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Import reference 2784 article
 
Correct FHF 30 and Cal. 59 attribution
 
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The 2784 is a small manual-wind Oyster of the 1930s and 1940s, roughly 30mm across a barrel-shaped case, running a 15- or 17-jewel movement with subsidiary seconds. What makes it worth a page is the names on it. The same reference has been sold at auction as Oyster Junior Sport, Oyster Lipton, Oyster Viceroy and Oyster Centregraph, and it turns up in Canada as a Solar Aqua with no Rolex signature on the dial at all. That is one case reference, five identities, and a corporate history the best available research still leaves unresolved.
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex 2784 Oyster Junior Sport}}


It is also routinely miscatalogued. The 2784 sits on the community reference lists that circulate as the Bubbleback roster, and marketplace metadata files it under "Oyster Perpetual." Neither survives contact with the auction record. Across a dozen lots at six houses spanning 2002 to 2026, not one example is described as automatic, self-winding or Perpetual, and none has the domed caseback that exists to clear a rotor.
{{#seo:
|title=Rolex Oyster Junior Sport 2784 — Dial Names, Movement & Auction Record | Rolexopedia
|description=Rolex reference 2784: manual-wind Oyster auction records, Junior Sport, Lipton, Viceroy, Raleigh and Centregraph names, and the photographed Solar Aqua branch.
|image=Ref 2784 hero.webp
|type=article
}}
 
<small>Oyster → '''2784'''</small>
 
<div class="rp-lead">
[[File:Ref 2784 hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Rolex Oyster Junior Sport 2784, case 81218, double-signed for Beyer of Zurich|Rolex Oyster Junior Sport 2784, case 81218, double-signed for Beyer of Zurich]]
</div>
 
The 2784 is a small, manual-wind Oyster with a barrel-shaped case. Auction catalogues measure it at 30 or 31mm, with one 34mm outlier. They use the names Oyster Junior Sport, Oyster Lipton, Oyster Viceroy, Oyster Raleigh and Oyster Centregraph. Yorktime also documents an unsigned Solar Aqua dial in a case stamped 2784.
 
RolexForums reference lists and marketplace listings sometimes file the 2784 under Bubbleback or Oyster Perpetual. The auction records reviewed here describe manual movements; Sotheby's calls the Junior Sport a Flatback. That evidence places the documented watches among manual Oysters, though it does not settle the case profile of every example.


[[File:Ref 2784 hero.webp|thumb|right|300px|alt=Rolex Oyster Junior Sport ref 2784 in stainless steel with a three-tone dial signed Beyer|Rolex Oyster Junior Sport 2784, case 81218, with the three-tone dial double-signed for Beyer of Zurich. The reference's record at CHF 6,875, Antiquorum Geneva, November 2024.]]


==Core facts==
==Core facts==


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable rp-facts"
|-
|-
! detail
! detail
Line 16: Line 30:
|-
|-
| model designations
| model designations
| Oyster Junior Sport, Oyster Lipton (catalogued once as 2784B), Oyster Viceroy, Oyster Centregraph, Solar Aqua
| Oyster Junior Sport, Oyster Lipton (catalogued once as 2784B), Oyster Viceroy, Oyster Raleigh, Oyster Centregraph
|-
|-
| production
| production
| 1930s to mid-1940s; catalogue dates conflict and are unreliable
| no documented range; catalogue estimates for individual watches span circa 1930 to 1945
|-
|-
| case diameter
| case diameter
| 30–31mm; about 39mm lug to lug; about 34mm across the crown
| usually 30–31mm; one Bonhams catalogue gives 34mm
|-
|-
| case shape
| case shape
Line 28: Line 42:
|-
|-
| case construction
| case construction
| two-piece Oyster, screw-down back and screw-down crown
| screw-down back and crown; two-piece construction reported on photographed examples
|-
|-
| case material
| case material
| stainless steel; one plated example recorded
| stainless steel; two-tone steel and gold documented (no plated example confirmed; see the case section)
|-
|-
| crystal
| crystal
| acrylic
| material not established by the cited auction catalogues
|-
|-
| movement
| movement
| Fontainemelon FHF 30, designated Rolex and Tudor calibre 59
| manual, 15 or 17 jewels; an FHF 30 family link is possible but unconfirmed on a 2784 movement
|-
|-
| jewels
| jewels
Line 48: Line 62:
| two bands, roughly 81,000–93,000 and 126,000–128,000
| two bands, roughly 81,000–93,000 and 126,000–128,000
|-
|-
| inner caseback marks
| photographed inner caseback marks
| "Oyster Watch Co."; RWC LTD sponsor's mark; SAR under a seven-pointed crown
| "Oyster Watch Co." and RWC LTD on the Solar Aqua example; reference 2784 and case number 126474 on the Raleigh
|}
|}


==Where it sits in the line==
==Where it sits in the line==


In the 1930s a Rolex reference number named a case, and the name printed on the dial was a separate marketing decision applied to it. Antiquorum put the principle on the record when it catalogued the Mondani Collection, noting that reference 3116 "was marketed as the Royal, Viceroy, Imperial, Imperial Chronometer and Observatory Chronometer." The 2784 works the same way, which is why a single reference can appear under five names without any of them being wrong.
One early Oyster case reference could carry several marketed names. Antiquorum notes that ref.
3116 appeared as Royal, Viceroy and Imperial, plus chronometer-labelled Imperial and Observatory variants.
Ref. 2784 shows the same pattern in the auction record.


The "Junior" in Junior Sport is a size class. Against the 32mm Oyster Perpetual of the same period, a 30mm case was the boy's or mid-size option, and the smaller wristwatch was fashionable through the decade. Sotheby's dates the reference's introduction to the early 1930s.
Sotheby's dates the reference to the early 1930s and describes the 31mm Junior Sport as a slimmer alternative to a standard Oyster. The name alone does not establish a formal size class.


Where the 2784 sits is best understood through the company that made the case. The horological researcher David Boettcher, working from Swiss commercial-register extracts, establishes that Montres Huître S.A., trading in English as Oyster Watch Limited, was incorporated in Geneva on 31 August 1928 with Hans Wilsdorf on the first board. His conclusion is the one that matters: this made Oyster Watch Limited "legally a completely separate company from the Rolex Watch Company and not just another sub-brand." It ceased trading on 28 August 1940 and was struck from the register in December 1969. James Dowling's ''Rolex: The Unauthorised History'' is explicit that Oyster Watch Co. products were not intended to compete with Rolex. In modern terms the relationship is closer to Rolex and Tudor than to two badges on one product, and a contributor on the NAWCC board puts it exactly that way: the Oyster of that era was Rolex's second line.
David Boettcher's research on vintagewatchstraps.com, drawing on Swiss commercial-register
extracts, shows that Montres Huître S.A.,
trading as Oyster Watch Limited, was incorporated in Geneva on 31 August 1928 with Hans Wilsdorf
on its first board. It was legally separate from Rolex Watch Company, ceased trading in 1940 and
was struck from the register in 1969. That corporate separation helps explain why Oyster Watch
Co. and Rolex marks can appear together without making every component Rolex-manufactured.


==Production outline==
==Production outline==


[[File:Ref 2784 caseback.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Caseback of a Rolex Oyster 2784 stamped with case number 126474 above the reference number 2784|Case 126474 stamped above the reference number, an example from the upper of the two documented case bands.]]
The catalogue estimates do not reconcile with the observed case-number order. Christie's dated
cases 126541 and 127947 to circa 1930, while Sotheby's dated the lower case 92797 to circa 1939.
Documented cases cluster around 81,000–93,000 and 126,000–128,000. The houses assign individual
watches dates from circa 1930 to 1945, but those estimates do not establish a production range.


Two things make dating the 2784 harder than it looks.
Antiquorum dates the steel-and-gold Oyster Raleigh, case 126474, to 1941 without explaining the basis for that date.


The catalogue estimates do not reconcile. Christie's dated cases 126541 and 127947 both to circa 1930, while Sotheby's dated the much lower case 92797 to circa 1939. Higher case numbers cannot be nine years earlier. The documented cases fall into two bands, roughly 81,000 to 93,000 and 126,000 to 128,000, and the houses have variously assigned examples across those bands to 1930, 1935, 1936, 1939, 1940 and 1945. The case-number bands are evidence; the circa dates are guesses, and quoting them as production dates would propagate the error.
[[File:Ref 2784 caseback.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Caseback of a Rolex Oyster 2784 stamped with case number 126474 above the reference number 2784|Number 126474 is stamped above the reference, in the upper documented case-number band.]]


The other complication is that the Rolex R.20 case manual does not list the reference. That sounds significant and is not. A contributor on the NAWCC board who checked it reported that the manual's references "end on ref:1831 - and then jump right to ref:5500 nothing in between." The omission spans the entire band from 1832 to 5499, so it says nothing about the 2784 in particular. The absence is easy to over-read.
What can be dated is one specific watch: a Solar Aqua 2784 carries a caseback inscription recording its presentation in 1943 by the jewellery department of Eaton's, the Canadian department store. That is the firmest date attached to any example.


==Movement notes==
==Movement notes==


The 2784 does not use an Aegler movement, which sets it apart from the Rolex Oysters it resembles. Boettcher examined an Oyster Watch Co. movement directly and identified it: a 10½-ligne FHF 30 from Fontainemelon, running at 18,000 vph with fifteen jewels and a Swiss straight-line lever escapement. The same ébauche was used by Tudor as calibre 59, with a centre-seconds version designated 59(SC) and a Fontainemelon reference of FHF 30-1. That centre-seconds variant is what runs the Centregraph and the other sweep-seconds examples of this reference.
Auction catalogues describe manual movements with 15 or 17 jewels but give no maker or caliber name. David Boettcher documents the 10½-ligne Fontainemelon FHF 30 in Oyster Watch Co. watches and identifies Cal. 59, with a centre-seconds 59(SC) version, as Tudor designations. Ref. 2784 auction records leave the caliber unassigned.
 
The "Font 59" and "font 59 caliber" phrases that appear in dealer copy and forum posts are not garbled: "Font" is Fontainemelon, and the movement is the calibre 59.
 
Both 15- and 17-jewel movements appear across documented 2784 lots. No source explains what drives the split, whether date, dial type or the centre-seconds variant.


Boettcher's assessment of the movement is unflattering. There is, he writes, not a lot of obvious difference in specification between fully jewelled Fontainemelon and Aegler movements; the difference is that Rolex movements were carefully adjusted for timekeeping, which a Fontainemelon ébauche like this one would not have been. The Oyster Watch Co. watches were built to a price, and the movement is where the price was met.
An FHF 30 family attribution is plausible for ref. 2784 but not directly confirmed by the available
movement photography. The only movement image tied to a case visibly stamped 2784 has a
Tudor-signed bridge and may be a replacement. The Centregraph and Raleigh records establish centre seconds; their catalogues leave the caliber unnamed. Both 15- and 17-jewel movements
remain documented; the reason for the split is unknown.


One authentication detail follows from the construction. On these calibre 59 movements the Rolex signature sits under the dial instead of on the bridge, reported independently in two places, which makes an unsigned top plate normal on this family.
==Canadian-market names and movement supply==


==Why the Canadian models exist==
Oyster-cased watches sold in Canada and the wider Commonwealth carried names including Raleigh,
Commander, Recorda and Shipmate. Ref. 2784 appears under several of these names, but no source
establishes what share of production went to Canada.


[[File:Ref 2784 Raleigh dial.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Oyster Raleigh 2784 in steel and gold with luminous Arabic numerals, inner red 24-hour numerals and centre seconds|An Oyster Raleigh on the 2784 case, dated 1941: luminous Arabic hours, inner red 24-hour numerals and sweep centre seconds from the calibre 59(SC).]]
One account says the Aegler territorial agreement forced Rolex to use Fontainemelon movements in
North America. Boettcher's commercial-register research instead places Canada inside Rolex's
permitted British Empire territory and restricts Gruen to the United States. These sources do not establish why the Canadian-market examples used Fontainemelon movements.


Most 2784s were sold in Canada and the Commonwealth, alongside Oyster-cased watches carrying names like Royalite, Victory, Firefly, Raleigh, Commander, Recorda, Edison, Grenfell, Shipmate, Skyrocket and Standard. Why they exist at all is genuinely disputed among sources that deserve to be taken seriously.
Claims that Junior Sport was sold only in Canada, through military exchanges, or specifically to
departing soldiers come from repeated dealer copy. Analog/Shift supports broader Commonwealth
distribution and private military purchases; it does not tie those claims to ref. 2784.


The widely repeated explanation is a territorial one. Wilsdorf and the Gruen brothers were both shareholders in Aegler, and the agreement between them divided the world: Gruen sold Aegler-powered watches in the United States, Rolex everywhere else. On this account the Canadian Oysters carry Fontainemelon movements because Aegler movements were unavailable to Rolex in North America.
Boettcher's version of the same agreement breaks that logic. He describes Rolex's permitted territory as running "throughout Europe, Asia and the British Empire, which included Australia and Canada," with Gruen restricted to the USA alone. If Canada was inside Rolex's Aegler territory, the Gruen agreement cannot explain why Canadian-market Oysters got FHF movements. Boettcher independently places the Fontainemelon workaround in the United States instead, in the Abercrombie & Fitch venture, where a cheap chrome-plated Oyster case was paired with a Fontainemelon movement.
Neither account has been reconciled, and the specialist literature concedes as much — no entirely plausible explanation for the Canadian models has been published. The commercial reason is unknown.
The distribution story that surrounds these watches needs the same scepticism. A paragraph asserting that the Junior Sport was sold only in Canada, marketed to soldiers heading overseas and sold through PX stores, circulates nearly verbatim across several dealer sites, and one copy still carries an un-edited reference to a different model. Editorial coverage supports only the general pattern, that Oyster-cased models were sold throughout Commonwealth countries and bought by individual servicemen. The specific claims about this reference rest on recycled listing copy.


==The Viceroy and Lipton names==
==The Viceroy and Lipton names==


[[File:Ref 2784 Viceroy dial.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Oyster Viceroy 2784 in stainless steel with a two-tone dial marked Extra Prima|Oyster Viceroy on the 2784 case, case 91535. The dial carries the Extra Prima grade marking below the centre.]]
Antiquorum's 2026 catalogue identifies case 91535 as an Oyster Viceroy. Brown & Williamson's company history records Viceroy's 1936 introduction and says the company added a Viceroy coupon in 1937. That confirms the cigarette promotion existed; neither the catalogue nor the company history links this watch to it. Brown & Williamson's Raleigh coupon program is documented separately.
 
Both names have an origin story in circulation. One is demonstrably false and the other is honestly labelled as a guess by the person who proposed it.
 
The Viceroy story is that Rolex made the watch for a promotion by the Viceroy cigarette brand, redeemable with coupons plus cash at official dealers. It traces to two dealer listings with near-identical wording and appears in no auction catalogue, book or period document. It also fails on dates: Brown & Williamson introduced Viceroy cigarettes in May 1936, and the New York Times describes the company as having been in the filter field "since 1936 when it brought out Viceroys." Rolex Oyster Viceroy watches are catalogued from around 1933. A watch cannot be named after a cigarette launched three years later. The same newspaper account notes that Brown & Williamson's pre-war coupon programme ran on Raleigh, not Viceroy, which is probably where the confusion started, since Oyster Raleigh is also a real Rolex dial name.


There is a further reason to distrust that listing copy. The same page explains that "Prima simply means first, and this term was common use before Rolex was founded, as was extra Prima, which was used to mean high quality" — a sentence lifted almost word for word from Boettcher, who wrote that "Prima simply means first, and this term was in common use before Rolex was founded, as was extra prima, which was used to mean high quality." Having borrowed the sentence, the listing then attaches Extra Prima to the promotion. Extra Prima is a movement timekeeping grade with nothing to do with any marketing campaign.
An NAWCC contributor suggested that Oyster Lipton referred to tea merchant Thomas Lipton and marked the idea as a belief. The Artcurial catalogue establishes the Lipton name on a watch catalogued as 2784B, but the material reviewed here does not establish why that name was used.


The Lipton name is handled more honestly by the person who proposed its origin. On the NAWCC board, a long-standing member offers it explicitly as belief rather than documentation: that the model was named for Sir Thomas Lipton of the tea company, famous for his America's Cup challenges, and that every example he has seen is an Oyster Lipton rather than a Rolex Lipton. A yachtsman is a plausible namesake for a waterproof watch, and it fits the wider Empire-themed naming set. No tea-coupon programme has surfaced in any source.
[[File:Ref 2784 Viceroy dial.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Oyster Viceroy 2784 in stainless steel with a two-tone dial marked Extra Prima|Antiquorum's Oyster Viceroy, case 91535. The dial carries the Extra Prima grade marking below the centre.]]


The defensible position on both names is that their origins are undocumented.


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


[[File:Ref 2784 three-tone dial.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=Close view of the three-tone dial on a Rolex Oyster Junior Sport 2784 signed Beyer|The three-tone dial: a cream centre, a brown chapter ring and printed Arabic numerals at 3, 9 and 12, with the Beyer retailer signature under the model name.]]
Auction catalogues document nine named or otherwise distinct dial configurations below. The Solar Aqua is a separate photographed example tied to the reference by its inner caseback stamp. This is a record of sourced examples, not a complete factory dial list.
 
[[File:Ref 2784 crisscross dial.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Oyster Junior Sport 2784 in steel with a two-tone champagne crisscross dial|The two-tone champagne crisscross dial, case 92797, its sectors meeting in a cross through the centre.]]
 
[[File:Ref 2784 Solar Aqua dial.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Solar Aqua dial on a Rolex Oyster 2784 carrying neither Rolex nor Oyster signature|The Solar Aqua, the branch that carries neither the Rolex nor the Oyster name: red 13 to 24 numerals inside the luminous Arabic hours and ANTI-MAGNETIC over the seconds register.]]
 
Twelve distinct dial configurations appear across the documented record, which is unusually wide for a reference this obscure.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
Line 129: Line 137:
|-
|-
| Silvered, luminous Arabic
| Silvered, luminous Arabic
| Subsidiary seconds, blued skeletonised hands; the commonest type
| Subsidiary seconds and blued hands
| Christie's 2005 (case 126541)
| Christie's 2005 (case 126541)
|-
|-
Line 145: Line 153:
|-
|-
| Three-tone, Beyer-retailed
| Three-tone, Beyer-retailed
| The reference's record price; the only confirmed retailer double-signature
| Three-tone dial with the only retailer signature among documented lots
| Antiquorum 2024 (case 81218)
| Antiquorum 2024 (case 81218)
|-
|-
Line 153: Line 161:
|-
|-
| Cream two-tone, applied gold Arabic
| Cream two-tone, applied gold Arabic
| Railway minute track, sub-seconds at 6; the only applied-numeral example found, all others printed
| Railway minute track, sub-seconds at 6
| Artcurial 2009 (case 93816, catalogued 2784B)
| Artcurial 2009 (case 93816, catalogued 2784B)
|-
|-
Line 160: Line 168:
| Christie's 2003
| Christie's 2003
|-
|-
| 24-hour military
| Oyster Raleigh
| Outer red 24-hour track, large radium Arabic numerals, sub-seconds
| Luminous Arabic hours, inner red 13–24 numerals, centre seconds
| Canadian dealer examples
| Antiquorum 2026 (case 126474)
|-
| Black, "Extra Prima" printed
| Sub-seconds
| Case 88xxx
|-
| Tropicalised
| Faded and patinated variants of the above
| Dealer examples
|-
|-
| Solar Aqua
| Solar Aqua
| Carries no Rolex or Oyster dial signature at all
| Unsigned dial; inner caseback stamped 2784
| Eaton's private label
| Yorktime photographs
|}
|}


Two of these deserve separating out.
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref 2784 three-tone dial.webp|alt=Close view of the three-tone dial on a Rolex Oyster Junior Sport 2784 signed Beyer|Three-tone Beyer dial, case 81218.
File:Ref 2784 crisscross dial.webp|alt=Rolex Oyster Junior Sport 2784 in steel with a two-tone champagne crisscross dial|Two-tone champagne crisscross dial, case 92797.
File:Ref 2784 Solar Aqua dial.webp|alt=Solar Aqua dial on a Rolex Oyster 2784 carrying neither Rolex nor Oyster signature|Solar Aqua dial with red 13–24 numerals and ANTI-MAGNETIC marking.
</gallery>


The Centregraph is a genuinely different watch on the same case. Christie's catalogued one with 17 jewels, an inner red 24-hour chapter ring and sweep centre seconds, which means the calibre 59(SC) centre-seconds variant rather than the sub-seconds base. It should not be confused with the 24-hour military dial, where the red track sits on the outside and the seconds stay in a subsidiary register.
The Centregraph has sweep centre seconds, unlike the subsidiary-seconds examples. Christie's
catalogued one with 17 jewels and an inner red 24-hour chapter ring but did not name its caliber.


The Solar Aqua is the strangest branch. Sold through Eaton's in Canada, it carries neither the Rolex nor the Oyster name on the dial, which is what makes it a distinct variant rather than a retailer stamp on a standard watch. Editorial coverage confirms the pattern for both the Solar Aqua and the King of Wings.
The Solar Aqua does not appear in the ref. 2784 auction record. A Yorktime listing pairs the unsigned Solar Aqua dial with an inner caseback visibly stamped
2784, direct photographic evidence tying the branch to this reference. The same watch has a Tudor-signed movement bridge, which may be a service replacement and is
not used here to establish original movement branding.


One label should not be carried across: a dealer description of an ordinary 3-6-9 luminous Arabic dial as an "Explorer dial" imports terminology from a reference two decades later. It is the standard silvered luminous Arabic configuration.
A dealer description of an ordinary 3-6-9 luminous Arabic dial as an "Explorer dial" imports terminology from a reference two decades later, and the label should not be carried across. It is the standard silvered luminous Arabic configuration.


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


[[File:Ref 2784 case profile.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=Three-quarter view of a stainless steel Rolex Oyster Junior Sport 2784 showing the barrel case and screw-down crown|The barrel case from three-quarters, showing the screw-down crown that gives the 34mm across-the-crown figure some catalogues quote as a diameter.]]
[[File:Ref 2784 Oyster Watch Co caseback.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Inner caseback of a Rolex Oyster 2784 stamped Oyster Watch Co, Geneva-Swiss, with the RWC Ltd oval and the reference number|The marks that cause the confusion, on one caseback: "Oyster Watch Co / GENEVA-SWISS / PATENTED IN ALL COUNTRIES", the R.W.C. LTD oval, and 2784 below it.]]


[[File:Ref 2784 Raleigh profile.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Three-quarter view of a steel and gold Rolex Oyster 2784|The same case in steel and gold, the only recorded departure from plain stainless steel apart from a single plated example.]]


A two-piece Oyster case with a screw-down back and a screw-down "Oyster Patent" crown, barrel-shaped, in stainless steel. The recorded diameters run 30mm, 30.2mm, 31mm and 34mm, and the spread resolves cleanly: one description gives both figures for the same watch, 30.2mm without the crown and 34mm with it. The 34mm figure in the Bonhams catalogue is measured across the crown. The true case is about 30–31mm, roughly 39mm lug to lug, and the residual 30-versus-31 disagreement is measurement slop between houses rather than two case sizes.
The catalogued cases are barrel-shaped with screw-down backs and crowns. Christie's, Antiquorum
and Artcurial give 30mm, Sotheby's gives 31mm, and Bonhams gives 34mm. Bonhams does not state how
it measured the case, so the 34mm figure reads as an isolated outlier. It does not establish
a second case size.


Bezels are described as plain or bevelled. One dealer reports a rarer rounded convex bezel, a single unsupported sighting.
Auction catalogues describe plain and bevelled bezels. No production sequence has been established.


The inner caseback carries the marks that cause the most confusion. "Oyster Watch Co." appears inside these cases, as does an incuse RWC LTD mark within an oval. That second mark is a British sponsor's mark for the Rolex Watch Company Limited, and Boettcher is explicit that it "is not an absolute identifier of a Rolex watch" — it records who submitted the case for assay, not who built the watch. The SAR mark under a seven-pointed crown, often assumed to abbreviate a Rolex company name, is more likely a case-maker's mark associated with Robert Meylan, who made most Oyster Watch Co. cases; Boettcher hedges this himself, saying it "may have been" registered by that company.
The photographed Solar Aqua inner back carries Oyster Watch Co., an RWC LTD oval and the reference
2784. Boettcher identifies RWC LTD as a British sponsor's mark; that falls short of proving Rolex made
the case. His broader Oyster Watch Co. research discusses an SAR mark under a seven-pointed crown,
but that mark is not visible on either ref. 2784 caseback image used here.


Whether a Rolex-dialled watch in an Oyster Watch Co. case counts as a Rolex is unsettled even in the best available research. Boettcher records at least three examples of one reference, 2416, with Rolex Oyster dials and Oyster Watch Co. casebacks, identified from separate sources, and concludes that further research is needed.
Boettcher records other references with Rolex Oyster dials and Oyster Watch Co. casebacks. He
does not treat the combined marks as a settled guide to who manufactured each component.


==Bracelets and straps==
==Bracelets and straps==


Nothing systematic survives. One example wears a Bonklip, the standard British utility bracelet of the period; others come on later leather straps. At least one Christie's example retained its presentation box. A bracelet on a watch of this age dates itself and nothing else.
One example wears a Bonklip; others appear on leather straps. Christie's records a presentation
box with case 127947. No bracelet or strap has been established as original delivery.


==Auction record==
==Auction record==


Twelve lots across six houses, 2002 to 2026.
Eleven sourced auction appearances across five houses are known. Ten have sale dates and appear
below. The eleventh is Christie's sale 5650, lot 15, an Oyster Junior Sport with case 127947 and
a presentation box; the surviving lot page gives no sale date or result.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
Line 220: Line 233:
| 7 May 2002
| 7 May 2002
| Oyster Junior Sport
| Oyster Junior Sport
| —
| n/a
| HKD 6,490
| HKD 6,490
|-
|-
Line 226: Line 239:
| 2 Dec 2003
| 2 Dec 2003
| unnamed
| unnamed
| —
| n/a
| GBP 211
| GBP 211
|-
|-
| Christie's 1218, New York
| Christie's 1218, New York
| 5 Jun 2003
| 5 Jun 2003
| Oyster Centregraph (lot of two)
| Oyster Centregraph (lot of two watches)
| —
| n/a
| USD 1,912
| USD 1,912 for the lot
|-
|-
| Sotheby's, Hong Kong HK0218
| Sotheby's, Hong Kong HK0218
| 3 May 2005
| 3 May 2005
| Oyster Junior Sport
| Oyster Junior Sport
| —
| n/a
| not sold
| not sold
|-
|-
| Christie's 5862, London
| Christie's 5862, London
| 11 Dec 2005
| 11 Dec 2005
| Oyster Junior Sport (lot of two)
| Oyster Junior Sport (lot of two watches)
| 126541
| 126541
| GBP 420
| GBP 420 for the lot
|-
|-
| Artcurial 1727, Monte-Carlo
| Artcurial 1727, Monte-Carlo
Line 257: Line 270:
| Oyster Junior Sport
| Oyster Junior Sport
| 92797
| 92797
| —
| n/a
|-
|-
| Antiquorum, Geneva
| Antiquorum, Geneva
Line 264: Line 277:
| 81218
| 81218
| CHF 6,875
| CHF 6,875
|-
| Miller & Miller
| 10 Apr 2026
| Junior Sport and two unnamed
| —
| USD 1,547 / 602 / 430
|-
|-
| Antiquorum
| Antiquorum
Line 276: Line 283:
| 91535
| 91535
| USD 4,504
| USD 4,504
|-
| Antiquorum, Monaco
| 28 Jun 2026
| Oyster Raleigh, steel and gold
| 126474
| est. EUR 2,000–4,000
|}
|}


The record is the Beyer-retailed three-tone dial at Antiquorum in November 2024, CHF 6,875 against a CHF 2,000–4,000 estimate, seventy-two percent over the top estimate. Retailer signature and an unusual dial together explain the gap; ordinary examples trade in the low hundreds to low thousands.
The highest individual-watch result in the sourced record is CHF 6,875 for the Beyer-retailed
three-tone watch at Antiquorum in November 2024, against a CHF 2,000–4,000 estimate. The two
Christie's totals belong to two-watch lots and cannot be assigned to ref. 2784 alone.
 
The Christie's 2005 lot pairs a 2784 Junior Sport with a separate plated Rolex Viceroy. The
Viceroy in that lot is a separate companion watch; Antiquorum's May 2026 watch is the sound evidence
for the Viceroy name on this reference. In the 2003 Christie's lot, the 2784 is the Centregraph
and the companion is a Rolex Sky-Rocket.
 
== Related references ==
 
* [[Reference:3009|Oyster Chronometre Scientific 3009]] — manual-wind Oyster of the same era
* [[Reference:3003|Oyster Precision 3003]]
* [[Reference:6694|Oyster Precision 6694]] — later manual-wind Precision
 
See also the [[Reference:bubbleback|early Oyster and Bubbleback index]], [[Reference:Movements|movement reference]], [[Reference:Bracelets|bracelet & clasp guide]], and [[Reference:Serial-numbers|serial numbers by year]].


Two entries in this table need reading carefully, because both are two-watch lots and both have been misread. The Christie's 2005 lot pairs a 2784 Junior Sport with a separate plated Rolex Viceroy — the Viceroy there is the companion watch, not the 2784, and citing that lot as evidence the 2784 carried the Viceroy name is an error. The Antiquorum lot of May 2026 is the sound basis for that claim. The Christie's 2003 lot runs the other way: the 2784 is the first watch, the Centregraph with centre seconds, and the companion is a Rolex Sky-Rocket.
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref 2784 hero.webp|Oyster Junior Sport 2784, case 81218, retailed by Beyer
File:Ref 2784 three-tone dial.webp|Three-tone Beyer dial
File:Ref 2784 crisscross dial.webp|Two-tone crisscross dial, case 92797
File:Ref 2784 Solar Aqua dial.webp|Unsigned Solar Aqua dial
File:Ref 2784 Viceroy dial.webp|Oyster Viceroy, case 91535
File:Ref 2784 Raleigh dial.webp|Oyster Raleigh, case 126474
File:Ref 2784 case profile.webp|Barrel-shaped case
File:Ref 2784 Oyster Watch Co caseback.webp|Oyster Watch Co and R.W.C. LTD caseback marks
File:Ref 2784 caseback.webp|Case number 126474 and reference 2784
File:Ref 2784 Raleigh profile.webp|Steel-and-gold Oyster Raleigh
</gallery>


== Sources ==
== Sources ==
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* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-2784-oyster-junior-sport-lot-372-106 Antiquorum, "Antiquorum Geneva, Lot 372-106 — Rolex ref. 2784 Oyster Junior Sport, retailed by Beyer, case 81218", Antiquorum, 2024-11-09]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-2784-oyster-junior-sport-lot-372-106 Antiquorum, "Antiquorum Geneva, Lot 372-106 — Rolex ref. 2784 Oyster Junior Sport, retailed by Beyer, case 81218", Antiquorum, 2024-11-09]
* [https://everywatch.com/rolex/2784/watch-32581633 Antiquorum, "Antiquorum, Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces, Lot 182 — Rolex ref. 2784 Oyster Viceroy, two-tone dial, stainless steel", Antiquorum, 2026-05-09]
* [https://everywatch.com/rolex/2784/watch-32581633 Antiquorum, "Antiquorum, Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces, Lot 182 — Rolex ref. 2784 Oyster Viceroy, two-tone dial, stainless steel", Antiquorum, 2026-05-09]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-2784-oyster-raleigh-stainless-steel-and-gold-lot-388-115 Antiquorum, "Antiquorum Monaco, Lot 388-115 — Rolex ref. 2784 Oyster Raleigh, stainless steel and gold, case 126474, dated 1941", Antiquorum, 2026-06-28]
* [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-1022773 Christie's, "Christie's sale 5650, Lot 15 — Rolex Oyster Junior Sport, No. 2784, case 127947, circa 1930, with presentation box", Christie's]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/fine-watches-8/oyster-junior-sport-reference-2784-montre-bracelet Sotheby's, "Sotheby's Fine Watches 8 — Oyster Junior Sport, reference 2784, case 92797", Sotheby's, 2023-01-01]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/fine-watches-8/oyster-junior-sport-reference-2784-montre-bracelet Sotheby's, "Sotheby's Fine Watches 8 — Oyster Junior Sport, reference 2784, case 92797", Sotheby's, 2023-01-01]
* [https://www.collectorsquare.com/en/watches/rolex/oyster/ref-rolex-2784/lpi Christie's, "Christie's sale 5862, London South Kensington, Lot 147 — Oyster Junior Sport, case 126541, ref 2784 (lot of two)", Christie's, 2005-12-11]
* [https://www.collectorsquare.com/en/watches/rolex/oyster/ref-rolex-2784/lpi Christie's, "Christie's sale 5862, London South Kensington, Lot 147 — Oyster Junior Sport, case 126541, ref 2784 (lot of two)", Christie's, 2005-12-11]
* [https://www.collectorsquare.com/en/watches/rolex/oyster/ref-rolex-2784/lpi Christie's, "Christie's sale 1218, New York, Lot 125 — Oyster, Centregraph, Ref. 2784, circa 1945 (lot of two)", Christie's, 2003-06-05]
* [https://www.collectorsquare.com/en/watches/rolex/oyster/ref-rolex-2784/lpi Christie's, "Christie's sale 1218, New York, Lot 125 — Oyster, Centregraph, Ref. 2784, circa 1945 (lot of two)", Christie's, 2003-06-05]
* [https://www.collectorsquare.com/en/watches/rolex/oyster/ref-rolex-2784/lpi Artcurial, "Artcurial sale 1727, Monte-Carlo, Lot 844 — Oyster Lipton ref 2784B, case 93816, circa 1936", Artcurial, 2009-07-28]
* [https://www.collectorsquare.com/en/watches/rolex/oyster/ref-rolex-2784/lpi Artcurial, "Artcurial sale 1727, Monte-Carlo, Lot 844 — Oyster Lipton ref 2784B, case 93816, circa 1936", Artcurial, 2009-07-28]
* [https://www.collectorsquare.com/en/watches/rolex/oyster/ref-rolex-2784/lpi Collector Square, "Rolex Oyster reference 2784 auction index", Collector Square]
* [https://www.yorktime.com/shop/solar-aqua-by-rolex-watch-company/ Yorktime Watches, "Solar Aqua by Rolex Watch Company, ref. 2784", Yorktime Watches]
* [https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/blogoysterwatchco.php David Boettcher, "Oyster Watch Co. — vintagewatchstraps.com", vintagewatchstraps.com, 2026-03-31]
* [https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/blogoysterwatchco.php David Boettcher, "Oyster Watch Co. — vintagewatchstraps.com", vintagewatchstraps.com, 2026-03-31]
* [https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/myrolexpage.php David Boettcher, "My Rolex Page — vintagewatchstraps.com", vintagewatchstraps.com, 2026-03-31]
* [https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/myrolexpage.php David Boettcher, "My Rolex Page — vintagewatchstraps.com", vintagewatchstraps.com, 2026-03-31]
Line 296: Line 339:
* [https://www.analogshift.com/blogs/transmissions/rolex-watches-of-world-war-ii Analog/Shift, "Rolex Watches of World War II", Analog/Shift, 2020-01-01]
* [https://www.analogshift.com/blogs/transmissions/rolex-watches-of-world-war-ii Analog/Shift, "Rolex Watches of World War II", Analog/Shift, 2020-01-01]
* [https://mb.nawcc.org/threads/lipton-oyster-rolex-watch.11082/ NAWCC members including Jeffrey P. Hess and Doug S., "Lipton Oyster — Rolex Watch? (NAWCC Message Board)", NAWCC, 2007-01-01]
* [https://mb.nawcc.org/threads/lipton-oyster-rolex-watch.11082/ NAWCC members including Jeffrey P. Hess and Doug S., "Lipton Oyster — Rolex Watch? (NAWCC Message Board)", NAWCC, 2007-01-01]
* [https://mb.nawcc.org/threads/rolex-oyster-case-2784-canadian.66214/ NAWCC members, "rolex oyster case 2784 canadian (NAWCC Message Board)", NAWCC, 2011-01-01]
* [https://tobacco-img.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/06212105/viceroy_adthemes.pdf Brown & Williamson Viceroy advertising history, Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising, Viceroy launch and 1937 coupon chronology]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viceroy_(cigarette) various, "Viceroy cigarette brand launch date — used to date-check the Rolex Oyster Viceroy naming claim", Wikipedia / Stanford SRITA tobacco advertising archive / The New York Times, 1967-01-01]
* [https://tobacco-img.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/06212614/bwstory1.pdf Brown & Williamson company history, Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising, Raleigh premium coupon program]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-108-7 Antiquorum, "Antiquorum Geneva, The Mondani Collection, Lot 108 — Rolex ref. 3116", Antiquorum, 2006-05-14]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-108-7 Antiquorum, "Antiquorum Geneva, The Mondani Collection, Lot 7 — Rolex ref. 3116 'Royal', case 148000, made 1940", Antiquorum, 2006-05-14]
== Related references ==
 
* [[Reference:3009|Oyster Chronometre Scientific 3009]] — manual-wind Oyster of the same era
* [[Reference:3003|Oyster Precision 3003]]
* [[Reference:6694|Oyster Precision 6694]] — the last manual-wind Rolex
 
See also the [[Reference:oyster-perpetual|Oyster Perpetual family index]], [[Reference:Movements|movement reference]], [[Reference:Bracelets|bracelet & clasp guide]], and [[Reference:Serial-numbers|serial numbers by year]].


[[Category:Oyster]]
[[Category:Oyster]]
[[Category:References]]

Latest revision as of 06:45, 9 October 2026


Oyster → 2784

Rolex Oyster Junior Sport 2784, case 81218, double-signed for Beyer of Zurich
Rolex Oyster Junior Sport 2784, case 81218, double-signed for Beyer of Zurich

The 2784 is a small, manual-wind Oyster with a barrel-shaped case. Auction catalogues measure it at 30 or 31mm, with one 34mm outlier. They use the names Oyster Junior Sport, Oyster Lipton, Oyster Viceroy, Oyster Raleigh and Oyster Centregraph. Yorktime also documents an unsigned Solar Aqua dial in a case stamped 2784.

RolexForums reference lists and marketplace listings sometimes file the 2784 under Bubbleback or Oyster Perpetual. The auction records reviewed here describe manual movements; Sotheby's calls the Junior Sport a Flatback. That evidence places the documented watches among manual Oysters, though it does not settle the case profile of every example.


Core facts

detail value
reference 2784
model designations Oyster Junior Sport, Oyster Lipton (catalogued once as 2784B), Oyster Viceroy, Oyster Raleigh, Oyster Centregraph
production no documented range; catalogue estimates for individual watches span circa 1930 to 1945
case diameter usually 30–31mm; one Bonhams catalogue gives 34mm
case shape barrel / tonneau
case construction screw-down back and crown; two-piece construction reported on photographed examples
case material stainless steel; two-tone steel and gold documented (no plated example confirmed; see the case section)
crystal material not established by the cited auction catalogues
movement manual, 15 or 17 jewels; an FHF 30 family link is possible but unconfirmed on a 2784 movement
jewels 15 or 17
seconds subsidiary seconds at 6; centre seconds on the Centregraph and some others
case numbers two bands, roughly 81,000–93,000 and 126,000–128,000
photographed inner caseback marks "Oyster Watch Co." and RWC LTD on the Solar Aqua example; reference 2784 and case number 126474 on the Raleigh

Where it sits in the line

One early Oyster case reference could carry several marketed names. Antiquorum notes that ref. 3116 appeared as Royal, Viceroy and Imperial, plus chronometer-labelled Imperial and Observatory variants. Ref. 2784 shows the same pattern in the auction record.

Sotheby's dates the reference to the early 1930s and describes the 31mm Junior Sport as a slimmer alternative to a standard Oyster. The name alone does not establish a formal size class.

David Boettcher's research on vintagewatchstraps.com, drawing on Swiss commercial-register extracts, shows that Montres Huître S.A., trading as Oyster Watch Limited, was incorporated in Geneva on 31 August 1928 with Hans Wilsdorf on its first board. It was legally separate from Rolex Watch Company, ceased trading in 1940 and was struck from the register in 1969. That corporate separation helps explain why Oyster Watch Co. and Rolex marks can appear together without making every component Rolex-manufactured.

Production outline

The catalogue estimates do not reconcile with the observed case-number order. Christie's dated cases 126541 and 127947 to circa 1930, while Sotheby's dated the lower case 92797 to circa 1939. Documented cases cluster around 81,000–93,000 and 126,000–128,000. The houses assign individual watches dates from circa 1930 to 1945, but those estimates do not establish a production range.

Antiquorum dates the steel-and-gold Oyster Raleigh, case 126474, to 1941 without explaining the basis for that date.

Caseback of a Rolex Oyster 2784 stamped with case number 126474 above the reference number 2784
Number 126474 is stamped above the reference, in the upper documented case-number band.


Movement notes

Auction catalogues describe manual movements with 15 or 17 jewels but give no maker or caliber name. David Boettcher documents the 10½-ligne Fontainemelon FHF 30 in Oyster Watch Co. watches and identifies Cal. 59, with a centre-seconds 59(SC) version, as Tudor designations. Ref. 2784 auction records leave the caliber unassigned.

An FHF 30 family attribution is plausible for ref. 2784 but not directly confirmed by the available movement photography. The only movement image tied to a case visibly stamped 2784 has a Tudor-signed bridge and may be a replacement. The Centregraph and Raleigh records establish centre seconds; their catalogues leave the caliber unnamed. Both 15- and 17-jewel movements remain documented; the reason for the split is unknown.

Canadian-market names and movement supply

Oyster-cased watches sold in Canada and the wider Commonwealth carried names including Raleigh, Commander, Recorda and Shipmate. Ref. 2784 appears under several of these names, but no source establishes what share of production went to Canada.

One account says the Aegler territorial agreement forced Rolex to use Fontainemelon movements in North America. Boettcher's commercial-register research instead places Canada inside Rolex's permitted British Empire territory and restricts Gruen to the United States. These sources do not establish why the Canadian-market examples used Fontainemelon movements.

Claims that Junior Sport was sold only in Canada, through military exchanges, or specifically to departing soldiers come from repeated dealer copy. Analog/Shift supports broader Commonwealth distribution and private military purchases; it does not tie those claims to ref. 2784.


The Viceroy and Lipton names

Antiquorum's 2026 catalogue identifies case 91535 as an Oyster Viceroy. Brown & Williamson's company history records Viceroy's 1936 introduction and says the company added a Viceroy coupon in 1937. That confirms the cigarette promotion existed; neither the catalogue nor the company history links this watch to it. Brown & Williamson's Raleigh coupon program is documented separately.

An NAWCC contributor suggested that Oyster Lipton referred to tea merchant Thomas Lipton and marked the idea as a belief. The Artcurial catalogue establishes the Lipton name on a watch catalogued as 2784B, but the material reviewed here does not establish why that name was used.

Rolex Oyster Viceroy 2784 in stainless steel with a two-tone dial marked Extra Prima
Antiquorum's Oyster Viceroy, case 91535. The dial carries the Extra Prima grade marking below the centre.


Dial map

Auction catalogues document nine named or otherwise distinct dial configurations below. The Solar Aqua is a separate photographed example tied to the reference by its inner caseback stamp. This is a record of sourced examples, not a complete factory dial list.

Dial Description Documented by
Silvered, luminous Arabic Subsidiary seconds and blued hands Christie's 2005 (case 126541)
White, Arabic Subsidiary seconds, luminous hands Christie's lot 1022773 (case 127947)
Off-white Arabic Blued and luminous hands, bevel bezel Bonhams 2003
Two-tone champagne "crisscross" Textured two-tone ground Sotheby's 2023 (case 92797)
Three-tone, Beyer-retailed Three-tone dial with the only retailer signature among documented lots Antiquorum 2024 (case 81218)
Two-tone cream, Viceroy Antiquorum 2026 (case 91535)
Cream two-tone, applied gold Arabic Railway minute track, sub-seconds at 6 Artcurial 2009 (case 93816, catalogued 2784B)
Silvered matte, Centregraph Inner red 24-hour chapter ring and sweep centre seconds Christie's 2003
Oyster Raleigh Luminous Arabic hours, inner red 13–24 numerals, centre seconds Antiquorum 2026 (case 126474)
Solar Aqua Unsigned dial; inner caseback stamped 2784 Yorktime photographs
  • Close view of the three-tone dial on a Rolex Oyster Junior Sport 2784 signed Beyer
    Three-tone Beyer dial, case 81218.
  • Rolex Oyster Junior Sport 2784 in steel with a two-tone champagne crisscross dial
    Two-tone champagne crisscross dial, case 92797.
  • Solar Aqua dial on a Rolex Oyster 2784 carrying neither Rolex nor Oyster signature
    Solar Aqua dial with red 13–24 numerals and ANTI-MAGNETIC marking.

The Centregraph has sweep centre seconds, unlike the subsidiary-seconds examples. Christie's catalogued one with 17 jewels and an inner red 24-hour chapter ring but did not name its caliber.

The Solar Aqua does not appear in the ref. 2784 auction record. A Yorktime listing pairs the unsigned Solar Aqua dial with an inner caseback visibly stamped 2784, direct photographic evidence tying the branch to this reference. The same watch has a Tudor-signed movement bridge, which may be a service replacement and is not used here to establish original movement branding.

A dealer description of an ordinary 3-6-9 luminous Arabic dial as an "Explorer dial" imports terminology from a reference two decades later, and the label should not be carried across. It is the standard silvered luminous Arabic configuration.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

The catalogued cases are barrel-shaped with screw-down backs and crowns. Christie's, Antiquorum and Artcurial give 30mm, Sotheby's gives 31mm, and Bonhams gives 34mm. Bonhams does not state how it measured the case, so the 34mm figure reads as an isolated outlier. It does not establish a second case size.

Auction catalogues describe plain and bevelled bezels. No production sequence has been established.

The photographed Solar Aqua inner back carries Oyster Watch Co., an RWC LTD oval and the reference 2784. Boettcher identifies RWC LTD as a British sponsor's mark; that falls short of proving Rolex made the case. His broader Oyster Watch Co. research discusses an SAR mark under a seven-pointed crown, but that mark is not visible on either ref. 2784 caseback image used here.

Boettcher records other references with Rolex Oyster dials and Oyster Watch Co. casebacks. He does not treat the combined marks as a settled guide to who manufactured each component.

Bracelets and straps

One example wears a Bonklip; others appear on leather straps. Christie's records a presentation box with case 127947. No bracelet or strap has been established as original delivery.

Auction record

Eleven sourced auction appearances across five houses are known. Ten have sale dates and appear below. The eleventh is Christie's sale 5650, lot 15, an Oyster Junior Sport with case 127947 and a presentation box; the surviving lot page gives no sale date or result.

Sale Date Name Case Result
Sotheby's, Hong Kong HK0186 7 May 2002 Oyster Junior Sport n/a HKD 6,490
Bonhams 10396 2 Dec 2003 unnamed n/a GBP 211
Christie's 1218, New York 5 Jun 2003 Oyster Centregraph (lot of two watches) n/a USD 1,912 for the lot
Sotheby's, Hong Kong HK0218 3 May 2005 Oyster Junior Sport n/a not sold
Christie's 5862, London 11 Dec 2005 Oyster Junior Sport (lot of two watches) 126541 GBP 420 for the lot
Artcurial 1727, Monte-Carlo 28 Jul 2009 Oyster Lipton, catalogued 2784B 93816 not sold
Sotheby's, Fine Watches 8 2023 Oyster Junior Sport 92797 n/a
Antiquorum, Geneva 9 Nov 2024 Oyster Junior Sport, retailed by Beyer 81218 CHF 6,875
Antiquorum 9 May 2026 Oyster Viceroy 91535 USD 4,504
Antiquorum, Monaco 28 Jun 2026 Oyster Raleigh, steel and gold 126474 est. EUR 2,000–4,000

The highest individual-watch result in the sourced record is CHF 6,875 for the Beyer-retailed three-tone watch at Antiquorum in November 2024, against a CHF 2,000–4,000 estimate. The two Christie's totals belong to two-watch lots and cannot be assigned to ref. 2784 alone.

The Christie's 2005 lot pairs a 2784 Junior Sport with a separate plated Rolex Viceroy. The Viceroy in that lot is a separate companion watch; Antiquorum's May 2026 watch is the sound evidence for the Viceroy name on this reference. In the 2003 Christie's lot, the 2784 is the Centregraph and the companion is a Rolex Sky-Rocket.

Related references

See also the early Oyster and Bubbleback index, movement reference, bracelet & clasp guide, and serial numbers by year.

  • Oyster Junior Sport 2784, case 81218, retailed by Beyer
    Oyster Junior Sport 2784, case 81218, retailed by Beyer
  • Three-tone Beyer dial
    Three-tone Beyer dial
  • Two-tone crisscross dial, case 92797
    Two-tone crisscross dial, case 92797
  • Unsigned Solar Aqua dial
    Unsigned Solar Aqua dial
  • Oyster Viceroy, case 91535
    Oyster Viceroy, case 91535
  • Oyster Raleigh, case 126474
    Oyster Raleigh, case 126474
  • Barrel-shaped case
    Barrel-shaped case
  • Oyster Watch Co and R.W.C. LTD caseback marks
    Oyster Watch Co and R.W.C. LTD caseback marks
  • Case number 126474 and reference 2784
    Case number 126474 and reference 2784
  • Steel-and-gold Oyster Raleigh
    Steel-and-gold Oyster Raleigh

Sources

Retrieved from "https://rolexopedia.net/index.php?title=Reference:2784&oldid=12003"