Rolex
Founded in 1905 in England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, the partnership later 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 dress watch from c1972. A stunning watch in every regard with a beautiful, intricate, two-tone Rolex dial, a superb Calibre 1601, 19 Jewel movement and a wonderful Rolex Swiss made 18ct yellow gold watch case, all united by the outstanding, heavy, mixed 18ct yellow gold / 18ct white gold integral bracelet.
Needless to say this watch is stunning in every way and makes this watch a stand out piece.
The Dial
The dial is a highly impressive-looking Rolex Geneve two-tone dial. Here, Rolex has elected to use gilt ‘baton’ hour indices and the dial is signed with the Rolex Coronet at 12. The original gilt ‘stick’ hands and indices stand rich and proud and the two-tone works wonderfully against the yellow gold case. The dial has a lighter cream inner section, which is framed by a beautifully engraved edge, with the darker cream around the outer edge. All of these wonderful aspects of the dial come together perfectly as we have tried to demonstrate in the images.
The dial is branded with the early Rolex Coronet and signed ‘Rolex’, ‘Geneve’ and ‘Cellini’ with ‘Swiss’ at the very bottom below 6.
The dial is original and unrestored and has been left untouched by our restoration team due to its superb condition. Usually, we restore the dials of the watches we sell, however we decided in this case to leave it alone, due to its unusually good condition and to retain its originality and charm for those who prefer this. It also helps to contrast with almost all of the other watch dials you see on our website, which have been restored. The hands, likewise, have also been left in their original condition.
Please note, studio lights, professional-grade digital cameras, and macro lenses can be very unkind to an unrestored vintage watch dial. Also the dial here measures less than 1.25 inches across, so the image you’re seeing may be between 5 – 25 times larger than the watch itself. Therefore please keep in mind you are seeing many tiny flaws which cannot be seen, or will be very hard to see with the naked eye, even under close examination. Suffice to say, on the wrist, in natural light, this dial looks much better and carries a great deal more charm than the photographs portray.
The Movement
The high grade Calibre 1601, 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.
Rolex went to considerable lengths and expense to ensure its 13.75mm diameter, Cal.1600 series movements performed equally as well as its larger gents precision movements, and they succeeded! These are indeed high precision movements and the example here is running perfectly, having been calibrated to run consistently within plus 9 seconds per day! This is truly outstanding for any mechanical watch and has been checked and confirmed on our electronic watch timegrapher. The movement also has an excellent power reserve of 44 hours when fully wound.
The movement is signed ‘Montres Rolex S.A. Geneva Swiss’ and ‘Nineteen 19 Jewels’ and is marked with the Calibre number 1601. This particular movement is in beautiful condition and with regular servicing, say every 3 to 4 years, we would fully expect this watch to continue to run very happily for many more decades to come. We are therefore confident in offering this watch with our 12 months written warranty*.
*Please note – our 12 months’ warranty is only applicable if the list price is paid.
The Case
The 18ct yellow gold case measures 27mm across, excluding the correct Rolex signed crown, 32mm from top to bottom and 36mm across the diagonal including the lugs, this making the watch perfectly sized and it sits upon the wrist beautifully. The wonderful case has a beautiful woven ‘rope’ effect bezel which complements the dial and matches the bracelet perfectly.
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. . All the markings are correct for a Rolex Swiss made case of this period and importantly, the case is of full-thickness and has never been inscribed
The case-back interior is signed with the correct Rolex signature: ‘Montres Rolex S.A. Geneva Switzerland’ and carries the correct 18ct gold hallmarks ‘18K 0.750’ with the model reference number 4840 and the case serial number 816 81.
Please note – our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.
The Bracelet
The original, heavy, integral, woven Rolex signed bracelet is also in matching solid 18ct yellow and white gold. This is quite a heavy bracelet, in immaculate condition and showing no signs of wear or damage visible to the naked eye.
The bracelet will fit a wrist size 17.8cm – 18.4cm, however, the clasp and lock provide an adjustment of 0.5 centimetres either way.
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 this watch, the reference numbers, markings, signatures and hallmarks are all correct, dating this watch to c1972.
Detailed particulars will be included with our purchase receipt for your interest and security. A separate insurance valuation for the replacement value of this 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 100% genuine, authentic and original, a full refund will be given at any time”.
This high quality hardwood presentation box, as shown in the photographs, is included in this sale.
Payment and Delivery
If you would like to pay by bank transfer, we will be pleased to assist you with this. 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.
Please check the import duties and any taxes your government may apply, these are different for each country and, unfortunately, out of our control.
We understand there may be some ‘loopholes’ that may help you avoid these charges; however, attempting to use these could impact our ongoing ability to serve our growing international customer base.
For those who happen to visit London on occasion, we are, of course, more than happy to store your watch until we can meet you in our offices in Kensington, London, and hand your watch directly to you there.
As with all our watches, this watch will be sold under our 14 days no-quibble sale or return policy.
In Conclusion
One of the nicest ladies Rolex Cellini watches we have seen, from horology’s most famous name which 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 highest quality watches we can find, before restoring them 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.
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.
If you have any questions please call us on 020 7727 7095 or if calling from overseas on +44 207 727 7095.
Please take a look at our other fine vintage gold watches.
Thank you.
Andrew M via feefo 
3rd December 2024 
JLC1891 
