Rolex 4444 Oyster Royal
Oyster → 4444
The 4444 is a manual-wind Oyster documented in auction records from 2000 through 2025. The eight Antiquorum and Bonhams records reviewed here cover 30–32 mm cases, mostly signed “ROLEX OYSTER ROYAL.” One dial is catalogued as “ROLEX OYSTER,” and one steel-and-gold example is described without Oyster-line wording. Those records are examples rather than a complete surviving-watch census.
Core facts
| detail | value |
|---|---|
| reference | 4444 |
| family | Oyster (manual-wind) |
| documented examples | eight, Antiquorum (2000) and Bonhams (2011, 2018, 2020 x2, 2023 x2, 2025) |
| case shape | tonneau form on most examples; one described as round |
| case diameter | 30-32mm across the documented population |
| crown | screw-down |
| winding | manual |
| seconds | centre, on all eight documented examples |
| movement | 15-jewel manual wind; 10 3/4-ligne per Antiquorum's lot; no caliber number given in any source |
| case material | stainless steel (seven of eight examples); steel with an engraved gold bezel (one example) |
| dial signature | varies: "ROLEX OYSTER ROYAL" (most), "ROLEX OYSTER" (one), no Oyster wording (one) |
Where it sits in the line
The 4444 belongs to the same manual-wind Oyster Royal branch Rolex sold through the late 1940s and 1950s alongside the automatic Perpetual Bubbleback line, aimed at buyers who wanted the Oyster case's water resistance without the added cost of an automatic movement. It belongs to the manual-wind Oyster group that includes references 1873, 2765, and 4453. The reviewed lots provide configuration and auction evidence for this reference; they do not establish its production volume or precedence within that group.
Production outline
No factory production window is documented for the 4444. Eight individual watches carry auction-house circa-dates spanning 1948 to 1960: a Bonhams 2025 lot dates its example "circa 1948" (case no. 664303), while five later Bonhams lots date their examples "circa 1957" through "circa 1960" against case numbers in the 357,000-505,000 range. The case-number and catalogue-date pairings do not produce a usable chronology. The discrepancy is retained as a source-level dating conflict; it does not establish a production sequence. Antiquorum's own 2000 lot carries no date beyond "1950's."
Movement notes
Every documented example runs a 15-jewel manual-wind movement. Antiquorum's lot gives the fullest technical account: 10 3/4 lignes, rhodium-plated, lever escapement, monometallic Superbalance balance, self-compensating Breguet balance-spring. No source among the eight names a specific Rolex caliber number, and none is asserted here.
Dial map
-
Bonhams 2023: white dial, black Arabic numerals, "cubist style" hands -
Bonhams 2020: silvered dial with applied gilt Arabic numerals, gilt pointed baton hands, Oyster-link bracelet
Dial text varies across the eight documented examples and is not limited to a two-way split. Most read "ROLEX" over "OYSTER ROYAL," with "SHOCK RESISTING" (or "SHOCK-RESISTING," with a hyphen on at least one example) printed beneath the centre. One 2018 Bonhams lot reads "ROLEX OYSTER" only, dropping "Royal." One 2011 Bonhams lot — the steel case with the engraved gold bezel — carries no Oyster-line wording in its documented description at all. Hour markers vary with the dial: applied gilt or luminous Arabic numerals are most common, one example uses black cubist-style Arabic numerals with matching black hands, and the gold-bezel example uses dagger markers with tapered luminous gilt hands rather than numerals. Hands are correspondingly varied: gilt dauphine-style, black cubist, blued steel baton with luminous inserts, and gilt pointed baton all appear across the population.
These eight records document the configurations listed here. They do not form a complete factory or surviving-watch dial survey.
Case, bezel, crystal, and crown
Case construction is described by Antiquorum as "two-body," with a screw-down caseback and crown confirmed on every documented example's catalogue text. Most lots describe a tonneau-form case; one (the 2025 Bonhams lot, case no. 664303) is instead described as "brushed and polished round." Case sizes run 30mm on the steel-and-gold example up to 32mm on most of the solid-steel examples, with one at 31mm.
Seven of the eight documented cases are solid stainless steel. The eighth, sold at Bonhams in 2011, pairs a stainless steel case with an engraved gold bezel carrying applied hour markers — a genuine documented material variant, not evidence on its own of a distinct solid-gold or two-tone production run.
Two of the eight examples are fitted to Oyster-pattern metal bracelets rather than leather straps: a rivet-link bracelet (2018, accompanied by a spare bracelet and further spare parts) and a plain Oyster-link bracelet (2023). The 2018 bracelet's folding clasp is stamped "1 61," a clasp date code reading January 1961 under this project's published clasp-code convention — which dates the bracelet, not the circa-1957 watch head it is currently fitted to, consistent with a later-fitted or service-replaced bracelet rather than a contradiction of the head's own dating.
Auction record
| Venue | Date | Lot | Case no. | Material | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antiquorum, Geneva | 2000-10-15 | 52 | — | Steel, pink gold indexes/hands | est. CHF 1,200-1,400 (result not recorded) |
| Bonhams | 2011-06-16 | 111 | 589974 | Steel, engraved gold bezel | USD 700 hammer (USD 854 with premium) |
| Bonhams | 2018-09-11 | 49 | 358*** | Steel, Oyster rivet bracelet | GBP 750 hammer (GBP 937.50 with premium) |
| Bonhams | 2020-02-18 | 92 | 357*** | Steel, "recently serviced" | GBP 850 hammer (GBP 1,083.75 with premium) |
| Bonhams | 2020-02-18 | 94 | 505*** | Steel, Oyster-link bracelet | GBP 650 hammer (GBP 828.75 with premium) |
| Bonhams | 2023-09-13 | 40 | 358076 | Steel, personal caseback engraving | GBP 800 hammer (GBP 1,024 with premium) |
| Bonhams | 2023-11-22 | 58 | 505890 | Steel, Oyster-link bracelet | GBP 750 hammer (GBP 960 with premium) |
| Bonhams | 2025-12-03 | 66 | 664303 | Steel, leather strap | GBP 950 hammer (GBP 1,216 with premium) |
The results use different currencies, estimates, dates, and condition descriptions. They are listed as lot-level market records; this sample is too small and mixed to establish a price trend.
Related references
- Oyster Royal 1873 — sibling Oyster Royal reference
- Oyster Royal 4453 — sibling Oyster Royal reference, published the same week
- Oyster Chronometer 2765
- Oyster Chronometre Scientific 3009
See also the Bubbleback family index, movement reference, and serial numbers by year.
Sources
- "Rolex Oyster, 'Shock-Resisting', Ref. 4444, 1950's", Antiquorum, Geneva, 15 October 2000, Lot 52
- "Rolex. A stainless steel and gold center seconds wristwatch, Ref: 4444, Case no. 589974", Bonhams, 16 June 2011
- "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind bracelet watch Oyster, Ref: 4444, Circa 1957", Bonhams, 11 September 2018
- "Rolex. A recently serviced stainless steel manual wind wristwatch Oyster Royal, Ref: 4444, Circa 1958", Bonhams, 18 February 2020
- "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind bracelet watch Oyster Royal, Ref: 4444, Circa 1960", Bonhams, 18 February 2020
- "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind wristwatch Oyster Royal, Ref: 4444, Circa 1958", Bonhams, 13 September 2023
- "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind bracelet watch Oyster Royal, Ref: 4444, Circa 1959", Bonhams, 22 November 2023
- "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind wristwatch Oyster Royal, Ref: 4444, Circa 1948", Bonhams, 3 December 2025