Month: October 2019

Here some cool old Rolex ads from a Swedish paper magazine called Ur Nyheterna. Especially aimed for watchmakers and retailers in the 1950s.

If we go back to the 1950s, Omega was more popular than Rolex in many ways. Meanwhile Rolex was just a high quality product, Omega was more of a status symbol. An Omega Constellation in gold was more expensive than a gold Rolex Day Date in these days. Well then later on in the 1960s something happened and suddenly Rolex took over the position of number one. Maybe it was because Rolex appeared in the first James Bond movie, Dr. No from 1962 and Sean Connery wearing a Rolex Submariner reference 6538. Both these watches, the 6538 and 6542 are very rare in fine original condition and highly priced on the market.

Sometimes people say that it was better before. Well that is a truth with modification. Not everything was better back in the days but we can agree on the fact that things went a bit slower than nowadays. When it comes to a watch there is a tic tic tic that we can hear. In the old watch movements the tic tic tic is slower and is heard more clearly. The frequency of 18000 vibrations per hour was a common speed of the balance wheel. In modern mechanichal watches the frequency is higher and lays usually between 28800-36000 vph (4-5 Hertz). Herz refers to the number of oscillations that the balance wheel in a watch’s movement makes in a single second. The famous Zenith El Primero movement works with 36000 vph or 5 Herz. The “high-beat” movements can be more accurate due to the higher oscillations of the balance wheel and therefore small weight-point errors will be reduced. Well we can say that gravity has an impact on the accuracy.
But the pleasant sound of an ancient pocket watch is hard to beat. So in these hectic times, slow down everyone…