Reference:3135: Difference between revisions

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<small>[[Reference:bubbleback|Bubbleback]] -> '''3135'''</small>

The 3135 is a 32mm Perpetual tonneau from the 313x block, the run of reference numbers

through which Rolex moved the Bubbleback onto a two-piece case in 1936. Four lots document

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cleared its Phillips estimate several times over, which is not thin at all. That single result

is the reference's whole public reputation, and it is a fair one. Sector dials on Bubblebacks

are scarce, and this one arrived unpolished with its ~~original hands~~.

are scarce, and this one arrived unpolished, with the blued steel hands its dial design

calls for.

The reference number is not the caliber. Rolex numbers references and movements in separate

series, and both series happened to reach 3135 about fifty years apart ~~— the~~ 1988 movement

series, and both series happened to reach 3135 about fifty years apart. The 1988 movement

that ~~runs~~ the ~~modern~~ Submariner has nothing to do with this watch, and a search for one will

that powered the Submariner for the next three decades has nothing to do with this watch, and

mostly return the other. A second complication is harder to dispose of. One catalogued 3135

a search for one will mostly return the other. A second complication is harder to dispose of. One catalogued 3135

describes a manual-wind Oyster instead of a Perpetual, and that conflict is unresolved rather

than dismissed.

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The 3135's own case is described as two-body with curved lugs, which places it inside that

generation rather than alongside the older architecture. That is structural inference from the

numbering and one case description, not a sourced production statement ~~— no~~ published source

numbering and one case description, not a sourced production statement. No published source

dates this reference, and the two Antiquorum lots say only "1930s".

~~What separates the~~ 3135 ~~from~~ its immediate neighbours is ~~not construction but~~ the dial that

The 3135 shares that construction with its immediate neighbours. What sets it apart is the

turned up on it. Hodinkee's survey of the family reproduces two sales as the headline

dial that turned up on it. Hodinkee's 2024 survey of the family reproduces two sales as the

Bubbleback results, and the sector-dial 3135 is one of them. For a reference with four

headline Bubbleback results, and the sector-dial 3135 is one of them. For a reference with four

documented lots, that is an unusual amount of weight resting on a single watch.

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That is a manual Oyster specification. A Perpetual of this era runs 9¾ lignes with 17 or 19

jewels and a Breguet overcoil, ~~which is exactly what~~ the other three 3135 lots ~~describe~~. So

jewels and a Breguet overcoil, and the other three 3135 lots match that on every point they

state. So

either the reference field on that lot is wrong, or Rolex used 3135 for a manual Oyster as

well as a Perpetual.

The second reading is harder to dismiss than it looks. The adjacent 3136 is

The second reading is harder to dismiss than it looks. The adjacent 3136 is a manual-wind

~~already documented as~~ a manual-wind Oyster ~~that spent years misclassified as a Bubbleback~~, as

Oyster, as are 3059, 3078, 3096, 3116, 3121 and 3140, and several of them have been catalogued

are 3059, 3078, 3096, 3116, 3121 and 3140. The 313x block demonstrably contains both kinds of

as Bubblebacks at one time or another. The 313x block demonstrably contains both kinds of

watch, and reference numbers in this period were assigned to cases rather than to movements.

A ~~shared~~ case number across two winding types is ~~not~~ an ~~absurd proposition~~.

A case number shared across two winding types is an ordinary outcome of that system.

What can be said cleanly is that three independent lots across two houses describe a

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==Movement notes==

~~Every documented 3135 runs~~ the ~~9¾-ligne Perpetual family~~: rhodium-plated, lever escapement,

The two Antiquorum Perpetual lots describe the same movement: rhodium-plated, lever

~~monometallic Super Balance~~, self-compensating Breguet hairspring. The 1995 ~~Antiquorum~~ lot

escapement, self-compensating Breguet hairspring. The 1995 lot counts 19 jewels at 9¾ lignes

counts 19 jewels~~. Phillips describes the movement as an automatic Super Oyster~~ at 9¾ lignes.

and calls the balance monometallic; the 2011 lot is graded Chronomètre and names the Super

~~The~~ 2011 lot is graded Chronomètre and ~~carries~~ the Super Balance.

Balance. Phillips gives its watch an automatic Super Oyster at 9¾ lignes and stops there.

No lot names a caliber number, and this article does not supply one. The temptation is

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The multi-tone silvered sector dial on the Phillips watch is the one that matters. Sector

dials divide the face into concentric zones with geometric dividers, a design language ~~shared~~

dials divide the face into concentric zones with geometric dividers, a design language

across ~~the better Swiss~~ makers of the late 1930s, and ~~Phillips~~ called this among the rarest

Phillips places across many distinguished makers between the late 1930s and the early 1940s,

dial versions found on Bubblebacks. ~~It came with its original~~ blued steel hands, which on a

and it called this among the rarest dial versions found on Bubblebacks. The watch carries the

watch this age is most of the value.

blued steel hands the design calls for, which on a watch this age is most of the value.

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Two-body construction, polished and brushed, with curved lugs and a screwed-down caseback and

crown. Thickness on the 2011 lot is 13mm against a 32mm diameter, which is the Bubbleback

profile stated in numbers rather than adjectives ~~— the~~ caseback domes to clear the Perpetual

profile stated in numbers rather than adjectives. The caseback domes to clear the Perpetual

rotor, and that dome is the whole reason the family has its nickname.

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fact about the reference. The Phillips 3135, a 1938 watch, came on a stainless steel Rolex rice-grain

bracelet — grain de riz, the beads-of-rice pattern collectors prize on Bubblebacks — with a

folding deployant clasp stamped 4.51~~. That stamp reads as~~ the ~~first quarter of~~ 1951. The clasp

folding deployant clasp stamped 4.51, which dates the clasp to 1951. The clasp

dates the bracelet, not the watch head, and a thirteen-year gap is wide enough to state the

dates the bracelet and not the watch head, and a thirteen-year gap is wide enough to state the

conclusion outright: period-correct rather than original delivery.

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! result

|-

| —

| 2015-05-10

| Phillips, The Watch Auction ONE

| 207

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The gap between the top line and the rest of the table is the reference in a sentence. Three

ordinary steel 3135s have changed hands at major houses for around CHF 3,000 ~~across thirty~~

ordinary steel 3135s have changed hands at major houses for around CHF 3,000 between 1995

~~years~~. One extraordinary one made twenty-seven times that. Dial and condition carry this

and 2011. One extraordinary one made twenty-seven times that. Dial and condition carry this

reference completely, and a plain 3135 has no premium attached to the number itself.

Christie's, Sotheby's and Bonhams ~~returned nothing for the reference~~, so the four lots above

Christie's, Sotheby's and Bonhams have no 3135 in their published results, so the four lots

are the documented market rather than a sample of it.

above are the documented market rather than a sample of it.

== Related references ==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex 3135 Bubbleback}}
+<small>[[Reference:bubbleback|Bubbleback]] -> '''3135'''</small>
 The 3135 is a 32mm Perpetual tonneau from the 313x block, the run of reference numbers
 through which Rolex moved the Bubbleback onto a two-piece case in 1936. Four lots document
@@ Line 5: / Line 7: @@
 cleared its Phillips estimate several times over, which is not thin at all. That single result
 is the reference's whole public reputation, and it is a fair one. Sector dials on Bubblebacks
-are scarce, and this one arrived unpolished with its original hands.
+are scarce, and this one arrived unpolished, with the blued steel hands its dial design
+calls for.
 The reference number is not the caliber. Rolex numbers references and movements in separate
-series, and both series happened to reach 3135 about fifty years apart — the 1988 movement
+series, and both series happened to reach 3135 about fifty years apart. The 1988 movement
-that runs the modern Submariner has nothing to do with this watch, and a search for one will
+that powered the Submariner for the next three decades has nothing to do with this watch, and
-mostly return the other. A second complication is harder to dispose of. One catalogued 3135
+a search for one will mostly return the other. A second complication is harder to dispose of. One catalogued 3135
 describes a manual-wind Oyster instead of a Perpetual, and that conflict is unresolved rather
 than dismissed.
@@ Line 92: / Line 95: @@
 The 3135's own case is described as two-body with curved lugs, which places it inside that
 generation rather than alongside the older architecture. That is structural inference from the
-numbering and one case description, not a sourced production statement — no published source
+numbering and one case description, not a sourced production statement. No published source
 dates this reference, and the two Antiquorum lots say only "1930s".
-What separates the 3135 from its immediate neighbours is not construction but the dial that
+The 3135 shares that construction with its immediate neighbours. What sets it apart is the
-turned up on it. Hodinkee's survey of the family reproduces two sales as the headline
+dial that turned up on it. Hodinkee's 2024 survey of the family reproduces two sales as the
-Bubbleback results, and the sector-dial 3135 is one of them. For a reference with four
+headline Bubbleback results, and the sector-dial 3135 is one of them. For a reference with four
 documented lots, that is an unusual amount of weight resting on a single watch.
@@ Line 110: / Line 113: @@
 That is a manual Oyster specification. A Perpetual of this era runs 9¾ lignes with 17 or 19
-jewels and a Breguet overcoil, which is exactly what the other three 3135 lots describe. So
+jewels and a Breguet overcoil, and the other three 3135 lots match that on every point they
+state. So
 either the reference field on that lot is wrong, or Rolex used 3135 for a manual Oyster as
 well as a Perpetual.
-The second reading is harder to dismiss than it looks. The adjacent 3136 is
+The second reading is harder to dismiss than it looks. The adjacent 3136 is a manual-wind
-already documented as a manual-wind Oyster that spent years misclassified as a Bubbleback, as
+Oyster, as are 3059, 3078, 3096, 3116, 3121 and 3140, and several of them have been catalogued
-are 3059, 3078, 3096, 3116, 3121 and 3140. The 313x block demonstrably contains both kinds of
+as Bubblebacks at one time or another. The 313x block demonstrably contains both kinds of
 watch, and reference numbers in this period were assigned to cases rather than to movements.
-A shared case number across two winding types is not an absurd proposition.
+A case number shared across two winding types is an ordinary outcome of that system.
 What can be said cleanly is that three independent lots across two houses describe a
@@ Line 140: / Line 144: @@
 ==Movement notes==
-Every documented 3135 runs the 9¾-ligne Perpetual family: rhodium-plated, lever escapement,
+The two Antiquorum Perpetual lots describe the same movement: rhodium-plated, lever
-monometallic Super Balance, self-compensating Breguet hairspring. The 1995 Antiquorum lot
+escapement, self-compensating Breguet hairspring. The 1995 lot counts 19 jewels at 9¾ lignes
-counts 19 jewels. Phillips describes the movement as an automatic Super Oyster at 9¾ lignes.
+and calls the balance monometallic; the 2011 lot is graded Chronomètre and names the Super
-The 2011 lot is graded Chronomètre and carries the Super Balance.
+Balance. Phillips gives its watch an automatic Super Oyster at 9¾ lignes and stops there.
 No lot names a caliber number, and this article does not supply one. The temptation is
@@ Line 161: / Line 165: @@
 The multi-tone silvered sector dial on the Phillips watch is the one that matters. Sector
-dials divide the face into concentric zones with geometric dividers, a design language shared
+dials divide the face into concentric zones with geometric dividers, a design language
-across the better Swiss makers of the late 1930s, and Phillips called this among the rarest
+Phillips places across many distinguished makers between the late 1930s and the early 1940s,
-dial versions found on Bubblebacks. It came with its original blued steel hands, which on a
+and it called this among the rarest dial versions found on Bubblebacks. The watch carries the
-watch this age is most of the value.
+blued steel hands the design calls for, which on a watch this age is most of the value.
 [[File:Ref 3135 dial-variant-ivory-roman.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 3135 ivory dial with Roman numerals and subsidiary seconds at 6|Ivory Roman dial with subsidiary seconds at 6, case 124X02]]
@@ Line 179: / Line 183: @@
 Two-body construction, polished and brushed, with curved lugs and a screwed-down caseback and
 crown. Thickness on the 2011 lot is 13mm against a 32mm diameter, which is the Bubbleback
-profile stated in numbers rather than adjectives — the caseback domes to clear the Perpetual
+profile stated in numbers rather than adjectives. The caseback domes to clear the Perpetual
 rotor, and that dome is the whole reason the family has its nickname.
@@ Line 196: / Line 200: @@
 fact about the reference. The Phillips 3135, a 1938 watch, came on a stainless steel Rolex rice-grain
 bracelet — grain de riz, the beads-of-rice pattern collectors prize on Bubblebacks — with a
-folding deployant clasp stamped 4.51. That stamp reads as the first quarter of 1951. The clasp
+folding deployant clasp stamped 4.51, which dates the clasp to 1951. The clasp
-dates the bracelet, not the watch head, and a thirteen-year gap is wide enough to state the
+dates the bracelet and not the watch head, and a thirteen-year gap is wide enough to state the
 conclusion outright: period-correct rather than original delivery.
@@ Line 215: / Line 219: @@
 ! result
 |-
-| —
+| 2015-05-10
 | Phillips, The Watch Auction ONE
 | 207
@@ Line 245: / Line 249: @@
 The gap between the top line and the rest of the table is the reference in a sentence. Three
-ordinary steel 3135s have changed hands at major houses for around CHF 3,000 across thirty
+ordinary steel 3135s have changed hands at major houses for around CHF 3,000 between 1995
-years. One extraordinary one made twenty-seven times that. Dial and condition carry this
+and 2011. One extraordinary one made twenty-seven times that. Dial and condition carry this
 reference completely, and a plain 3135 has no premium attached to the number itself.
-Christie's, Sotheby's and Bonhams returned nothing for the reference, so the four lots above
+Christie's, Sotheby's and Bonhams have no 3135 in their published results, so the four lots
-are the documented market rather than a sample of it.
+above are the documented market rather than a sample of it.
 == Related references ==