Reference:3937

Prince → 3937

Rolex Prince ref. 3937, an Eaton presentation example

The Rolex Prince ref. 3937 is a rectangular watch with curved lugs often called “Rams Horn” or “Scroll Lug” by collectors. Auction records document examples in 14-karat yellow gold, 18-karat rose gold and pink gold with steel. Some were presented through the T. Eaton Company’s Quarter Century Club. The catalogues date individual watches from circa 1938 to circa 1950; they do not establish production endpoints.

Core facts

detail	documented examples
reference	3937
family	Prince
case	Rectangular, with curved lugs; Sotheby’s and Antiquorum each give 22 × 45mm for their examples
materials	14-karat yellow gold and 18-karat rose gold; an Antiquorum lot describes pink gold with steel
dates	Bonhams catalogued one watch circa 1938; Sotheby’s catalogued one circa 1950; Antiquorum dates an Eaton example to the 1940s
movement	Manual wind. Sotheby’s lists 15 jewels; Antiquorum lots list 18. No caliber number is confirmed; Fabsuisse uses “Cal. 971A,” an unverified attribution
Eaton presentation	Antiquorum records an Eaton 1/4 Century Club dial and a dedication on the caseback

Case and name

The curved lugs distinguish the 3937’s outline from the straighter Prince cases shown on the family page. Collector Christian Wass uses “Rams Horn” for this shape and describes the 3937 as the last case model issued in the Prince line. The auction catalogues reviewed here call it a rectangular Prince; “Rams Horn” is a collector name, not a Rolex model designation.

The curved-lug case on a Sotheby’s 2020 Eaton presentation example

Sotheby’s gives its yellow-gold example as 45mm long by 22mm wide, with a snap-on caseback. Antiquorum describes its 14-karat gold example as 22 × 45mm. These are catalogue measurements of two watches.

Eaton Quarter Century Club examples

The T. Eaton Company’s Quarter Century Club recognized employees with 25 years of service. Waddington’s dates the Rolex partnership to around 1930 and says the program continued until 1966; it also notes that the earliest Eaton watches included Prince models. Its account covers the program as a whole, not the 3937’s specific production dates.

Antiquorum’s 2024 sale catalogue identifies ref. 3937 case 547877 as an Eaton 1/4 Century Club watch. It describes a 14-karat yellow-gold case, a dedication on the caseback, an 18-jewel chronometer movement and an extra silver dial. The dial is signed for Eaton. That lot documents one presentation watch; it does not establish a standard inscription or the number of 3937s given to employees.

Eaton Quarter Century Club dial on an Antiquorum 2024 example

Movement notes

The catalogues do not give a consistent specification. Sotheby’s lists a manual movement with 15 jewels and calls it “observatory quality”; Antiquorum’s Eaton 3937 has an 18-jewel chronometer movement but no caliber number. Antiquorum’s 1998 catalogue describes a pink-gold-and-steel example with an 18-jewel, 7½-ligne movement adjusted to six positions. Fabsuisse calls the movement in a separate 14-karat rose-gold example “Cal. 971A” and lists 18 jewels. The Movement guide treats 971A as a Prince case reference, and the auction catalogues do not confirm the dealer’s caliber label. Without a readable movement marking that resolves the conflict, the caliber remains unconfirmed. These descriptions stay attached to their respective watches.

Movement in a Fabsuisse-listed ref. 3937; dealer labels it Cal. 971A, a designation not confirmed by the auction records

Auction record

sale	catalogue description	result
Bonhams, 13 September 2023, lot 50	18-karat rose-gold ref. 3937; catalogued circa 1938	Not stated
Sotheby’s, 11 March 2020, lot 73	14-karat yellow-gold duo-dial Prince; catalogued circa 1950; case 45 × 22mm	Result not shown on the public lot page
Antiquorum, Geneva, 18 April 1998, lot 367	Pink-gold-and-steel Prince; two-tone dial; 18 jewels; 22 × 42mm	CHF 13,800
Antiquorum, Geneva, 10 November 2024, lot 464	14-karat yellow-gold Eaton 1/4 Century Club; case 547877; circa 1940s	CHF 6,250

Related references

• Prince 971
• Prince 1490
• Prince 1491
• Prince 1527
• Prince 3361
• Prince family index
• Movement reference
• Serial numbers by year

Image gallery

• 
  Prince 3937 Eaton presentation example
• 
  Curved lugs on the Sotheby’s 2020 example
• 
  Eaton Quarter Century Club dial
• 
  Fabsuisse example; the listing calls it Cal. 971A

Sources

• Bonhams, lot 50, 13 September 2023 — 18-karat rose-gold ref. 3937, catalogued circa 1938.
• Sotheby’s, lot 73, 11 March 2020 — circa-1950 yellow-gold duo-dial example; case dimensions and movement description.
• Antiquorum, Geneva, lot 367, 18 April 1998 — pink-gold-and-steel case, two-tone dial, movement description and result.
• Antiquorum, Geneva, lot 464, 10 November 2024 — Eaton presentation, caseback dedication, 18 jewels and result.
• Fabsuisse, “Rolex Prince ref. 3937, 14k rose gold, 1946–47” — dealer description labels the movement Cal. 971A; this conflicts with the case-reference numbering and is unconfirmed by the auction catalogues.
• Dara Vandor, “The Canadian Rolex: Eaton’s ¼ Century Club Watch,” Waddington’s, 11 April 2024 — history of the company program and its Rolex partnership; does not date the 3937 specifically.
• Christian Wass, “The Rolex Prince — my journey so far,” Vintage Rolex Forum — collector use of “Rams Horn” and description of the 3937’s place in the Prince line.