Reference:3666: Difference between revisions
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Hero swap + caption source attribution (automated) |
Swap 3666 hero to Collectors Square first variant; add chronograph variant image; move 18K gold hero lower |
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<small>Submarine -> '''3666'''</small> | <small>Submarine -> '''3666'''</small> | ||
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<span id="core-facts"></span> | <span id="core-facts"></span> | ||
[[File:Ref 3666 hero.jpg|thumb|right|340px|alt=Rolex 3666 Submarine Hermetique first variant|Rolex 3666 Submarine Hermetique, first variant (Collectors Square)]] | |||
== Core facts == | == Core facts == | ||
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<span id="dial-and-hand-variants"></span> | <span id="dial-and-hand-variants"></span> | ||
== Dial and hand variants == | == Dial and hand variants == | ||
[[File:Ref3666_connoisseur_18k_1924.jpg|thumb|right|300px|alt=Rolex 3666 Submarine Hermetique 18K gold variant, 1924|Rolex 3666 Submarine Hermetique in 18K gold, 1924 — Finger patent CH 89276]] | |||
Surviving 3666 dials fall into a narrow range, consistent with short production and a consistent Finger-supplied casework supply. Three configurations are confirmed from surfaced examples. The most common, on silver-cased Hermetics including the Cargills Ceylon 1924 watch sold by Bold Timepieces, is a white enamel dial with black Arabic numerals and a subsidiary seconds register at 6, paired with blued steel spade or Breguet hands. A slightly later treatment in silvered metal carries painted Arabic numerals and a sector sub-seconds register at 6, consistent with mid-1920s dress-watch design language and found on both silver and gold cases. The third, documented on the 9ct pink gold "Officer's watch" dated 1924, is a black dial with luminous radium Arabic numerals and cathedral hands (radium being the only practical lume compound in commercial use at that date, still decades before tritium replaced it). That black-dial configuration is the one most clearly aimed at the military and field-service market the Hermetic name was meant to suggest. | Surviving 3666 dials fall into a narrow range, consistent with short production and a consistent Finger-supplied casework supply. Three configurations are confirmed from surfaced examples. The most common, on silver-cased Hermetics including the Cargills Ceylon 1924 watch sold by Bold Timepieces, is a white enamel dial with black Arabic numerals and a subsidiary seconds register at 6, paired with blued steel spade or Breguet hands. A slightly later treatment in silvered metal carries painted Arabic numerals and a sector sub-seconds register at 6, consistent with mid-1920s dress-watch design language and found on both silver and gold cases. The third, documented on the 9ct pink gold "Officer's watch" dated 1924, is a black dial with luminous radium Arabic numerals and cathedral hands (radium being the only practical lume compound in commercial use at that date, still decades before tritium replaced it). That black-dial configuration is the one most clearly aimed at the military and field-service market the Hermetic name was meant to suggest. | ||
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<span id="the-1940-reference-3666-chronograph"></span> | <span id="the-1940-reference-3666-chronograph"></span> | ||
== The 1940 reference 3666 chronograph == | == The 1940 reference 3666 chronograph == | ||
[[File:Ref 3666 chronograph-variant.jpg|thumb|right|280px|alt=Rolex 3666 chronograph variant, 1940|Rolex 3666 chronograph variant, 1940 (Davide Parmegiani)]] | |||
Rolex reused the reference number. In 1940, the firm fitted a Valjoux-22 antimagnetic chronograph movement into a completely different case and stamped it ref 3666. [https://www.phillips.com/auctions/watches Phillips] has sold that watch under catalog number CH080216 for CHF 162,500. It is a waterproof-cased chronograph with a tachymeter scale, pump pushers, and a round steel case in the 35–37 mm range, visually and mechanically unrelated to the 1924 Hermetic. The two watches share nothing but the four-digit reference. | Rolex reused the reference number. In 1940, the firm fitted a Valjoux-22 antimagnetic chronograph movement into a completely different case and stamped it ref 3666. [https://www.phillips.com/auctions/watches Phillips] has sold that watch under catalog number CH080216 for CHF 162,500. It is a waterproof-cased chronograph with a tachymeter scale, pump pushers, and a round steel case in the 35–37 mm range, visually and mechanically unrelated to the 1924 Hermetic. The two watches share nothing but the four-digit reference. | ||