Reference:3009: Difference between revisions
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<small>Oyster | <small>Oyster -> '''3009'''</small> | ||
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dial, but it does not identify a single case material, movement grade or seconds layout. | dial, but it does not identify a single case material, movement grade or seconds layout. | ||
David Boettcher describes Prima, Extra Prima and Ultra Prima as movement grades | David Boettcher describes Prima, Extra Prima and Ultra Prima as movement grades separate from | ||
calibers. The documented 3009 jewel counts and adjustment descriptions do not map cleanly onto | calibers. The documented 3009 jewel counts and adjustment descriptions do not map cleanly onto | ||
that broader ladder, so the dial wording should not be used to infer a grade. | that broader ladder, so the dial wording should not be used to infer a grade. | ||
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Catalogues record both 17- and 18-jewel movements, with varying adjustment language. No source | Catalogues record both 17- and 18-jewel movements, with varying adjustment language. No source | ||
explains the split, and the records do not map cleanly onto Boettcher's general grade hierarchy. | explains the split, and the records do not map cleanly onto Boettcher's general grade hierarchy. | ||
Bridge wording such as “Timed 6 Positions” documents one movement's finish | Bridge wording such as “Timed 6 Positions” documents one movement's finish; it says nothing about a production date. | ||
What those gradings bought was labour. Adjusting for poise and isochronism meant measuring a rate against a regulator over hours, and Boettcher records that in the 1920s and 1930s a minimum of four hours was needed to reveal a small difference, with observatory-standard adjustment running to weeks. The premium on a chronometer-grade movement of this era was mostly the cost of someone's time. | What those gradings bought was labour. Adjusting for poise and isochronism meant measuring a rate against a regulator over hours, and Boettcher records that in the 1920s and 1930s a minimum of four hours was needed to reveal a small difference, with observatory-standard adjustment running to weeks. The premium on a chronometer-grade movement of this era was mostly the cost of someone's time. | ||
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Boettcher describes this Aegler family's centre-seconds option as indirect: an extra wheel on an | Boettcher describes this Aegler family's centre-seconds option as indirect: an extra wheel on an | ||
extended third-wheel arbor drives the centre pinion. This mechanism applies to the centre-seconds | extended third-wheel arbor drives the centre pinion. This mechanism applies to the centre-seconds | ||
3009 configurations | 3009 configurations; the subsidiary-seconds Observatory watch uses a different arrangement. | ||
Because the seconds pinion sits outside the power flow, it flutters. Backlash lets it kick back and forth with every impulse from the third wheel. The fix is a friction spring that damps the movement, and the fix has a cost. Jack Forster, writing in Hodinkee, puts it most sharply: the tension spring "adds a frictional load to the gear train and if it's not adjusted exactly correctly, you get reduced balance amplitude and therefore, a loss in precision, which is ironic since a center seconds is supposed to be an aid to reading off the seconds more precisely in the first place." | Because the seconds pinion sits outside the power flow, it flutters. Backlash lets it kick back and forth with every impulse from the third wheel. The fix is a friction spring that damps the movement, and the fix has a cost. Jack Forster, writing in Hodinkee, puts it most sharply: the tension spring "adds a frictional load to the gear train and if it's not adjusted exactly correctly, you get reduced balance amplitude and therefore, a loss in precision, which is ironic since a center seconds is supposed to be an aid to reading off the seconds more precisely in the first place." | ||
==Dial map== | ==Dial map== | ||
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[[File:Ref 3009 enamel lettering.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=Macro of a Rolex 3009 enamel dial showing worn CHRONOMETRE and SCIENTIFIC lettering and hairline cracks|Paint loss in the model wording and hairline cracks through the enamel on the Christie's example]] | [[File:Ref 3009 enamel lettering.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=Macro of a Rolex 3009 enamel dial showing worn CHRONOMETRE and SCIENTIFIC lettering and hairline cracks|Paint loss in the model wording and hairline cracks through the enamel on the Christie's example]] | ||
The dials are vitreous enamel | The dials are vitreous enamel, easily mistaken for porcelain at a glance. Boettcher describes powdered glass fired onto | ||
a copper base, with numerals and tracks added in vitreous painting enamel. The fired substrate | a copper base, with numerals and tracks added in vitreous painting enamel. The fired substrate | ||
resists fading, while impacts, flexing and later painted text can still leave visible damage. | resists fading, while impacts, flexing and later painted text can still leave visible damage. | ||
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Boettcher separates fired numerals and tracks from names painted onto the finished enamel surface. | Boettcher separates fired numerals and tracks from names painted onto the finished enamel surface. | ||
He treats unnaturally fresh painted wording as a | He treats unnaturally fresh painted wording as a flag for closer inspection; it doesn't by itself confirm the work happened later. Christie's | ||
records paint loss on “chronometre” and “scientific,” and Lacy Scott & Knight records red loss | records paint loss on “chronometre” and “scientific,” and Lacy Scott & Knight records red loss | ||
from a seconds hand. | from a seconds hand. | ||
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No original-delivery bracelet is established. The Antiquorum Hong Kong example had a GEMEX | No original-delivery bracelet is established. The Antiquorum Hong Kong example had a GEMEX | ||
integrated bracelet; another wore a 9ct Rolex expandable bracelet stamped 4.67, | integrated bracelet; another wore a 9ct Rolex expandable bracelet stamped 4.67, a clasp code that dates only the | ||
bracelet | bracelet. Other examples appear on leather straps. | ||
One example retains something better than a bracelet. The 18ct gold indirect-centre-seconds watch sold at Dreweatts, case 37791, came with its original Manchester retailer's presentation box. | One example retains something better than a bracelet. The 18ct gold indirect-centre-seconds watch sold at Dreweatts, case 37791, came with its original Manchester retailer's presentation box. | ||
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it does not establish military issue. | it does not establish military issue. | ||
Retailer signatures appear on the wider Scientific family more than on the 3009 itself. The Asprey-retailed Imperial Chronometre Scientific | Retailer signatures appear on the wider Scientific family more than on the 3009 itself. The Asprey-retailed Imperial Chronometre Scientific carries reference 3116, a separate case reference from the 3009. Among documented 3009s the Manchester box is the only retailer artefact to have surfaced, alongside an unnamed English retailer's dial signature on the sibling 2942. | ||
==Auction record== | ==Auction record== | ||
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cannot be dismissed on mechanical grounds alone. The wider auction record describes manual | cannot be dismissed on mechanical grounds alone. The wider auction record describes manual | ||
movements, including Antiquorum's lots titled Bubbleback and Oyster Perpetual. Without a clear | movements, including Antiquorum's lots titled Bubbleback and Oyster Perpetual. Without a clear | ||
movement identification for the LSK watches, the repeated automatic wording remains | movement identification for the LSK watches, the repeated automatic wording remains an open catalogue | ||
discrepancy | discrepancy — neither a confirmed variant nor a disproved claim. | ||
== Related references == | == Related references == | ||