond memories. I refer to them as the patchwork quilt of our lives. Rolex has always understood this and today its ambassadors are drawn from leading figures in the arts and sport whose lives are reflected in the these remarkable timepieces.

Rolex diving watches have been design icons since their introduction in 1953. They were the first diving watches to be waterproof to 330 feet. The ‘Submariner’ illustrated, with its leather strap, was made in 1965. The 1986 GMT- Master is similarly inspired. Introduced in 1955 the mechanism was able to simultaneously show the time in two zones allowing it to be used for navigation by those crossing the globe. The movement was improved in 1982 making it easier to use.
The two Rolex Oyster Perpetual wristwatches from 1958 and 1959 in their restrained stainless steel cases with simple dials are beautifully conceived. In contrast the 18ct gold Day Date wristwatch and the two colour Datejust appeal to those with more glamorous tastes.

New or old a Rolex combines the status of a design icon with superlative time-keeping. This combination delights connoisseurs and collectors. The selection of Rolex wristwatches illustrated have just sold at Toovey’s for £23,000.

Perhaps it’s time to change your wristwatch. Toovey’s Director, Tom Rowsell, is preparing his next specialist auction of fine watches which will be held on Thursday 23rd January 2020. Entries are still being invited. Tom and his team of specialists are always delighted to share their passion for watches and offer advice. They can be contacted on 01903 891955.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.