Rolex Cellini Cal.1600 18ct c1981

Rolex

Founded in 1905 in England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, the partnership became known as the Rolex Watch Company in 1915, moving to its new Geneva headquarters in 1919. The success of the wristwatch can be largely attributed to many of Rolex’s innovations which made the company one of the most respected and well-known of all luxury brands. These have included its famous “Oyster” case — the world’s first water-resistant and dustproof watch case, invented in 1926 — and its “Perpetual” — the world’s first reliable, self-winding movement for the wristwatch, launched in 1933. These would form the foundation for Rolex’s Datejust and Day-Date, respectively introduced in 1945 and 1956. Also and equally importantly, Rolex is known for its sports watches, such as the Explorer, Submariner and GMT-Master launched in the mid-1950s.

Description

A simply wonderful Rolex Cellini ladies’s dress watch from c1981. A stunning watch in every regard with a beautiful, intricate Rolex dial, a superb Calibre 1600 19 Jewel movement, a wonderful Rolex Swiss made 18ct gold watch case all joined together by the outstanding and heavy 18ct yellow gold integral bracelet.

Needless to say this watch is stunning in every way and makes this watch a stand out piece.

The Dial

A highly impressive-looking Rolex Geneve dial. Here, Rolex has elected to use yellow gold baton hour indices with the Rolex Coronet at 12. The original gilt ‘stick’ hands and baton indices are rich and proud, on the perfect blue coloured dial. The blue dial against the yellow gold case works wonderfully. This dial looks variable between mid-blue and dark-blue depending on how the light catches it. All of these wonderful aspects of the dial come together perfectly as we have tried to demonstrate in the images.

The dial is also signed and branded with the early Rolex Coronet, along with ‘Rolex’, ‘Geneve’ and ‘Cellini’.

Both the dial and hands are original, untouched and unrestored. Normally we restore the dials of all our watches but here the dial is in such good original condition, we decided to retain its charm and felt restoration unnecessary.

The Movement

The high-grade Calibre 1600, 19 Jewel, hand-wound movement is in incredibly clean and sparkling condition and has just been fully overhauled and serviced by our expert vintage Rolex specialist watchmaker.

The movement is in very clean condition having just completed a full overhaul and service by our vintage Rolex specialist watchmaker. This means it has been completely dismantled to each of its component parts before cleaning and inspection under high magnification, replacement where necessary with only genuine Rolex parts, then careful reassembly, adjustments and oiling to Rolex specification, before final calibration and testing. The movement is therefore now running accurately and within expectations of 30 seconds per day. The timing expected of a Rolex movement of this period is within 1 minute per day, which is covered by our warranty. We are therefore confident in offering this watch with a 12-month written warranty*.

The movement is signed ‘Rolex Geneva’, ‘Swiss’ and ‘19 Rubis’ .

*Please note – our 12 months’ warranty is only applicable if the list price is paid.

The Case

The 18ct yellow gold case measures 26mm across, excluding the correct Rolex signed crown, 26mm from top to bottom and 37mm across the diagonal including the lugs, this making the watch perfectly sized and it sits upon the wrist beautifully.

The watch is in superb condition with no marks or scratches visible to the naked eye. It has been beautifully well cared for and after a close inspection has simply required a careful clean and a gentle polish to bring it back to its current, almost as new condition. The case is of full-thickness and has never been inscribed. All the markings are correct for a Rolex Swiss made case of this period. The case-back exterior carries the Rolex model reference number 3811.

Please note – our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.

The Bracelet

The original, heavy, integral, full-sized Rolex bracelet is also in matching solid 18ct yellow gold. This is quite a heavy bracelet, in immaculate condition, showing no signs of wear or damage visible to the naked eye. The total weight of this watch is 72g.

The bracelet remains at its original standard 18cm length, which means the watch and bracelet are a perfect fit for a lady with a wrist size/circumference of 18 centimetres. The clasp and lock provide an adjustment of 0.5 centimetres either way, meaning the watch will fit a wrist size 18.0cm – 18.5cm.

The bracelet is, as expected, superbly made and quite weighty and substantial. It is also in wonderful condition. While the links do not stretch, they are just flexible enough to hug the wrist beautifully with no gaps or unevenness in any of the links.

Box and Papers

Although there are no original papers with the watch, the numbers and markings are all correct, dating it to c1981.

A detailed written receipt with 12 months’ warranty* and a separate insurance valuation for the replacement value of the watch, will be provided at the time of sale, along with our unique ‘Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee’ which states: “If this watch proves to be anything less than totally authentic, or not as described, Vintage Gold Watches of London will offer you a full refund, at any time”.

This watch also comes complete with a high quality hardwood presentation box as shown in the photographs.

In Conclusion

One of the nicest ladies Rolex dress/cocktail watches we have seen, from horology’s most famous name. This will provide an excellent financial investment as well as be something to treasure and enjoy! It will make the perfect gift as well as a practical, accurate and reliable timepiece to use for evening wear, on a regular basis, as you so wish.

A word on our prices – We always try our hardest to acquire the very best quality watches we can find, before then restoring these to the highest possible standards. We then offer these at the fairest prices we can, taking into account our pre and post sales care and service. This approach means we will never be the cheapest, but nor will we be the most expensive. Indeed there are some well-known stores in West London which are highly successful, charging between two to three times the price you see here. We therefore consider our prices to be fair, given the quality of watches we have to offer.

We are happy to accept PayPal as this is the quickest method of payment. However, if you would like to pay by UK cheque or by UK bank transfer we will be pleased to assist you with this and pass on a 3% saving to you. Similarly, if you wish to pay by International SWIFT or Bank Wire Transfer we will provide you with our BIC / Swift number and our IBAN number.

If you have any questions please call on our Landline 0207 727 7095. Or if calling from overseas please call us on +44 207 727 7095

Please note, we also welcome part exchanges. If you have a watch or a small collection for sale, please contact us as we will be happy to discuss this.

We will also be happy to Service your watch, Repair your watch or Restore your watch, all at ‘sensible’ prices. Please see here.

Please take a look at our other fine vintage gold watches.

Thank you.