Rolex 2765 Oyster Chronometer

A checked version of this page, approved on 24 September 2026, was based on this revision.

Oyster → 2765

Rolex Oyster Chronometer 2765 retailed by Murdock's of Cape Town, Antiquorum New York, December 2009

Auction catalogues identify ref. 2765 as a steel Oyster and date individual examples from circa 1930 to circa 1942. Records that specify winding describe manual movements; Sotheby’s 2004 and Christie’s 1935 and 2006 entries leave winding unstated. The catalogues use several names: Oyster Chronometer or Chronomètre, Oyster Royal, Oyster Scientific, Oyster Gammeter and Observatory. Photographs confirm some names on dials; others appear only in catalogue descriptions.

Core facts

detail	value
reference	2765
family	Oyster (manual-wind)
production	catalogue dates for individual examples: circa 1930–1942
case diameter	30–32mm where a diameter is specified; Christie's records 39 × 32mm without naming the axes
case construction	steel tonneau; one Antiquorum example described as two-body; screw-down back and crown
caseback	screw-down; secondary sources call the manual Oyster branch “flatback”; profile varies by example
bezel	smooth, polished
crystal	Dawsons describes its case 76,781 example with an acrylic crystal; other cited catalogues omit the material
crown	screw-down
winding	manual
movement	16–18 jewels in later catalogue records; Antiquorum gives 10 to 10½ lignes and 17–18 jewels across three examples; it records different escapement and regulation details
movement grades documented	Ultra Prima (6 positions); 17-jewel adjusted to 7 positions; 18-jewel
seconds	centre seconds on some variants
case materials	stainless steel in all identified auction examples
catalogue designations	Oyster Chronometer / Chronomètre, Oyster Royal, Oyster Scientific, Oyster Gammeter, Observatory; additional secondary-listing names remain unverified
retailer variants	Murdock's, Cape Town

Where it sits in the line

Rolex continued making hand-wound Oysters after the Perpetual arrived. Hodinkee's Bubbleback collecting guide describes these parallel manual-wind watches as “flatbacks.” Ref. 2765 belongs to the manual branch: all three Antiquorum descriptions and the Bonhams catalogue texts specify manual winding.

The catalogues date examples to circa 1930 (Sotheby’s), circa 1935 and circa 1936 (Christie’s), the 1930s and 1940s (Antiquorum), circa 1939 (Bonhams, Dawsons and David Lay), circa 1940 (Bonhams) and circa 1942 (Bonhams). Each date belongs to an individual watch; the production limits need separate evidence.

Auction descriptions call ref. 2764 automatic and ref. 2765 manual. Their adjacent numbers and similar tonneau outlines leave any shared movement or case construction to be established from other evidence.

Production outline

Twenty-five auction-lot entries identify at least eighteen watches. Recorded sale dates range from 1995 to 2026; Christie’s circa-1935 lot has no verified sale date. The records cover three Antiquorum lots, twelve Bonhams lots, two David Lay lots, three Christie’s lots, one Sotheby’s lot from 2004, one Finarte lot, one Auctionet lot, one Dawsons lot and one Sotheby’s lot from 2026. Christie’s has a further 2765 scheduled for its Geneva online sale on 15 October 2026; that live listing is outside the past-lot count. Reoffers account for some of the total: Bonhams reoffered the Oyster Royal with a case number beginning 133 (remaining digits withheld) and Oyster Scientific cases 90,751 and 90,698; David Lay’s 2024 and 2025 lots and Sotheby’s 2026 lot show case 85,883. Other record identifiers include Dawsons serial 76,781; Auctionet case 90,995; Finarte case 14,277; Christie’s cases 83,259 and 83,447; and Bonhams serials 857 (remaining digits withheld), 90,509 and 140,782. Christie’s 1935 lot and Sotheby’s 2004 entry give no case number. Christie’s gives the scheduled lot a partly obscured case number, 14XX77. Finarte records case 14,277. Both listings name Randles Durban, but the visible numbers do not match; keep the watches separate unless a case-number match is established.

The records identify individual examples rather than a production sequence. Their circa 1930–1942 dates apply to those watches; reference production limits need separate evidence.

Movement notes

Antiquorum, Bonhams, David Lay, Finarte and Christie’s online catalogue describe manual-wind 2765 movements. Sotheby’s 2004 and Christie’s circa-1935 and 2006 entries omit winding type. Antiquorum gives 10- and 10½-ligne movements across its three examples. The Milan lot specifies an anchor escapement; the New York lot names a straight-line lever. The records describe 17- and 18-jewel movements with differing balance and regulation details.

The Milan 1995 example carried a 10-ligne Ultra Prima, 17 jewels, anchor escapement, monometallic balance with Breguet hairspring, regulated across six positions and temperatures. The Hong Kong 2001 example carried a 10½-ligne with 17 jewels, Rolex Superbalance and a self-compensating Breguet balance-spring, adjusted to seven positions. The New York 2009 example carried a 10½-ligne with 18 jewels, a straight-line lever and a Superbalance adjusted to six positions.

Bonhams does not give ligne sizes. Its records describe 16- to 18-jewel movements across the examples. The Oyster Royal case number beginning 133 (remaining digits withheld) has 17 jewels and a patented Super Balance; Oyster Royal case 140,782 has 17 jewels; the Oyster Gammeter has 17 jewels; case 90,509 has 16 jewels adjusted to eight positions; Oyster Scientific case 90,698 has 18 jewels adjusted to six positions; cases 90,751 and serial beginning 857 (remaining digits withheld) each have 18 jewels and six-position timing; case 90,501 has 18 jewels and six-position timing; and the Observatory has an 18-jewel chronometer movement. The Gammeter lot title says “automatic”; its technical description specifies a 17-jewel manual-wind movement.

“Ultra Prima” identifies a movement grade. David Boettcher’s history of Rolex and Aegler movement grades dates Wilsdorf’s registration of the name to 9 December 1930 and notes that the distinction between Extra Prima and Ultra Prima is unclear. Antiquorum describes the Milan 2765 as a 17-jewel Ultra Prima.

Cal. 700 appears in secondary listings. The examined auction catalogues and available movement photographs provide no confirming caliber marking. Sotheby’s 2026 catalogue calls case 85,883 an Oyster Perpetual in its promotional text, while its technical field says only “mechanical, jewelled.” David Lay’s two listings for the same case number specify an 18-jewel manual-wind Ultra Prima movement.

Dial map

Auction catalogues record these layouts. Reoffered watches appear once in the comparison; the table separates catalogue observations from factory claims. Sotheby’s 2004 catalogue supplies no case number, so that watch may overlap with a numbered example. The table records each identifiable dial once; repeat offerings appear in the auction record.

Example	Dial and hands	Seconds / record
Antiquorum, Milan 1995, lot 160	Silver and rose, printed Arabic numerals and indices; burnished steel leaf hands	Centre seconds; 10-ligne Ultra Prima
Antiquorum, Hong Kong 2001, lot 257	Bronze, mixed radium Arabic and Roman numerals, triangular and baton indices; radium skeleton hands	Centre seconds
Antiquorum, New York 2009, lot 217	Copper, luminous Arabic numerals, outer 1/5-second track and five-minute Arabic markers; luminous blued-steel baton hands	Centre seconds; retailer-signed Murdock's example
Bonhams Oyster Royal, case number beginning 133 (remaining digits withheld)	Silvered, luminous-filled Arabic numerals, outer 1/5-second track and five-minute Arabic markers; blued-steel Mercedes hands	Centre seconds; two Bonhams offerings
Bonhams Oyster Gammeter, case 90,939	Two-tone salmon, luminous baton markers, gilt inner Arabic quarters; pointed blued-steel baton hands	Centre seconds
Bonhams Oyster Scientific, case 90,751	Two-tone silvered, black baton and Arabic markers; black leaf hands	Centre seconds; two Bonhams offerings
Bonhams Oyster, case 90,501	Silver, applied gilt Arabic numerals; blued-steel sword hands and red seconds hand	Centre seconds
Bonhams Observatory, circa 1942	Two-tone silvered, luminous 1–12 Arabic numerals and red 12–24 ring	Subsidiary seconds
David Lay, case 85,883	Silvered, arrow at 12, Arabic markers at 3 and 9	Subsidiary seconds; same case in three catalogues
Bonhams Oyster Scientific, case 90,698	Two-tone silvered with outer gilt chapter ring, black Arabic and baton numerals, minute and 1/5-second tracks; blued sword hands	Centre seconds; sold in 2014 after a 2013 offering
Bonhams Oyster Royal, case 140,782	Silvered, luminous-filled Arabic numerals, black outer minute track, luminous-filled Mercedes hands	Subsidiary seconds; 32mm
Bonhams Oyster, case 90,509	Two-tone silvered, black Arabic numerals and outer minute track; blued feuille hands	Subsidiary seconds; 16-jewel movement adjusted to eight positions; 32mm
Finarte Oyster Royal, case 14,277	Cream dial with luminous Arabic numerals	Seconds layout not stated
Christie's, case 83,259, 2003	Matte silvered, gilt Arabic numerals, outer minute ring	Subsidiary seconds; catalogue lists 39 × 32mm
Sotheby's, Hong Kong 2004, lot 1197	Silvered, luminous baton and Arabic numerals	Subsidiary seconds; case number absent from available text
Christie's Oyster Royal Observatory, case 83,447	Silvered, Arabic and baton numerals, luminous hands	Engine-turned subsidiary seconds; 30mm diameter
Bonhams Oyster Scientific, serial beginning 857 (remaining digits withheld), 2016	Two-tone silvered, black batons alternating with Arabic numerals; outer minute and 1/5-second tracks	Blued-steel dagger hands; centre seconds; 31mm
Christie’s Oyster Chronometer, circa 1935	Silvered dial; catalogue reads “gilt Arabic movements”	Subsidiary seconds; 30mm
Dawsons Oyster Royal, serial 76,781	Off-white dial, described by Dawsons as tropical	Subsidiary seconds; acrylic crystal; 30mm
Auctionet Oyster Chronometre Scientific, case 90,995	Arabic numerals; auctioneer calls the dial unusual	32mm; seconds layout not stated

The catalogue names include Oyster Chronometer or Chronomètre, Oyster Royal, Oyster Scientific, Oyster Gammeter and Observatory. Treat a name as dial text only where the photograph shows the lettering. Finarte’s title identifies case 14,277 as retailed by Randles Durban; its description does not transcribe the retailer signature. Christie’s scheduled October lot is a Randles Durban 2765 with a partly obscured number (14XX77), a silvered dial and a 33mm case; its condition report says two serial numbers are faded or missing. Finarte describes a cream dial and 32mm case for 14,277 and also attributes it to Randles Durban in the title. Both lots name Randles Durban, but the Christie’s partial number (14XX77), 33mm size and silvered dial differ from Finarte’s 14,277, 32mm case and cream dial. The retailer attribution is a lead for comparison, not a case-number match. Auctionet describes case 90,995 with an “unusual” Arabic-numeral dial. Dawsons calls case 76,781’s dial tropical; that description records the auctioneer’s wording, not a documented factory variant. An EveryWatch listing also uses “sector” for a 2765 dial. Identifying factory variants requires clear dial photographs and supporting records for each example. Secondary listings also use “Oyster Precision” and “Ultra Prima” as dial names. A 2765 photograph showing that wording would be needed to confirm either attribution.

Silver and rose dial, Antiquorum Milan, 1995.
Bronze dial with mixed Arabic and Roman numerals, Antiquorum Hong Kong, 2001.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

Auction catalogues describe steel tonneau cases. Most specified diameters fall between 30 and 32mm; Christie’s lists 39 × 32mm without identifying the axes. Antiquorum describes its Hong Kong example as a polished and brushed two-body case with a screw-down back and crown. Dawsons specifies acrylic for one crystal; the other catalogues omit its material.

Hodinkee uses “flatback” for manual Oysters made alongside Bubblebacks; Sotheby’s applies the term to case 85,883. The auction movement descriptions identify the 2765 as manual-wind. The term describes this manual branch, while the precise caseback profile remains example-specific.

Every identified watch in this auction set is catalogued in steel; this record covers steel examples only.

Bracelets, end links, and clasps

Bonhams describes two watches with steel link bracelets and folding clasps: Oyster Royal case number beginning 133 (remaining digits withheld) and the 1939 Oyster, case 90,509. It calls the latter bracelet “later” and both bracelets “associated”; neither description establishes original delivery. Antiquorum’s Hong Kong 2001 watch came with a steel Rolex buckle and fitted box. The catalogues give no bracelet reference or end-link number.

Retailer variants

The New York 2009 example carries the Murdock’s of Cape Town retailer signature. It confirms one retailer-signed 2765; auction records give no total for Murdock’s sales of the reference.

Murdock's Cape Town retailer signature on a Rolex 2765 dial — The Murdock's, Cape Town signature sits below the Oyster Chronometre text.

Auction record

The table records identified catalogue appearances. Reoffers are retained because they document separate descriptions or results; known repeat case numbers are marked. A missing date or result means the accessible record did not provide it.

Venue	Date	Lot	Dial / identification	Movement	Result
Antiquorum, Milan	1995-05-22	160	Silver and rose; printed Arabic numerals	10-ligne Ultra Prima, 17 jewels, six positions and temperatures	ITL 2,990 as printed; catalogue scale is unclear
Antiquorum, Hong Kong	2001-06-08	257	Bronze; mixed Arabic and Roman numerals	10½-ligne, 17 jewels, Superbalance, seven positions	HKD 23,000 (estimate HKD 20,000–23,000)
Christie’s, London	2003-12-17	141	Case 83,259; matte silvered, subsidiary seconds	Ultra Prima chronometer, jewelled to third, six positions; winding unstated	Result not stated in catalogue
Sotheby’s, Hong Kong	2004-04-27	1197	Silvered, luminous batons and Arabic numerals; case number absent	18 jewels, Rolex Superbalance, six positions; winding unstated	Result not displayed on catalogue page
Christie’s, Important Watches I & II	2006-05-31	1880 (two-watch lot)	Case 83,447; silvered, Arabic and baton numerals, subsidiary seconds	Nickel-finished jewelled lever; further details unstated	Result not displayed on catalogue page
Antiquorum, New York	2009-12-09	217	Copper; luminous Arabic numerals and 1/5-second track	10½-ligne, 18 jewels, straight-line lever, Superbalance, six positions	USD 1,560 (estimate USD 1,500–2,500)
Bonhams, Knightsbridge	2013-09-03	83	Oyster Scientific, case 90,698; two-tone silvered	18 jewels, six positions	Result not located
Bonhams, London	2013-11-19	84	Oyster Royal, serial 140,782; silvered, subsidiary seconds	17 jewels, manual wind	GBP 562 incl. premium
Bonhams, Knightsbridge	2014-02-18	80	Oyster Scientific, case 90,698; repeat offering	18 jewels, six positions	GBP 1,750 incl. premium
Bonhams, London	2014-11-11	78	Serial 90,509; two-tone silvered, subsidiary seconds	16 jewels, adjusted to eight positions	GBP 812 incl. premium
Bonhams, London	2016-06-22	74	Oyster Scientific, serial beginning 857 (remaining digits withheld); two-tone silvered	18 jewels, manual wind, six positions	GBP 5,000 incl. premium
Bonhams, Knightsbridge	2019-02-19	50	Oyster Royal, case number beginning 133 (remaining digits withheld); silvered, luminous Arabic numerals	17 jewels, Super Balance, manual wind	Unsold (estimate GBP 500–700)
Bonhams, Knightsbridge	2019-05-21	74	Oyster Gammeter, case 90,939; two-tone salmon	17 jewels, manual wind	GBP 2,805 incl. premium
Bonhams, Knightsbridge	2019-05-21	75	Oyster Scientific, case 90,751; two-tone silvered	18 jewels, manual wind, six positions	Unsold (estimate GBP 1,200–1,800)
Bonhams, Knightsbridge	2019-05-21	88	Oyster Royal, case number beginning 133 (remaining digits withheld); repeat offering	17 jewels, Super Balance, manual wind	GBP 637.50 incl. premium
Bonhams, Knightsbridge	2019-11-19	37	Oyster Scientific, case 90,751; repeat offering	18 jewels, manual wind, six positions	GBP 4,062.50 incl. premium
Bonhams, Knightsbridge	2022-09-13	27	Oyster, case 90,501; silver dial, red centre seconds	18 jewels, manual wind, six positions	GBP 2,550 incl. premium
Dawsons	2022-12-15	283	Oyster Royal, serial 76,781; off-white dial described as “tropical”	Manual wind; jewel count unstated	GBP 700
Bonhams, New York online	2023-06-20	27	Observatory; two-tone dial, red 12–24 ring, subsidiary seconds	18 jewels, manual-wind chronometer	USD 3,840 incl. premium
Auctionet / Lawrences	2023-10-19	1140	Case 90,995; Arabic-numeral dial	Not stated	Result not shown in accessible catalogue text
David Lay	2024	112	Case 85,883; silvered, subsidiary seconds	18-jewel Ultra Prima	Result not stated in catalogue
David Lay	2025	1041	Case 85,883; repeat offering	Ultra Prima	Result not stated in catalogue
Finarte, Milan	2025-06-09	176	Case 14,277; cream, luminous Arabic numerals; Randles attribution in title	Manual wind; 32mm	Result not stated in accessible catalogue text
Sotheby’s, Geneva	2026	2344	Case 85,883; silvered, subsidiary seconds	Mechanical, jewelled; winding and caliber unstated	Result not stated in catalogue
Christie’s, Rolex Watches	Date unverified	765	Circa 1935; silvered dial, subsidiary seconds	18-jewel nickel-finished; “Officially Tested in Eight Ways”	Result not located
Christie’s Online, Geneva	2026-10-15 (scheduled)	460	Randles Durban; silvered dial, 33mm; number partly obscured as 14XX77	Manual; 2 serial numbers faded or missing	Sale pending

Christie’s has not published a result for the circa-1935 lot. The Geneva Online lot is scheduled for 15 October 2026. Christie’s masks its number as 14XX77; Finarte records 14,277. Their shared Randles Durban attribution merits comparison, but the visible number strings, dial descriptions and stated sizes differ, so the records remain separate.

The Hong Kong 2001 lot came with a fitted box and Antiquorum’s overall condition grade A (Good): case 4–6, movement 4–6*, dial 4–7–01. Antiquorum cited a similar watch in Osvaldo Patrizzi’s Rolex, Collecting Wristwatches (Guido Mondani Editore, Genova, 1998), page 278. The catalogue calls it a similar watch and gives no reference number; the cited page has not been checked directly.

The Milan 1995 catalogue prints ITL 2,990 against an estimate of ITL 2,500–3,000, with no explanation of the scale. The few other results concern different watches and sale formats; together they are too uneven to form a useful price series.

Related references

Bubbleback 2764 — the automatic neighbour, Cal. 620N
Oyster Royal 2574 — pre-war manual Oyster, boy's size
Oyster Royal 1873 — manual flat-back Oyster, shares the "Scientifical" dial vocabulary
Oyster Perpetual 2240 — self-winding contemporary with provisional Bubbleback classification
Bubbleback 1858 — the first Oyster Perpetual, 1933

Whole watch, copper dial, Antiquorum New York, 2009.
Silvered and rose dial, Antiquorum Milan, 1995.
Bronze dial, Antiquorum Hong Kong, 2001.
Retailer signature, Antiquorum New York, 2009.

Sources