Admin: Fix price-in-intro and ligne-mark bold-bug lint errors

2026-09-16T16:45:21Z

Fix price-in-intro and ligne-mark bold-bug lint errors

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:45, 16 September 2026
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	The 4453 is a manual-wind Oyster Royal documented in two genuinely independent watches. One, retailed by Asprey of London with a white enamel dial, ~~sold at~~ Antiquorum in 2013 ~~for USD 51,250 against an USD 8,000–12,000 estimate — Antiquorum catalogued it~~ as having belonged to Charlie Chaplin. The other, a plainer steel example with a printed silvered dial, sold at Bonhams ~~in 2023 for USD 1,280~~ after failing to sell five months earlier. The ~~same reference number spans~~ a ~~fifty-year~~ gap ~~in sale price~~ driven almost entirely by provenance.		The 4453 is a manual-wind Oyster Royal documented in two genuinely independent watches. One, retailed by Asprey of London with a white enamel dial, was catalogued by Antiquorum in 2013 as having belonged to Charlie Chaplin. The other, a plainer steel example with a printed silvered dial, sold at Bonhams a decade later after failing to sell five months earlier. The two results, detailed in the Auction record below, span a wide gap driven almost entirely by provenance rather than by any documented rarity difference between the two dial types.

	==Core facts==		==Core facts==
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	\|-		\|-
	\| movement		\| movement
	\| 17-jewel Cal. 10½~~'''~~ (Antiquorum example); 15-jewel, No. 68224 (Bonhams example) — no shared caliber number stated		\| 17-jewel Cal. 10½-ligne (Antiquorum example); 15-jewel, No. 68224 (Bonhams example) — no shared caliber number stated
	\|-		\|-
	\| case material		\| case material
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	==Movement notes==		==Movement notes==

	The two documented examples carry different jewel counts. Antiquorum's watch has a 17-jewel Cal. 10½~~'''~~ movement, rhodium-plated, with a straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance, flat balance spring, and index regulator. Bonhams' watch has a 15-jewel manual-wind movement numbered 68224. Neither catalogue names a shared caliber, and the jewel-count difference is documented without explanation in either source.		The two documented examples carry different jewel counts. Antiquorum's watch has a 17-jewel Cal. 10½-ligne movement, rhodium-plated, with a straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance, flat balance spring, and index regulator. Bonhams' watch has a 15-jewel manual-wind movement numbered 68224. Neither catalogue names a shared caliber, and the jewel-count difference is documented without explanation in either source.

	==Dial map==		==Dial map==

Admin: New reference: Rolex Oyster Royal 4453 — includes Antiquorum-catalogued Charlie Chaplin provenance watch and a separate Bonhams example

2026-09-16T16:44:21Z

New reference: Rolex Oyster Royal 4453 — includes Antiquorum-catalogued Charlie Chaplin provenance watch and a separate Bonhams example

New page

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex 4453 Oyster Royal}}
{{#seo:
|title=Rolex Oyster Royal 4453 — Charlie Chaplin Provenance | Rolexopedia
|description=Rolex reference 4453: a manual-wind Oyster Royal documented in two watches, one catalogued by Antiquorum as having belonged to Charlie Chaplin.
|image=Ref 4453 hero.webp
|type=article
}}

<small>Oyster → '''4453'''</small>

<div class="rp-lead">
[[File:Ref 4453 hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Rolex Oyster Royal 4453 retailed by Asprey, photographed with accompanying family photographs and a service-return letter, Antiquorum 2013|Rolex Oyster Royal 4453 retailed by Asprey, photographed with accompanying family photographs and a service-return letter, Antiquorum 2013]]
</div>

The 4453 is a manual-wind Oyster Royal documented in two genuinely independent watches. One, retailed by Asprey of London with a white enamel dial, sold at Antiquorum in 2013 for USD 51,250 against an USD 8,000–12,000 estimate — Antiquorum catalogued it as having belonged to Charlie Chaplin. The other, a plainer steel example with a printed silvered dial, sold at Bonhams in 2023 for USD 1,280 after failing to sell five months earlier. The same reference number spans a fifty-year gap in sale price driven almost entirely by provenance.

==Core facts==

{| class="wikitable rp-facts"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| 4453
|-
| family
| Oyster (manual-wind)
|-
| documented examples
| circa 1945 (Antiquorum); c.1958 (Bonhams)
|-
| case shape
| round Oyster case with straight lugs, per photography of both examples
|-
| case diameter
| 31mm (Antiquorum); 32mm (Bonhams)
|-
| crown
| screw-down
|-
| winding
| manual
|-
| seconds
| centre, on both documented examples
|-
| movement
| 17-jewel Cal. 10½''' (Antiquorum example); 15-jewel, No. 68224 (Bonhams example) — no shared caliber number stated
|-
| case material
| stainless steel (both documented examples)
|-
| notable provenance
| Antiquorum catalogued its example as having belonged to Charlie Chaplin
|}

==Where it sits in the line==

Rolex sold manual-wind Oyster Royal watches alongside the automatic Perpetual Bubbleback line through the 1930s to 1950s, aimed at buyers who wanted the waterproof Oyster case without the automatic movement's added cost. The 4453 belongs to that manual branch. Its numerical neighbor, ref. 1873, is another Oyster Royal already documented on this wiki with a similarly thin two-lot corpus — both references share the pattern of a scarce, individually distinctive population rather than a well-documented production run.

==Production outline==

Antiquorum dates its example "circa 1945." Bonhams dates its example "c.1958." Thirteen years apart, these are two data points on two individual watches, not a production window for the reference.

==Movement notes==

The two documented examples carry different jewel counts. Antiquorum's watch has a 17-jewel Cal. 10½''' movement, rhodium-plated, with a straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance, flat balance spring, and index regulator. Bonhams' watch has a 15-jewel manual-wind movement numbered 68224. Neither catalogue names a shared caliber, and the jewel-count difference is documented without explanation in either source.

==Dial map==

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref 4453 dial-detail.webp|alt=Rolex Oyster Royal 4453 silvered dial with SHOCK-RESISTING text|Bonhams example: silvered dial printed "ROLEX OYSTER ROYAL" and "SHOCK-RESISTING," gilt Arabic numerals at 12, 3, 6 and 9
</gallery>

The two documented examples show two very different dials. Antiquorum's watch has a white enamel dial with painted radial Arabic numerals, an outer 1/5th-seconds track with five-second Arabic markers, blued steel spade hands, and a retailer signature reading "Asprey." Bonhams' watch has a two-tone silvered dial printed "ROLEX OYSTER ROYAL" and "SHOCK-RESISTING," gilt baton markers with luminous dots, gilt Arabic numerals at 12, 3, 6 and 9, luminous-filled hands and a blued centre-seconds hand.

With two documented examples this is recorded as the reference's full known dial range rather than a settled variant table.

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

[[File:Ref 4453 on-wrist.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Oyster Royal 4453 on wrist, round case|Bonhams example on the wrist, showing the round case and straight lugs]]

Both documented cases are round Oyster cases with straight lugs and a screw-down back and crown, confirmed by photography of both examples. Antiquorum's watch measures 31mm with concave lugs; Bonhams' measures 32mm.

Bonhams' own catalogue text calls its example's case "brushed and polished tonneau form" — but the lot's own photography, both the dial shot and the on-wrist shot, shows a round case, not a tonneau shape. That is a catalogue-description discrepancy rather than a documented tonneau variant; the photograph is the more reliable evidence, and the mismatch is reported here rather than silently corrected.

==Auction record==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Venue
! Date
! Lot
! Case/movement no.
! Dial
! Estimate
! Result
|-
| Antiquorum, "Important Modern and Vintage Timepieces," New York
| 2013-04-10
| 300
| Case 340362
| White enamel, Asprey signature
| USD 8,000–12,000
| USD 51,250
|-
| Bonhams, "Watches Online"
| 2023-12-05
| 37
| Movement No. 68224
| Silvered, "SHOCK-RESISTING"
| —
| USD 1,280 inc. premium
|}

The Bonhams watch was first offered, unsold, as lot 28 of "Watches: A Private Canadian Collection" in June 2023 (estimate USD 1,500–2,500), then re-consigned and sold five months later — the same physical watch across two listings, not two examples.

The forty-fold gap between the two results tracks provenance and dial condition, not a documented rarity difference between dial types. Two results from two individually distinctive watches are not enough to establish a price pattern for the reference as a whole.

==Notable provenance==

Antiquorum's 2013 catalogue attributes the lot to Charlie Chaplin, noting it is "accompanied by 4 photos and various authenticating correspondence." The lot photograph shows the watch alongside family photographs and a typed letter from "C.R. Frost & Son" of Hatton Garden, London, returning "Mr Chaplin's Rolex watch" after service. The watch's dial is signed by Asprey, the retailer named in Antiquorum's lot title; the Frost & Son letter documents a repair, not the original sale, so the two names describe different commercial roles rather than a contradiction. Antiquorum's lot title also describes the watch as a left-handed configuration.

This is Antiquorum's own documentation and attribution. This project has not independently traced the chain of ownership beyond what the auction house published, and presents the Chaplin association as a catalogued claim rather than an independently confirmed fact.

== Related references ==

* [[Reference:1873|Oyster Royal 1873]] — sibling Oyster Royal reference, also a thin two-lot corpus
* [[Reference:2765|Oyster Chronometer 2765]]
* [[Reference:3009|Oyster Chronometre Scientific 3009]]

See also the [[Reference:bubbleback|Bubbleback family index]], [[Reference:Movements|movement reference]], and [[Reference:Serial-numbers|serial numbers by year]].

== Sources ==

* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-271-300 "Charlie Chaplin's left handed Rolex wristwatch, steel & enamel — Rolex Oyster, retailed by Asprey, London, case No. 340362, ref. 4453", Antiquorum, 2013-04-10]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/28335/lot/37/rolex-a-stainless-steel-manual-wind-wristwatch-oyster-royal-ref-4453-c-1958/ "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind wristwatch, Oyster Royal, Ref: 4453, c.1958", Bonhams, 2023-12-05]

[[Category:Oyster]]

Reference:4453 - Revision history

Admin: Fix price-in-intro and ligne-mark bold-bug lint errors

Admin: New reference: Rolex Oyster Royal 4453 — includes Antiquorum-catalogued Charlie Chaplin provenance watch and a separate Bonhams example