Reference:1527: Difference between revisions
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Import reference 1527 article |
Add SEO + breadcrumb + hero (white+yellow Antiquorum 2005) + 2 inline images (Mondani bamboo bracelet 1931, Vicenza Oro 1992 white+pink) |
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|title=Rolex Prince Railway 1527 — BezelBase | |||
|description=The Rolex Prince Railway 1527 is the stepped Art-Deco bicolor Prince — solid stepped gold construction (white + pink gold canonical, white + yellow rare), 1930 launch into the 1940s, Aegler 7½′′′ T.S. 300 in Extra Prima or Ultra Prima grade. Population fewer than 15 documented auction lots in three decades. Watch-guy.com calls it "the only rectangular Prince worth having." | |||
|keywords=Rolex, Prince, 1527, 1527 M, Railway, Chemin de Fer, stepped, Art Deco, Aegler, T.S. 300, Ultra Prima, Extra Prima, vintage, bicolor, Mondani, reference guide | |||
|image=Ref 1527 hero.webp | |||
|image_alt=Rolex Prince Railway 1527 18K white and yellow gold stepped case | |||
|type=article | |||
|og_type=article | |||
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large | |||
}} | |||
<small>[[Reference:prince|Prince]] → '''1527'''</small> | |||
The 1527 is the Railway Prince. The case steps inward from the lugs in machined bands of solid gold, alternating white with pink (the canonical pairing) or white with yellow on rarer examples, producing a profile that read in the late 1920s and 1930s as obviously locomotive-inspired Art Deco. Each step is a discrete piece of solid 18K gold rather than an applied band over a base case, which makes the construction structurally distinct from the smooth bicolor 971A "Tiger Stripe" and visually distinct from every other Prince reference. The duo-dial layout is the standard Prince architecture — hours and minutes upper, sub-seconds at six — and the movement is the Aegler 7½′′′ T.S. 300 in Extra Prima or Ultra Prima grade. Production runs from a documented 1931 Mondani example into the 1940s, with a steel + gold-filled Bonhams 2006 lot anchoring the late-production end. The reference is genuinely rare in the modern auction record — fewer than fifteen distinct lots surfaced across surveyed major houses in the past three decades, comparable to the 971 in stepped-bicolor form rather than to the more common 1490. The collector watchmaker watch-guy.com calls it "the only rectangular Prince worth having" — a strong claim, but defensible given the construction. | The 1527 is the Railway Prince. The case steps inward from the lugs in machined bands of solid gold, alternating white with pink (the canonical pairing) or white with yellow on rarer examples, producing a profile that read in the late 1920s and 1930s as obviously locomotive-inspired Art Deco. Each step is a discrete piece of solid 18K gold rather than an applied band over a base case, which makes the construction structurally distinct from the smooth bicolor 971A "Tiger Stripe" and visually distinct from every other Prince reference. The duo-dial layout is the standard Prince architecture — hours and minutes upper, sub-seconds at six — and the movement is the Aegler 7½′′′ T.S. 300 in Extra Prima or Ultra Prima grade. Production runs from a documented 1931 Mondani example into the 1940s, with a steel + gold-filled Bonhams 2006 lot anchoring the late-production end. The reference is genuinely rare in the modern auction record — fewer than fifteen distinct lots surfaced across surveyed major houses in the past three decades, comparable to the 971 in stepped-bicolor form rather than to the more common 1490. The collector watchmaker watch-guy.com calls it "the only rectangular Prince worth having" — a strong claim, but defensible given the construction. | ||
[[File:Ref 1527 hero.webp|thumb|right|340px|alt=Rolex Prince Railway 1527 18K white and yellow gold stepped case|18K white + yellow gold stepped Railway case (Antiquorum Geneva 2005 lot 100), silvered duo-dial "ROLEX PRINCE / CHRONOMETER"]] | |||
==Core facts== | ==Core facts== | ||
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==The Railway nickname== | ==The Railway nickname== | ||
[[File:Ref 1527 white-pink-1992.webp|thumb|right|240px|alt=Rolex Prince Railway 1527 18ct white and pink gold 1930s|18 ct white + pink gold stepped 1527 with pink gold + stainless steel beads-of-rice bracelet, Antiquorum Vicenza Oro 1992 lot 146 — earliest documented "Prince Railway" catalog naming]] | |||
"Railway" is collector convention rather than Rolex catalog vocabulary. No period Rolex advertisement using the term has surfaced; the earliest catalog use traces to Antiquorum's 1992 Vicenza Oro auction (lot 146), which describes the 1527 as the "Prince Railway" and grounds the nickname in the visual analogy to locomotive forms — the stepped sides reading like the riveted side panels of a 1930s passenger carriage. French-language mirrors render the same nickname as "Chemin de Fer" (literally "iron road"), and Italian collector usage sometimes carries the term as well, but the primary collector convention in English-language auction catalogs is "Railway." | "Railway" is collector convention rather than Rolex catalog vocabulary. No period Rolex advertisement using the term has surfaced; the earliest catalog use traces to Antiquorum's 1992 Vicenza Oro auction (lot 146), which describes the 1527 as the "Prince Railway" and grounds the nickname in the visual analogy to locomotive forms — the stepped sides reading like the riveted side panels of a 1930s passenger carriage. French-language mirrors render the same nickname as "Chemin de Fer" (literally "iron road"), and Italian collector usage sometimes carries the term as well, but the primary collector convention in English-language auction catalogs is "Railway." | ||
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==Materials documented== | ==Materials documented== | ||
[[File:Ref 1527 bamboo-bracelet-1931.webp|thumb|right|260px|alt=Rolex Prince 1527 bamboo bracelet 1931 Mondani|18K white + yellow gold 1527 with original bamboo bracelet, dated 1931 — Antiquorum May 2006 Mondani Collection lot 108/33, hammer CHF 27,140 (corpus high)]] | |||
The auction record places 1527 examples in the following configurations: | The auction record places 1527 examples in the following configurations: | ||