Reference:2784: Difference between revisions
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| 7 May 2002 | | 7 May 2002 | ||
| Oyster Junior Sport | | Oyster Junior Sport | ||
| | | n/a | ||
| HKD 6,490 | | HKD 6,490 | ||
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| 2 Dec 2003 | | 2 Dec 2003 | ||
| unnamed | | unnamed | ||
| | | n/a | ||
| GBP 211 | | GBP 211 | ||
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| 5 Jun 2003 | | 5 Jun 2003 | ||
| Oyster Centregraph (lot of two watches) | | Oyster Centregraph (lot of two watches) | ||
| | | n/a | ||
| USD 1,912 for the lot | | USD 1,912 for the lot | ||
|- | |- | ||
| Line 256: | Line 256: | ||
| 3 May 2005 | | 3 May 2005 | ||
| Oyster Junior Sport | | Oyster Junior Sport | ||
| | | n/a | ||
| not sold | | not sold | ||
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| Oyster Junior Sport | | Oyster Junior Sport | ||
| 92797 | | 92797 | ||
| | | n/a | ||
|- | |- | ||
| Antiquorum, Geneva | | Antiquorum, Geneva | ||
Revision as of 03:31, 29 September 2026
Oyster → 2784
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; FHF 30 / Cal. 59 is a family-level attribution, not confirmed by an original photographed 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.
Movement notes
Auction catalogues describe manual movements with 15 or 17 jewels. They do not identify a manufacturer or caliber. David Boettcher identifies the movement used in this Oyster Watch Co. family as the 10½-ligne Fontainemelon FHF 30, also designated Cal. 59 by Rolex and Tudor, with a centre-seconds version known as 59(SC).
That 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, but their catalogues do not name a caliber. 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.
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 |
-
Three-tone Beyer dial, case 81218. -
Two-tone champagne crisscross dial, case 92797. -
Solar Aqua dial with red 13–24 numerals and ANTI-MAGNETIC marking.
The Centregraph is mechanically different from the subsidiary-seconds watches. Christie's catalogued one with 17 jewels, an inner red 24-hour chapter ring and sweep centre seconds. That layout is consistent with the Cal. 59(SC) family attribution, but Christie's does not name the 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
- Oyster Chronometre Scientific 3009 — manual-wind Oyster of the same era
- Oyster Precision 3003
- Oyster Precision 6694 — later manual-wind Precision
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 -
Three-tone Beyer dial
-
Two-tone crisscross dial, case 92797
-
Unsigned Solar Aqua dial
-
Oyster Viceroy, case 91535 -
Oyster Raleigh, case 126474 -
Barrel-shaped case -
Oyster Watch Co and R.W.C. LTD caseback marks -
Case number 126474 and reference 2784 -
Steel-and-gold Oyster Raleigh
Sources
- Antiquorum, "Antiquorum Geneva, Lot 372-106 — Rolex ref. 2784 Oyster Junior Sport, retailed by Beyer, case 81218", Antiquorum, 2024-11-09
- Antiquorum, "Antiquorum, Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces, Lot 182 — Rolex ref. 2784 Oyster Viceroy, two-tone dial, stainless steel", Antiquorum, 2026-05-09
- Antiquorum, "Antiquorum Monaco, Lot 388-115 — Rolex ref. 2784 Oyster Raleigh, stainless steel and gold, case 126474, dated 1941", Antiquorum, 2026-06-28
- Christie's, "Christie's sale 5650, Lot 15 — Rolex Oyster Junior Sport, No. 2784, case 127947, circa 1930, with presentation box", Christie's
- Sotheby's, "Sotheby's Fine Watches 8 — Oyster Junior Sport, reference 2784, case 92797", Sotheby's, 2023-01-01
- 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
- Christie's, "Christie's sale 1218, New York, Lot 125 — Oyster, Centregraph, Ref. 2784, circa 1945 (lot of two)", Christie's, 2003-06-05
- Artcurial, "Artcurial sale 1727, Monte-Carlo, Lot 844 — Oyster Lipton ref 2784B, case 93816, circa 1936", Artcurial, 2009-07-28
- Collector Square, "Rolex Oyster reference 2784 auction index", Collector Square
- Yorktime Watches, "Solar Aqua by Rolex Watch Company, ref. 2784", Yorktime Watches
- David Boettcher, "Oyster Watch Co. — vintagewatchstraps.com", vintagewatchstraps.com, 2026-03-31
- David Boettcher, "My Rolex Page — vintagewatchstraps.com", vintagewatchstraps.com, 2026-03-31
- David Boettcher, "Prima, Extra Prima and Ultra Prima", vintagewatchstraps.com
- Luxury Bazaar, "Rolex and Tudor Watches Only Meant for North America", Luxury Bazaar (Grey Market), 2022-01-01
- Analog/Shift, "Rolex Watches of World War II", Analog/Shift, 2020-01-01
- NAWCC members including Jeffrey P. Hess and Doug S., "Lipton Oyster — Rolex Watch? (NAWCC Message Board)", NAWCC, 2007-01-01
- Brown & Williamson Viceroy advertising history, Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising, Viceroy launch and 1937 coupon chronology
- Brown & Williamson company history, Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising, Raleigh premium coupon program
- Antiquorum, "Antiquorum Geneva, The Mondani Collection, Lot 7 — Rolex ref. 3116 'Royal', case 148000, made 1940", Antiquorum, 2006-05-14