Reference:2490: Difference between revisions

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Rolex 2490 Bubbleback Army Dial in stainless steel — Rolex 2490 Bubbleback, Army Dial, case no. 423682

The 2490 is a tonneau-shaped stainless-steel Oyster Perpetual documented by Antiquorum as made in 1945. In its Hong Kong lot 218 description, Antiquorum calls the black mixed-numeral dial an “Army Dial”; that is the auction house’s label, not a Rolex model name. The lot describes center seconds, an “Oyster Patent” crown and a stainless-steel petites-mailles bracelet with deployant clasp. The catalogue presents those parts together, but it does not prove that the bracelet was original to the watch.

Core facts

detail	value
reference	2490
family	Oyster Perpetual (Bubbleback)
common name	"Bubbleback"; Antiquorum catalogued its documented example as an "Army Dial" Rolex
production	documented example dated 1945
case	tonneau-shaped, stainless steel, water-resistant Oyster case; 32mm diameter and 14mm thick in the documented lot
movement	self-winding; Antiquorum gives no caliber number or jewel count
dial (documented)	black with luminous Arabic and Roman numerals, baton indexes and outer minute track; original hands noted by Antiquorum
documented examples	Antiquorum lot 218, Hong Kong, 8 June 2008, case no. 423682

Where it sits in the line

“Bubbleback” is a collector nickname for early Oyster Perpetual watches with the domed caseback used around the automatic rotor. Most examples are round, while the documented 2490 has a tonneau-shaped case. Its family placement rests on the auction description, which identifies it as an Oyster Perpetual and self-winding; Antiquorum does not publish a caliber number. The case shape alone is therefore not enough to identify the movement family.

Production outline

In the public records checked for this audit, the traceable example is case no. 423682, dated 1945 by Antiquorum and sold in Hong Kong on 8 June 2008 as lot 218. The estimate was HKD 50,000–65,000 and the result HKD 60,000. Antiquorum cites comparable watches in Franca and Guido Mondani’s 1908-2008, 100th Anniversary of Rolex (p. 15), but those references are not second auction records. Antiquorum graded the case “good, scratched,” the movement “good, overhaul recommended, at buyer’s expense,” and the dial “good,” with original hands noted.

Movement notes

Antiquorum's lot description states only that the movement is self-winding; no caliber number or jewel count is given, and the movement grading ("good, overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense") indicates the example was sold as-is rather than freshly serviced.

Dial map

The catalogue describes a black dial with luminous Arabic and Roman numerals, baton indexes and an outer minute track. It identifies the watch as center-seconds and notes original hands. The exact numeral positions and hand colours should be treated as observations from the lot images, not as a general 2490 dial specification.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

The documented case is a two-body, tonneau-shaped stainless-steel Oyster case with a domed polished bezel, concave lugs, screwed caseback and crown. Antiquorum gives a 32mm diameter and 14mm thickness and describes an “Oyster Patent” crown. The lot included a stainless-steel Rolex petites-mailles bracelet, deployant clasp and a box; the catalogue does not establish the bracelet’s original delivery with the case.

Related references

Bubbleback 3130 — same generation, round case, self-winding
Bubbleback 3133 — same generation, round case, self-winding
Bubbleback 3725 — same generation, documented in multiple metal configurations

Auction record

Sale	Lot	Case no.	Configuration	Estimate	Result
Antiquorum, Hong Kong, 8 June 2008	218	423682	Stainless steel, tonneau-shaped, self-winding, center seconds, "Army Dial," Oyster Patent crown, petites mailles bracelet with deployant clasp, box included	HKD 50,000–65,000	HKD 60,000

The 2490 remains thinly documented in the public sources checked here. This page records one auction lot; it does not establish a complete census of the reference or rule out other examples in private collections.

Sources

"Ref. 2490, 'Army Dial' Rolex, 'Oyster Perpetual, Self-Winding', case No. 423682", lot 218, Hong Kong, Antiquorum, 8 June 2008
Franca Mondani and Guido Mondani, 1908-2008, 100th Anniversary of Rolex, Mondani Editore, p. 15 (per Antiquorum's lot notes, citing comparable examples)
Anthony Traina, "The Rolex Bubbleback And Why It Still Matters", Hodinkee, 2024
Oren Hartov, "Rolex Bubbleback Watches: A Collector's Guide, From 1931 to the 1950s", Robb Report, 2024

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 <small>[[Reference:oyster-perpetual|Oyster Perpetual]] -&gt; '''2490'''</small>
-The 2490 is a tonneau-shaped Oyster Perpetual from 1945, self-winding, in stainless steel. Antiquorum catalogued its only publicly documented example as an "Army Dial" Rolex — the house's own name for the piece, not an official Rolex term. The dial itself explains the label: black, with a mixed Roman-and-Arabic numeral set (XI and I in Roman at the top, then plain Arabic 8, 7, 5, 4 around the lower half), signed "Rolex Oyster Perpetual" above center and "Self Winding" below, a layout closer to military field-watch convention than the all-Arabic or all-baton dials more typical of the Bubbleback range. The watch also carries center seconds, an "Oyster Patent" crown, and a period stainless steel "petites mailles" bracelet on a deployant clasp, all catalogued together as a single unit rather than head-and-bracelet mismatched at some later point.
+<div class="rp-lead">
+[[File:Ref 2490 hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Rolex 2490 Bubbleback Army Dial in stainless steel|Rolex 2490 Bubbleback, Army Dial, case no. 423682]]
+</div>
+The 2490 is a tonneau-shaped stainless-steel Oyster Perpetual documented by Antiquorum as made in 1945. In its Hong Kong lot 218 description, Antiquorum calls the black mixed-numeral dial an “Army Dial”; that is the auction house’s label, not a Rolex model name. The lot describes center seconds, an “Oyster Patent” crown and a stainless-steel petites-mailles bracelet with deployant clasp. The catalogue presents those parts together, but it does not prove that the bracelet was original to the watch.
 <span id="core-facts"></span>
-[[File:Ref 2490 hero.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 2490 Bubbleback, Army Dial, stainless steel|Rolex 2490 Bubbleback, "Army Dial," case no. 423682]]
+==Core facts==
-== Core facts ==
 {| class="wikitable rp-facts"
@@ Line 39: / Line 41: @@
 |-
 | case
-| tonneau-shaped, stainless steel, water-resistant Oyster case
+| tonneau-shaped, stainless steel, water-resistant Oyster case; 32mm diameter and 14mm thick in the documented lot
 |-
 | movement
-| self-winding ("Oyster Perpetual, Self-Winding" per Antiquorum's own lot description)
+| self-winding; Antiquorum gives no caliber number or jewel count
 |-
 | dial (documented)
-| black, mixed Roman/Arabic numerals (Roman XI, I; Arabic 8, 7, 5, 4), "Rolex Oyster Perpetual" signed above center, "Self Winding" below, center-seconds layout, original hands
+| black with luminous Arabic and Roman numerals, baton indexes and outer minute track; original hands noted by Antiquorum
 |-
 | documented examples
@@ Line 54: / Line 56: @@
 == Where it sits in the line ==
-"Bubbleback" is a collector nickname for the Oyster Perpetual generation built between 1933 and the mid-1950s around the domed caseback the early automatic rotor required. Most Bubblebacks of this era are round; the 2490 is tonneau-shaped, a case profile more commonly associated with Rolex's manual-wind Prince and Oyster lines of the same period. What keeps the 2490 in the Bubbleback family rather than those manual lines is the movement: Antiquorum's own lot description specifies "Oyster Perpetual, Self-Winding," not a hand-wound caliber. The "bubble" in the nickname refers to the domed caseback the automatic rotor demanded, not strictly to a round outer case — Rolex clearly built at least some tonneau-cased examples around the same self-winding movement generation.
+“Bubbleback” is a collector nickname for early Oyster Perpetual watches with the domed caseback used around the automatic rotor. Most examples are round, while the documented 2490 has a tonneau-shaped case. Its family placement rests on the auction description, which identifies it as an Oyster Perpetual and self-winding; Antiquorum does not publish a caliber number. The case shape alone is therefore not enough to identify the movement family.
 <span id="production-outline"></span>
 == Production outline ==
-Only one 2490 has surfaced with public documentation: case no. 423682, dated 1945 by Antiquorum, sold at the house's Hong Kong sale on 8 June 2008 (lot 218) against a HKD 50,000&ndash;65,000 estimate, hammering at HKD 60,000. Antiquorum's own notes for the lot point to comparable examples published in Franca and Guido Mondani's ''1908-2008, 100th Anniversary of Rolex'' (p. 15) — evidence the reference was known to specialist Rolex historians independent of this specific sale, even though no second auction result has turned up alongside it. The lot's condition grading records the case as "good, scratched," the movement as "good, overhaul recommended," and the dial as "good" with original hands — a worn, honestly-graded example rather than a restored or over-polished one.
+In the public records checked for this audit, the traceable example is case no. 423682, dated 1945 by Antiquorum and sold in Hong Kong on 8 June 2008 as lot 218. The estimate was HKD 50,000–65,000 and the result HKD 60,000. Antiquorum cites comparable watches in Franca and Guido Mondani’s 1908-2008, 100th Anniversary of Rolex (p. 15), but those references are not second auction records. Antiquorum graded the case “good, scratched,” the movement “good, overhaul recommended, at buyer’s expense,” and the dial “good,” with original hands noted.
 <span id="movement-notes"></span>
@@ Line 69: / Line 71: @@
 == Dial map ==
-The dial is black with a mixed numeral set unusual for the Bubbleback range: Roman numerals at XI and I, Arabic numerals at 8, 7, 5 and 4, and applied luminous batons filling the remaining hour positions. "Rolex Oyster Perpetual" is signed above the coronet logo at center, "Self Winding" below it. The hands are a broad triangular hour hand and a matching baton minute hand, both aged to a warm patina, with a thin red-tipped sweep-adjacent seconds hand run from center — consistent with the center-seconds movement Antiquorum's description specifies.
+The catalogue describes a black dial with luminous Arabic and Roman numerals, baton indexes and an outer minute track. It identifies the watch as center-seconds and notes original hands. The exact numeral positions and hand colours should be treated as observations from the lot images, not as a general 2490 dial specification.
 <span id="case-bezel-crystal-and-crown-notes"></span>
 == Case, bezel, crystal, and crown ==
-The case is tonneau-shaped stainless steel, described by Antiquorum as water-resistant, with an "Oyster Patent" crown — Rolex's period marking for its screw-down waterproof crown system. The bracelet is a stainless steel Rolex "petites mailles" (small-link) design on a deployant clasp, catalogued as part of the same lot rather than a later replacement, and the watch was sold with its original box.
+The documented case is a two-body, tonneau-shaped stainless-steel Oyster case with a domed polished bezel, concave lugs, screwed caseback and crown. Antiquorum gives a 32mm diameter and 14mm thickness and describes an “Oyster Patent” crown. The lot included a stainless-steel Rolex petites-mailles bracelet, deployant clasp and a box; the catalogue does not establish the bracelet’s original delivery with the case.
 == Related references ==
@@ Line 95: / Line 97: @@
 |}
-The 2490 is thinly documented next to the rest of the Bubbleback range: this is the only publicly traceable example, and no second case number, dial variant, or metal configuration has surfaced to compare it against.
+The 2490 remains thinly documented in the public sources checked here. This page records one auction lot; it does not establish a complete census of the reference or rule out other examples in private collections.
 == Sources ==