Rolex Chronograph 2021

Pre-Daytona chronographs → 2021

Stainless-steel Rolex 2021 chronograph with black Bucherer dial and two registers — Steel ref. 2021 with a black Bucherer-signed dial, Cambi lot 162 (2025). Photo: Cambi Casa d’Aste.

Rolex ref. 2021 is a single-button wrist chronograph with a hinged caseback. Auction records document yellow-gold and steel cases measuring 39–41 mm, with white enamel, silvered, and black dials. They date individual watches from the 1920s into the 1930s, with conflicting estimates and movement descriptions.

The button sits on the case flank near 2 o’clock. A period watchmaker’s journal identified a gold example by the 2021 number inside its case and described the offset pusher and white enamel dial. Auction photographs add steel examples, including a black Bucherer-signed dial.

Core facts

Detail	Documented record
Reference	2021
Type	Manual-wind, single-button chronograph
Dated examples	Christie's calls case 12'010 circa 1925; Phillips dates the same case to 1934. Other catalogues place separate examples in the 1930s.
Case	Round, hinged-back, non-Oyster construction in the records reviewed
Documented metals	18-carat yellow gold and stainless steel
Measured diameters	39, 40, and 41 mm in auction catalogues
Dial layouts	White enamel, silvered, and black examples with two registers and multiple scales
Movement	Manual, 17 jewels in several descriptions; caliber and ligne attributions vary
Strap	Leather in the photographed and catalogued examples

Where it sits in the line

The 2021 belongs to Rolex’s early wrist-chronograph period. It predates the better-documented two-button 2508. Its single button starts, stops, and resets the chronograph. The American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute’s 1989 article places the button between 1 and 2 o’clock on its illustrated example. Earlier crown-button cushion references such as the 1074 use a different control arrangement. [Charles Cleves, Horological Times, September 1989] [MyWatch, Rolex Chronographs, Part One]

Phillips calls the 2021 one of Rolex’s earliest chronographs. MyWatch warns that auction catalogues sometimes misassign early reference numbers, leaving the model’s place among Rolex’s first chronographs unsettled. The catalogued examples date from the 1920s and 1930s; none gives a confirmed production start date.

Production outline

Christie’s catalogued case 12'010 in 2005 and dated it circa 1925. Phillips later identified that same case number and described it as a 1934 watch. The estimates conflict, so neither gives a firm production date for the watch. [Christie's, case 12'010] [Phillips, Geneva Watch Auction: SEVEN, lot 244]

Other case numbers give a wider set of examples: 13'368 appears in Antiquorum’s 2016 and 2024 records; 13'372 at Heritage; 14'287 at Antiquorum; and 102711 at Finarte. Those catalogues generally date their watches to the 1930s, while Finarte labels case 102711 a 1920s example. Repeated appearances of cases 12'010 and 13'368 are the same watches, so they add detail to those records rather than extending the count of distinct examples. [Heritage Auctions, case 13'372] [Finarte, case 102711]

Movement notes

The records identify manual movements, with 17 jewels in several examples. Uhrenkosmos names a 13-ligne Valjoux VZ for an early monopusher. Auction catalogues report 14 lignes for Cambi’s steel case 14xxx, 14½ for Phillips’ case 12'010, 16 for Bolaffi’s case 14'140, and 16½ for Antiquorum cases 13'368 and 14'287. The descriptions point to different executions rather than one settled reference-wide caliber. Cambi’s movement photograph below documents its example but does not identify the movement family on its own. [Uhrenkosmos] [Phillips, case 12'010] [Aste Bolaffi, case 14'140] [Antiquorum, case 13'368] [Cambi, case 14xxx]

Manual chronograph movement from a steel Rolex ref. 2021 — Movement of Cambi’s steel ref. 2021, lot 132 (2022). Photo: Cambi Casa d’Aste.

Dial map

The white-enamel gold examples use painted Arabic numerals, two registers, and overlapping tachymeter and telemeter scales. Antiquorum describes case 13'368 with blued Breguet hands. Cambi’s silvered steel case has Breguet numerals and two subsidiary registers. The black Bucherer-signed steel dial uses two counters and multiple scales. These are the layouts documented in the auction records; the full factory range may have included others.

White enamel and multiscale dial, yellow-gold case 13'368; Antiquorum 2016
Silvered dial with Breguet numerals, steel case 14xxx; Cambi 2022
Black Bucherer-signed dial, steel case 103.xxx; Cambi 2025

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes

The catalogued watches have round cases with hinged backs and one olive-shaped chronograph button on the flank. The American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute places the button between 1 and 2 o’clock on its illustrated gold watch; auction descriptions place it near 2. MyWatch describes a 40 mm gold example as non-water-resistant. The hinged construction is separate from Rolex’s screw-down Oyster case system.

The auction descriptions treat the crown and chronograph button as separate controls. Across the records reviewed, crystal material, bezel scale, crown type, and water-resistance rating remain unspecified or inconsistent. MyWatch calls its 40 mm gold example non-water-resistant. Cambi’s silver-dial steel lot shows solid lugs; Antiquorum describes concave lugs on other cases.

Side view of a steel Rolex reference 2021 showing the hinged case and single button — Cambi’s silver-dial steel example, side view, lot 132 (2022). Photo: Cambi Casa d’Aste.

Bracelet, clasp, and packaging notes

Auction photographs show leather straps. Phillips describes a gold-plated pin buckle on case 12'010; Antiquorum records a Rolex gold buckle on case 13'368; Cambi lists an original steel buckle with its steel watch. These lot records document buckle examples, while bracelet fitment remains undocumented.

Special branches

Cambi’s 2025 catalogue shows a steel 2021 with a black dial signed by Bucherer. The signature identifies the retailer on that watch; this single record gives no evidence that Rolex treated the dial as a separate factory variant.

Auction record

Sale	Case	Catalogue date	Record
Christie's, 2005	12'010	circa 1925	18K yellow gold, white enamel; the same case Phillips later dated 1934
Phillips, 2016	12'010	1934	18K yellow gold, enamel; sold for CHF 43,750
Phillips, 2018	12'010	1934	Same case; sold for CHF 57,500
Antiquorum, 2003	14'287	1930s	18K yellow gold, black dial; sold for USD 8,625
Antiquorum, 2016 and 2024	13'368	1930s	Same gold, white-enamel watch; sold for CHF 25,000 and HKD 237,500
Heritage, 2021	13'372	1930s	18K yellow gold, silver dial; sold for USD 10,937.50
Finarte, 2022	102711	1920s	18K yellow gold, white enamel; sold for EUR 18,900
Cambi, 2022	14xxx	circa 1930	Steel, silvered dial; two-register monopusher
Cambi, 2025	103.xxx	circa 1930	Steel, black Bucherer-signed dial

Gallery

Steel case 103.xxx, black Bucherer-signed dial; Cambi 2025, lot 162
Gold case 13'368, white enamel dial; Antiquorum 2016, lot 476
Steel case 14xxx, silvered dial; Cambi 2022, lot 132
Movement in the Cambi 2022 steel example; catalog attribution retained as stated

Sources