Rolex Oyster 2416

Gold cushion-case Rolex Oyster with Arabic numerals, small seconds, and Murdock's Cape Town retailer signature — Schuler lot 2124, an 18-carat example with a Murdock's Cape Town dial.

Reference 2416 is a manual-wind Rolex Oyster with a cushion case, screw-down back, and screw-down crown. Auction catalogues most often describe 9-carat gold examples with Arabic numerals and subsidiary seconds. Schuler's 18-carat example carries a Murdock's Cape Town retailer signature. The surviving catalogues place individual examples in the 1930s, but do not give production endpoints.

Core facts

Detail	Documented record
Reference	2416, identified in auction catalogues and on photographed casebacks
Model	Rolex Oyster; cushion-form case
Winding	Manual
Production dates	Catalogue dates and marks fall mainly in the mid-1930s to circa 1940; no reference-wide start or end is established
Case materials	9-carat gold in multiple British-market records; one 18-carat example with South African retailer signature
Case size	27–28 mm across in catalogue descriptions; one 18-carat case is given as 33 × 28 mm
Movement	Manual, generally described as 15 jewels; no caliber is confirmed here
Dial	Arabic numerals and subsidiary seconds appear repeatedly; details vary by individual watch
Lugs	Fixed or wire lugs in the cited examples

Where it sits in the line

Auction catalogues identify 2416 as a manual-wind Rolex Oyster.

Production outline

Christie's dates case 36789 to circa 1935. Glasgow import marks on two other 9-carat cases carry 1936 and 1938 dates, and Leonard Joel places case 42988 circa 1940. The marks date import or assay events; auction estimates apply to the individual watches.

Fortuna's 2018 catalogue assigns case 36751 a circa-1920s date. That estimate stands apart from the mid-1930s records and remains a catalogue outlier.

Movement notes

Lot descriptions report manual movements with 15 jewels; Bonhams calls case 37425's movement a patented Superbalance. The catalogues give no caliber number.

Dial map

Silvered dials with Arabic numerals and small seconds recur in the 9-carat examples. Christie’s describes a black outer minute track and blued hands on case 36789; Bonhams records a similar layout on case 37425. The descriptions vary by watch; no single dial layout is established for every 2416.

The Schuler lot, case 32342, is a separate 18-carat example with a dial signed for Murdock's of Cape Town. Its black Arabic numerals, two-tone minute track, blued hands, and seconds register are visible in the auction photographs. Hodinkee dates the watch to 1934 and reports that the case hallmarks identify the 18-carat gold.

The retailer-signed dial in Schuler lot 2124.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

Auction descriptions show cushion cases with screw-down backs and crowns. The 9-carat examples measure 27–28 mm across. Schuler gives 33 × 28 mm for the 18-carat case; Jones & Horan gives 28 × 33 mm to the lug tips, so the measurements use different reference points. Fixed wire lugs appear on several examples. Christie’s 1936 watch has a replacement screw-down crown. The catalogues describe no recurring bezel or crystal change.

David Boettcher reports at least three Rolex-branded 2416s with Aegler movements and Oyster Watch Co.-marked casebacks. The mark recurs, though its reason is unknown.

Case profile of the Schuler lot 2124 watch.

Bracelet, clasp, and packaging

The auction watches are shown or described on leather straps. No factory bracelet or clasp fitment is established for reference 2416; a strap or buckle on a later sale example does not show original delivery.

Special branches

Schuler lot 2124 documents one 18-carat Murdock's Cape Town watch. It does not show a wider South African delivery pattern.

Cheffins describes case 37396 as a 2416, but says the exterior caseback reads 37396 2415. The two reference markings conflict, so the lot does not clarify the 2416 profile.

Auction record

Sale record	Example and catalogue description
Christie's, lot 3881029	Case 36789, circa 1935; 9-carat gold, 27 mm, silvered Arabic dial, subsidiary seconds, blued hands, 15-jewel manual movement.
Christie’s, lot 1289475	9-carat gold, 27 mm, Glasgow import marks dated 1936; the catalogue gives no case number and identifies the screw-down crown as a replacement.
Bonhams, 2014, lot 97R; The Watch Auction, 2020, lot 146	Bonhams identifies case 43750 and Glasgow hallmarks for 1938. The later listing gives only 437xx, so it may be the same watch; the partial number does not prove that.
Bonhams, 2020, lot 93	Case 37425, Glasgow import mark dated 1936, 9-carat gold, 28 mm, silvered Arabic dial, 15-jewel patented Superbalance, and a dated caseback inscription.
Schuler, 2025, lot 2124	Case 32342, circa 1930s; 18-carat yellow gold, 33 × 28 mm, Murdock's Cape Town dial. Hodinkee's article covers this same watch and reports a circa-1934 date.
Jones & Horan, lot 2021-04-25	Case 42923, catalogued circa 1937; 9-carat gold, 28 × 33 mm to the lugs, 15 jewels, silvered dial with applied gold Arabic numerals.
Leonard Joel, lot 45	Case 42988, catalogued circa 1940; 9-carat gold, 28 mm, silvered dial with luminous Arabic numerals and subsidiary seconds.
Fortuna, 2018, lot 1-1GJ7AU	Case 36751, 9-carat gold, 28 × 28 mm, manual 15-jewel movement; the catalogue's circa-1920s date is an outlier beside the dated 36,7xx records.
Cheffins, 2021, lot 254	Case 37396 is described as reference 2416, but the catalogue says its exterior back is numbered 37396 2415. The catalogue's reference number and caseback marking conflict.

Gallery

Schuler lot 2124, front view
Murdock's Cape Town dial
Case, crown, and fixed wire lugs