Rolex 3134 Bubbleback

Steel 3134 with a pink California-style dial

The 3134 is a 32 mm tonneau Oyster Perpetual with a 9¾-ligne Rolex automatic. Auction catalogues document it with subsidiary and centre seconds. Three of the four auctioned examples cited here are steel; the fourth combines steel with yellow gold. The records date individual watches from the 1940s through 1957, but do not establish the reference’s production span.

Core facts

detail	value
reference	3134
family	Bubbleback (collector name; never official Rolex usage)
documented examples	four auction catalogues date individual watches from the 1940s to 1957; not a production span
case diameter	32 mm
case thickness	14 mm on Antiquorum’s 2013 example; not a reference-wide figure
case shape	tonneau
case construction	three-body / three-part in two catalogues
bezel	inclined, smooth
crystal	acrylic
crown	screw-down
movement	9¾-ligne Rolex automatic; documented descriptions vary by example
escapement	lever; described as straight-line in the 2013 catalogue
balance	monometallic with a self-compensating Breguet balance spring in 1992; Superbalance in 2013
seconds	subsidiary and centre sweep both documented
case materials	stainless steel; stainless steel with yellow gold

Where it sits in the line

The 3134 belongs to the two-digit-suffixed Oyster Perpetual references 3130 through 3135. The group includes different seconds layouts and case metals. Antiquorum's 1992 and 2013 examples have subsidiary seconds. Exclusive Timepieces lot 227 and the Luxe Auctioneers example have centre seconds.

The documented 3134 cases are predominantly steel. The four auction lots comprise three steel watches and one steel-and-yellow-gold watch. No solid-gold 3134 appears in the cited records.

Production outline

Auction catalogues date individual 3134 examples to the 1940s, circa 1945, the 1950s and 1957. The catalogues do not state a production start or end for the reference.

Treat the dates as estimates for the individual watches; they do not define a production window. Exclusive Timepieces dates case 168751 to 1957, while Anthony Traina's 2024 Hodinkee Bubbleback guide places the end of production in the mid-1950s. The sources do not resolve that difference.

Movement notes

Antiquorum Geneva's 1992 lot 181 describes a self-winding 9¾-ligne movement with 17 jewels, lever escapement, monometallic balance and a self-compensating Breguet balance spring. Exclusive Timepieces lot 227 also gives a 9¾-ligne automatic. Antiquorum's 2013 lot 143 records rhodium plating, a straight-line lever escapement and a Superbalance, but does not state the winding type or jewel count.

The lot descriptions identify automatic movements but leave the caliber number unstated. The subsidiary-seconds examples may fit Cal. 620 or the shock-protected Cal. 635; the centre-seconds examples may fit Cal. 630 or 645. These remain candidates until a movement marking or catalogue record confirms an individual watch. See Cal. 620, Cal. 630, Cal. 635, and Cal. 645.

Dial map

The four auctioned examples show four dial configurations.

The matte silver dial with applied luminous Arabic numerals and subsidiary seconds appears on Antiquorum's 2013 example, case 104396. Case 168751 has a pink dial with luminous Arabic and squared numerals, an outer minutes track and centre seconds. A black subsidiary-seconds dial appears on the 1992 steel-and-yellow-gold example.

Luxe Auctioneers catalogued one 3134 with a half-Roman, half-Arabic California-style dial, dated circa 1945. Its catalogue notes toning and spotting but does not establish that the dial is original. The lead image shows the same layout; its date is not established here. Anthony Traina notes that refinished California dials are common on Bubblebacks. Rolex filed Swiss patent CH221643 for the dial design in May 1941; the patent was issued in June 1942.

Matte silver dial, applied luminous Arabic numerals and subsidiary seconds, case 104396
California-style dial in pink, half Roman and half Arabic
The second California example, marked Chronometer and running centre sweep seconds, circa 1945

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

Documented cases measure 32 mm across. Antiquorum's 2013 lot 143 is 14 mm thick; no second source gives thickness. The tonneau case has an inclined smooth bezel, acrylic crystal and screw-down crown.

Antiquorum's 2013 lot 143 calls the case "three body," and Exclusive Timepieces describes case 168751 as "composed of three parts." Both catalogue descriptions identify a three-part case.

Antiquorum's 1992 catalogue describes its steel-and-yellow-gold example as having "hooded fluted lugs," while case 168751 has curved lugs. No photograph of the 1992 watch has been located, so the hooded-lug description remains catalogue evidence rather than a visually confirmed sub-variant.

The side-profile photograph shows the domed caseback; the cited auction descriptions do not name that shape. The 1992 Antiquorum and Exclusive Timepieces catalogues describe automatic movements. Exclusive Timepieces and Luxe Auctioneers use “Bubbleback” in their lot titles.

Case profile: curved lugs, inclined bezel, screw-down crown and the domed back the family is named for
Screw-down caseback with milled edge

Bracelets, end links, and clasps

Only one documented example carries a bracelet: case 168751, fitted with a riveted steel Oyster. The catalogue does not establish when the bracelet was fitted. The Luxe example has an associated leather strap and a Rolex steel tang buckle; the catalogue does not claim either as original delivery.

Case-metal suffixes

Rolex used slash suffixes on Bubbleback references to distinguish case metals. Colin A. White's The Vintage Rolex Field Manual documents the system and gives 1578/7 and 1578/8 as examples.

Colin A. White’s field manual gives 1578/7 and 1578/8 as examples of Bubbleback case-material suffixes. The sources reviewed here do not show how the same scheme applied to 3134. The directly documented 3134 cases are steel and steel with yellow gold.

Auction record

Venue	Date	Lot	Case no.	Material	Dial	Estimate	Result
Antiquorum Geneva #140	1992-10-17	181	n/a	Steel and yellow gold	Black	n/a	Unsold
Antiquorum Geneva #272	2013-05-12	143	104396	Steel	Matte silver, applied luminous Arabics	CHF 4,000-6,000	Unsold
Exclusive Timepieces	—	227	168751	Steel	Pink with patina	EUR 6,000–12,000	EUR 13,650
Luxe Auctioneers	2026-01-15	118	—	Steel	California	n/a	USD 3,250 hammer; USD 4,063 total reported by EveryWatch

Case 168751 sold for EUR 13,650 against a EUR 6,000–12,000 estimate. Luxe Auctioneers reported a USD 3,250 hammer for its California-dial example; EveryWatch reports USD 4,063 including fees. The Luxe catalogue notes dial toning and minor spotting and describes the leather strap as associated.

Both indexed Antiquorum lots were unsold. These four lots, spread across thirty-four years, are too few to establish a market level for the reference.

Related references

Bubbleback 3131 — 1936–c.1948
Bubbleback 3132
Bubbleback 3372
Bubbleback 3065 — 1937–1950
Bubbleback 3595 — 1941–1949
Bubbleback 2940 — 1940–1949

Steel 3134 with California-style dial
Matte silver dial and subsidiary seconds
Pink California-style dial
California-style dial with centre seconds
Case profile
Caseback

Sources