Rolex Chronograph 2022

Pre-Daytona chronographs → 2022

Silver cushion-case Rolex 2022 chronograph, case 365'414, with a two-register dial — Case 365'414, Sotheby's lot 272 (2021). Photo: Sotheby's.

Rolex ref. 2022 is a crown-operated, single-button chronograph with a cushion-shaped case. Auction catalogues document examples in silver, stainless steel and yellow gold, dated individually to the 1930s.

Core facts

Detail	Documented record
Reference	2022
Family	Early non-Oyster Rolex chronograph
Dated examples	Auction houses date examples to the 1930s; Pârvulesco gives 1930–1940. Neither is a confirmed factory production span.
Controls	One chronograph button coaxial with the winding crown in the catalogued examples
Registers	Seconds and 30-minute counter in documented two-register examples
Case	Cushion-shaped; some catalogues describe a snap-on back
Documented case materials	Silver, stainless steel and yellow gold in auction records
Reported measurements	32 mm diameter; 32 × 32 mm; 32 × 36 mm; and 33 × 33 mm, depending on the lot
Movement	Manual, 17 jewels in several catalogues. Published caliber identifications conflict; see Movement notes.

Where it sits in the line

The 2022 is an early Rolex wrist chronograph with one control mounted coaxially with the winding crown. That control starts, stops and resets the chronograph in the documented examples, leaving the case flank without a separate pair of pushers.

Production outline

Auction houses date individual ref. 2022 watches to the 1930s. Pârvulesco's Rolex classiques gives 1930–1940. These are published dates for examples and a book's date band; the factory run remains undated.

The sale records show silver, steel and gold cases. They are separate sale appearances rather than a production sequence, and several omit case numbers. Sotheby's case 365'414, for example, appears again in a 2025 listing preserved by EveryWatch: one identified case across two sales.

Movement notes

Phillips describes its 2023 example as a manual 17-jewel movement; Sotheby's lists a mechanical 17-jewel movement. Antiquorum gives 13-ligne measurements for some examples and an uncertain “14?” for its 1992 lot. Those are movement sizes, not caliber numbers.

Pârvulesco names a Valjoux VZ base; Colin A. White's The Vintage Rolex Field Manual lists V23. The reviewed sale records offer no movement photograph or clear bridge marking to settle the conflict, so the reference-level identification remains open.

Dial map

The auction sample shows more than one dial treatment. Antiquorum's silver 1992 example has black Breguet numerals, subsidiary seconds and a 30-minute register. Its steel 2002 example has a two-tone silver dial, Breguet numerals and a blue pulsometer scale. A yellow-gold 2004 lot is described with a champagne dial, applied gold markers and an Arabic 6.

Gold examples offered in 2010 and 2023 have multi-scale dials, respectively described as black and silvered. Antiquorum omits a case number for its 2010 lot; Phillips lists 12043 for the 2023 example. The records leave open whether these are separate cases, one watch with a changed dial, or repeat appearances.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

The catalogued cases are cushion-shaped; Antiquorum calls its 2010 gold example tonneau-shaped. Reported dimensions vary by lot: 32 mm diameter at Sotheby's, 32 × 32 mm at Phillips and Antiquorum in 2010, 32 × 36 mm for Antiquorum's 2004 gold watch, and 33 × 33 mm in its 1992 and 2002 records. These measurements should stay attached to their individual watches rather than be reduced to one standard size.

The crown is also the chronograph button. Sotheby's describes case 365'414 as silver with a snap-on back; Antiquorum records the same caseback type on its 2010 gold example. The reviewed catalogues leave the reference-wide bezel and crystal specifications undocumented.

Case flank and crown, silver case 365'414. Photo: Sotheby's, lot 272 (2021).
Snap-on caseback of silver case 365'414. Photo: Sotheby's, lot 272 (2021).

Bracelets, clasps, and packaging

Antiquorum describes a steel Rolex bracelet with its 2002 steel example. Phillips records an alligator strap and signed gold Rolex pin buckle on its 2023 gold example. These descriptions document the items associated with individual lots; original delivery, standard bracelet fitment and reference-wide packaging remain unresolved.

Auction record

The table keeps each measurement and description with the catalogue that reported it. Some records may describe repeat appearances; case numbers provide a firm match where catalogues report them.

Sale	Case or lot	Catalogue record
Antiquorum, 30 November 1992, lot 44	Case number unreported	Silver, 33 × 33 mm; Breguet numerals; “14?”-ligne, 17-jewel movement
Antiquorum, 30 November 2002, lot 18	Case number unreported	Steel, 33 × 33 mm; two-tone silver dial and pulsometer; 13-ligne, 17-jewel movement; steel Rolex bracelet described
Antiquorum, 12 December 2004, lot 604	Case number unreported	Yellow gold, 32 × 36 mm; champagne dial; 13-ligne, 17-jewel movement
Antiquorum, 8 May 2010, lot 285	Case number unreported	Yellow gold, 32 × 32 mm; black multi-scale dial; snap-on back; 13-ligne, 17-jewel movement
Sotheby's, 10 June 2021, lot 272	Case 365'414	Silver, 32 mm diameter; silvered dial; snap-on back; mechanical 17-jewel movement; catalogued circa 1935
Phillips, 13 May 2023, lot 170	Case 12043	18K yellow gold, 32 × 32 mm; silvered multi-scale dial; manual 17-jewel movement; catalogued circa 1930s
FutureGrail, November 2025, lot 146 (record preserved by EveryWatch)	Case 365'414	Later listing of the Sotheby's case. The archived record gives 36.5 × 32.1 mm and a 13-ligne, 17-jewel movement; the primary lot page is unavailable, so those added details remain secondary.

Gallery

Silver ref. 2022, case 365'414. Sotheby's lot 272 (2021).
Case profile of case 365'414. Sotheby's lot 272 (2021).
Plain snap-on back of case 365'414. Sotheby's lot 272 (2021).

Sources