Admin: Create sourced Rolex Precision reference 3140 article

2026-10-11T16:38:29Z

Create sourced Rolex Precision reference 3140 article

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex Precision 3140}}
{{#seo:
|title=Rolex Precision 3140 — rectangular manual-wind gold watches
|description=Documented Rolex Precision 3140 examples, their cases, dials and differing movement descriptions, with catalogue dates from the 1930s to the 1950s.
|keywords=Rolex 3140, Precision 3140, Cal. 360, Rolex Prince, vintage Rolex
|image=Ref 3140 hero.webp
|image_alt=Yellow-gold Rolex Precision 3140, case 41,465, with a silvered rectangular dial
|type=Article
|og_type=article
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
}}

<small>[[Reference:precision|Precision]] → '''3140'''</small>

<div class="rp-lead">
[[File:Ref_3140_hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Yellow-gold Rolex Precision 3140 with a silvered rectangular Arabic dial and gold bracelet|1937 Precision 3140, case 41,465. Monaco Legend Auctions, lot 219.]]
</div>

The 3140 is a manual-wind Rolex Precision catalogued as a long rectangular gold watch and, in one later listing, a small diamond-set bracelet watch. Auction catalogues date individual examples from the 1930s to the 1950s; the reference’s earliest and latest production dates remain unknown. Each specification below belongs to an individual watch.

==Core facts==

{| class="wikitable rp-facts"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| 3140
|-
| family
| Precision
|-
| documented dates
| 1930s to circa 1950s in auction catalogues; endpoints unknown
|-
| winding
| manual
|-
| movements recorded
| Cal. 360 on one 1937 example; other catalogues give movement descriptions without a caliber
|-
| case
| rectangular; documented gold examples include yellow, pink and white gold
|-
| seconds
| subsidiary seconds in the documented rectangular examples
|-
| dial
| silvered or gilt, with Arabic numerals or baton markers in the records reviewed
|-
| crystal
| not specified in the catalogues cited here
|-
| bracelet
| individual gold bracelets are catalogued; reference-wide original fitment is not established
|}

==Where it sits in the line==

Colin A. White, Christie’s and Monaco Legend classify rectangular examples as Precision. Antiquorum called its 1996 example a Prince. Published watches vary in case and movement; the sections below keep the details tied to each lot.

Antiquorum’s 1996 catalogue calls one rectangular 3140 a Prince, while Christie’s and Monaco Legend call their examples Precision. One catalogue label does not settle the family name for every watch; the 3140 article keeps each account tied to its individual lot.

==Production outline==

Christie’s dates case 41,362 to 1937 and case 56,497 to the 1940s. It dates case 41,323 to the 1930s and reports a Glasgow import mark for 1937. Antiquorum dates another rectangular example to circa 1950. These catalogue dates describe individual watches; the earliest and latest production dates remain unknown.

Antiquorum’s 2025 listing dates a small white-gold diamond-set watch to circa the 1950s. Its size, integrated bracelet and Cal. 1401 differ from the long rectangular watches. The catalogue identifies it as a 3140, but does not explain the design or establish when it appeared.

==Movement notes==

Christie’s describes case 41,362, dated 1937, with a 17-jewel Cal. 360 that it calls rectangular-shaped. Monaco Legend’s 1937 example, case 41,465, is also catalogued with Cal. 360, but its description does not give a jewel count. A 1999 Antiquorum lot instead describes an 18-jewel, 8-line Ultra Prima movement in a 1930s 3140. Christie’s circa-1950 example has a 17-jewel tonneau-shaped movement adjusted to seven positions. Its 1940s lot describes a nickel-plated movement adjusted to seven positions, without naming a caliber.

Sources disagree on whether Cal. 360 is rectangular or tonneau-shaped. The 3140 catalogues add two Cal. 360 attributions and a separate Ultra Prima description. They leave the movement sequence and the originality of individual movements unresolved. The [[Reference:Movements|movement index]] records the conflicting Cal. 360 descriptions.

==Dial map==

The catalogued rectangular examples use subsidiary seconds. Christie’s case 41,362 has a silvered matte dial with applied Arabic numerals; its 1930s case 41,323 has a two-tone silvered dial with Arabic numerals and blued-steel hands. Antiquorum’s 1999 lot describes a two-tone silver dial with painted Arabic numerals and blued lozenge hands. Its circa-1950 lot has a silvered dial with gilt baton markers and an Arabic 12.

The 1940s pink-gold listing describes a two-tone gilt dial with Arabic quarter-hour marks, baton minute divisions and luminous blued-steel hands. Antiquorum describes the dial on its 2025 white-gold example as reprinted, so that watch belongs in a record of later dial states rather than the factory dial map.

[[File:Ref_3140_dial-detail.webp|thumb|right|250px|Angled dial and case view of case 41,465. Monaco Legend Auctions, lot 219.]]

==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==

The best-documented early form is rectangular with hooded or concealed lugs and a snap-on back. Christie’s describes 9-carat yellow gold in cases 41,323 and 41,362. The 1937 Monaco Legend example is yellow gold; the 1940s Christie’s lot is pink gold. A 1999 Antiquorum example is described as a two-body 9-carat case with cylindrical hooded lugs. Christie’s circa-1950 lot describes pierced concealed lugs. Those are observed catalogue descriptions, not a proven sequence of case revisions.

Catalogue measurements use different conventions: examples include 22 × 38 mm, 38 × 21 mm and 22 × 30 mm. They are not directly comparable. The 2025 Antiquorum watch is listed at 15 × 18 mm, with a diamond-set bezel and integrated bracelet. The cited lot records do not give a reference-wide crystal or crown specification.

[[File:Ref_3140_caseback.webp|thumb|right|250px|Inside caseback marks on the 1937 Monaco Legend example: 41,465 and 3140.]]

==Bracelets, clasps, and packaging==

Monaco Legend records a yellow-gold bracelet on case 41,465, with a total length of 222 mm; its photographs show broad rectangular links. Christie's circa-1950 example came with an associated 9-carat gold bracelet. Antiquorum’s white-gold example has an integrated textured bracelet. These records document what accompanied each lot, not original delivery or universal 3140 fitment. One Bonhams 2013 catalogue record reports a fitted Tudor box with case 41,310; the box is an accessory to that lot, not reference-specific packaging.

[[File:Ref_3140_bracelet-detail.webp|thumb|right|250px|Gold bracelet and clasp accompanying case 41,465. Monaco Legend Auctions, lot 219.]]

==Special branches==

Catalogue records show two distinct forms under 3140: long rectangular gold watches with subsidiary seconds, and a small white-gold, diamond-set bracelet watch. The surviving documentation leaves unclear whether Rolex treated them as one design family or reused the number across separate variants. Measurements, materials and movements remain specific to each example.

Antiquorum’s 1996 lot 445 attributes a 3140 to Al Capone. Sotheby’s 2024 catalogue links case 41,470 to that lot but says the ownership claim could not be verified. Antiquorum gives no case number for its 1996 watch, so readers cannot check the identification against both records.

[[File:Ref_3140_historical-example.webp|thumb|right|250px|White-gold diamond-set watch catalogued as Precision 3140, case 2,306,248. Antiquorum, Hong Kong 2025, lot 90.]]

==Auction record==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! house and date
! lot / case
! catalogue description and result
|-
| Christie’s, 17 Nov 2008
| 13 / 41,362
| 1937; 9K yellow gold; Cal. 360, 17 jewels; silvered Arabic dial; 38 mm overall length; CHF 4,000
|-
| Antiquorum, 24 Apr 1999
| 137 / not stated
| 1930s; 9K yellow gold; 8-line Ultra Prima, 18 jewels; two-body case; 22 × 38 mm
|-
| Christie’s, 2005
| — / 41,323
| 1930s; 9ct yellow gold; Glasgow import mark for 1937; silvered Arabic dial; 38 × 22 mm
|-
| Christie’s, 2005
| 58 / 56,497
| 1940s; pink gold; movement adjusted to seven positions; two-tone gilt dial; 38 × 22 mm
|-
| Christie’s, circa 1950
| — / not stated
| Silvered baton dial; 17-jewel tonneau movement; concealed lugs; 38 × 21 mm
|-
| Antiquorum, 20 Apr 1996
| 445 / not stated
| 18K rectangular case; 17-jewel tonneau movement; catalogued as Prince and attributed to Al Capone
|-
| Bonhams, 19 Nov 2013
| 89 / 41,310
| 9ct gold; Glasgow hallmark dated 1937; 17-jewel manual movement; 22 × 30 mm; fitted Tudor box
|-
| Monaco Legend, 20–21 Apr 2024
| 219 / 41,465
| 1937; yellow gold; Cal. 360; 22 × 38 mm; bracelet 222 mm; EUR 16,250
|-
| Sotheby’s, 29 Oct–12 Nov 2024
| 344 / 41,470
| Circa 1937; 18K yellow gold; 17 jewels; strap; catalogued as Prince; unsold
|-
| Antiquorum, 18 Sep 2025
| 90 / 2,306,248
| Circa 1950s; 18K white gold; diamond bezel; Cal. 1401; 15 × 18 mm; HKD 30,240
|}

==Gallery==

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref_3140_hero.webp|Monaco Legend Auctions, lot 219: 1937 yellow-gold example, case 41,465.
File:Ref_3140_dial-detail.webp|Case 41,465: silvered Arabic dial and subsidiary seconds.
File:Ref_3140_caseback.webp|Caseback marks on case 41,465.
File:Ref_3140_bracelet-detail.webp|Bracelet accompanying case 41,465; original delivery is not established.
File:Ref_3140_historical-example.webp|Antiquorum, Hong Kong 2025, lot 90: white-gold diamond-set example, case 2,306,248.
</gallery>

== Sources ==

* [https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/0b5fdf83/files/uploaded/1.0%20RolexBook-23Mar.pdf ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra]
* [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-rolex-a-9k-gold-rectangular-curved-wristwatch-5130486/ "Rolex Precision ref. 3140, case 41,362, 1937", Christie's, 2008-11-17]
* [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-203846 "Rolex Precision ref. 3140, case 41,323, Glasgow mark 1937", Christie's]
* [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-203879 "Rolex Precision ref. 3140, pink-gold case 56,497, 1940s", Christie's]
* [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-1500696 "Rolex ref. 3140, circa 1950, Christie’s", Christie's]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-83-137 "Rolex ref. 3140 “Chronometre,” Antiquorum Geneva 1999 lot 137", Antiquorum, 1999-04-24]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-105-445 "Rolex “Prince” ref. 3140, Antiquorum Geneva 1996 lot 445", Antiquorum, 1996-04-20]
* [https://www.monacolegendauctions.com/auction/exclusive-timepieces-33/lot-219 "Rolex Precision ref. 3140, Monaco Legend 2024 lot 219", Monaco Legend Auctions, 2024-04-21]
* [https://everywatch.com/rolex/3140/watch-12850682 "Sotheby’s 2024 lot 344, ref. 3140 case 41,470 (EveryWatch mirror)", EveryWatch, 2024-10-29]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-3140-precision-lot-379-90 "Rolex Precision ref. 3140, Antiquorum Hong Kong 2025 lot 90", Antiquorum, 2025-09-18]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/20749/lot/89/ "Rolex Precision ref. 3140, Bonhams London 2013 lot 89", Bonhams, 2013-11-19]

[[Category:Precision]]

Reference:3140 - Revision history

Admin: Create sourced Rolex Precision reference 3140 article