Reference:1343: Difference between revisions

The 1343 is the unflared Rolex Prince Classic — the straight-sided rectangular case that anchors every other Prince article on this site. It launches in the late 1920s alongside the 971 Brancard, runs roughly until 1935, and survives in silver, 9ct gold, 14K white gold, stainless steel, and the two-colour 1343B "Tiger Stripe" variant. Friedberg's foundational 2001 TimeZone taxonomy locks in the case-shape rule that holds across the family: Classic 1343 with parallel sides, Brancard 971 with the flared waist. Almost every Prince article on Rolexopedia reaches back to the 1343 to set up that distinction.

Inside that taxonomy lives a contradiction worth stating. Friedberg and the Dutch ''rolexencyclopedie.nl'' canon treat 1343 + 971 as the 1928 launch pair. ''Rolex Magazine'' (Jake Ehrlich, May 2017) and more recent editorial instead pair 1343 with 1490 — the larger, longer-produced Brancard that overlaps with then succeeds 971. Both readings are on the public record. The cleanest reconciliation is that 971 was the original Brancard and 1490 the longer-produced sibling; modern editorial that drops 971 conflates "first" with "most encountered." The 1343 sits opposite both of them as the Classic.

The suffix system matters. Catalogue text across Bonhams, Antiquorum, Heritage, and Gardiner Houlgate documents three variants: 1343 (no suffix, typically silver examples), 1343A (standard production across multiple metals), and 1343B (the 18K two-colour gold "Tiger Stripe" variant). No source explicitly explains the suffix mapping, but the pattern parallels the 971 / 971A relationship and the 1343A as the dominant standard with 1343B as the special two-colour configuration is consistent across surfaced examples. Two lots — Christie's Geneva, 15 November 2000, lot 338, and Antiquorum Geneva, 13 November 1999, lot 243 — catalogue a 1343A with a flared, stepped-side case running 42–43 mm long, matching the 1490 Brancard's own case envelope rather than the 20 mm-wide unflared Classic body every other documented 1343/1343A lot shares, including Antiquorum's own 2006 Mondani lot, also labelled 1343A, at the standard 20 mm width. The likelier read is a recurring reference-number mix-up with the 1490 family rather than a genuine flared 1343 sub-variant, but no source resolves it definitively.

No platinum 1343 surfaces in the auction record. Platinum is documented only on the 971 Brancard and certain 1490 examples; the 1343 Classic appears to be steel-and-gold only.

The 18K two-colour white-and-yellow gold case with alternating vertical stripes is the headline 1343 special variant — the "Tiger Stripe" name follows period catalogue language. The Bonhams 24632 December 2018 lot (Glasgow assay 1929, retailed by Charles Packer & Co Ltd, 76 Regent St London W) is the documented anchor: estimate £7,000–9,000, did not sell, and was re-offered at Bonhams 25394 in February 2019 at £7,000–9,300, again unsold. The Tiger Stripe is the visually distinctive 1343 — the only 1343 sub-variant that departs from the standard case material at all. Two unsold offerings at strong estimates suggest the secondary market reads the variant as scarce, but not scarce enough to clear the high estimates without a stronger consignor narrative.

Phillips's documented Prince catalogue activity concentrates on 971 (multiple platinum lots), 1490 (the Beyer 1998 retailer-signed example), and 1862. No Phillips 1343 lot essay surfaces in the auction record through 2025. Sotheby's and Christie's similarly carry 1343 less prominently — the Bonhams Tiger Stripe re-offering and the Antiquorum / Mondani lot are the strongest auction anchors. The 1343 Classic has historically traded approximately ten percent below the 1490 Brancard at retail per ''Chrono24 Magazine'', which may explain Phillips's preference for the Brancard in headline essay material.