Rolex Chronograph 2023

Pre-Daytona chronographs → 2023

Yellow-gold Rolex 2023 monopusher chronograph with two registers and a multi-scale dial — Case 90267, Bonhams Hong Kong, lot 840 (2024). Photo: Bonhams.

Rolex ref. 2023 is an early manual-wind wrist chronograph with two registers. Antiquorum describes a crown-coaxial chronograph button on its 1992 example. The reviewed catalogues measure their silver and gold watches at 32 or 33 mm.

In a 2021 Phillips article about Rolex specialist Pucci Papaleo's work, Arthur Touchot places refs. 2023 and 2057 among the early “medical” chronographs of the latter 1920s. Auction catalogues date individual ref. 2023 watches to circa 1925, 1930 and the 1930s. Those records do not give factory production endpoints.

Core facts

Detail	Documented record
Reference	2023
Type	Manual-wind wrist chronograph with two registers; crown-coaxial button documented on one example
Dated examples	Phillips places the reference in the latter 1920s; catalogues date individual watches circa 1925, 1930 and to the 1930s
Cases	Silver and yellow-gold examples; 32–33 mm in the cited records
Dial	Two registers; silvered and black examples are documented, with tachymeter, telemeter or other scales described in individual lots
Movement	Manual. Published labels include “Caliber 13,” V23 and “Valjoux 13”; no reference-wide caliber is established
Strap or bracelet	Leather straps and buckles appear in the cited lots; standard bracelet fitment is unknown

Where it sits in the line

The reference belongs to Rolex's early single-button wrist chronographs, alongside ref. 2057. Touchot's Phillips article places both in the early “medical” group, a term tied there to chronographs with pulsometer scales. The cited examples show more than one dial layout: Bonhams photographs a multi-scale dial, while Antiquorum describes its 1992 watch as a black two-register dial without naming a pulsometer. Pârvulesco also groups ref. 2023 with early monopushers and gives a Valjoux-family context, but does not identify the movement in a numbered example.

Production outline

Bonhams dates case 90267 circa 1925. Antiquorum dates case 130016 to 1930 and its unnumbered 1992 Vicenza lot to the 1930s. Touchot's article places refs. 2023 and 2057 in the latter 1920s. The dates apply to those examples or to the group; they do not give a factory production sequence.

Movement notes

Antiquorum's 2018 catalogue describes case 130016's movement as column-wheel and lists “Caliber 13.” Colin A. White's The Vintage Rolex Field Manual lists V23 for ref. 2023. Neither source shows a caliber marking or explains how the labels relate. Bonhams describes case 90267 as having a signed manual movement and gives no caliber; its lot photographs show the outside caseback, not the movement.

Antiquorum's 1992 description transcribes an uncertain “13?” movement-size notation and reports 17 jewels. Dig-it and a Private Eyes / WatchNet archive use the wording “Valjoux 13” for pictured examples. The WatchNet movement photograph shows a Rolex signature and “SEVENTEEN JEWELS”; no maker or caliber number can be read. That listing's masked serial does not establish whether it is the unnumbered black-dial watch Antiquorum sold in 1992. Keep each movement label attached to its source.

Dial map

The 2018 Antiquorum watch has a silver dial, two registers and blued-steel hands. Bonhams describes case 90267 with a silvered dial and multiple printed scales; the lot photograph shows Arabic numerals, two registers and a dark outer scale. Antiquorum's 1992 catalogue describes a 33 mm yellow-gold example with a black two-register dial. A later dealer archive pictures a black multi-scale example. Its masked serial and absent case number leave its relationship to the 1992 watch unclear.

The sample documents silver and black dials, but is too small to map a dial sequence or factory range.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

Catalogued diameters are 32 mm for the silver case 130016 and gold case 90267, and 33 mm for the 1992 gold watch. Bonhams calls case 90267 a snap-back case. Antiquorum's 1992 entry describes its example as hinged-back. The case numbers are not available for comparison, so the two back descriptions remain attached to their respective watches.

On the 1992 example, the chronograph button sits coaxially with the winding crown. Bonhams' outer caseback photograph shows “2023” engraved on case 90267. Crystal and bezel specifications remain unrecorded in the cited lots.

Outer caseback of case 90267, engraved “2023.” Photo: Bonhams, Hong Kong, lot 840 (2024).

Bracelets, clasps, and packaging

The cited examples are shown or described on leather straps. Bonhams lists a gold Rolex buckle with case 90267, though the catalogue does not date it or establish original delivery. The reviewed records give no standard bracelet or packaging fitment.

Gold buckle catalogued with case 90267; original delivery is unproven. Photo: Bonhams, Hong Kong, lot 840 (2024).

Auction record

Date	House and lot	Case or identifier	Catalogue description
18 January 1992	Antiquorum Vicenza Oro, lot 2	Case number not stated	33 mm yellow gold; black two-register dial; crown-coaxial chronograph button; dated to the 1930s
17 July 2018	Antiquorum Monaco, lot 381	Case 130016; movement 337017	32 mm silver example; dated 1930; catalogue lists “Caliber 13” and describes a column-wheel movement
29 November 2024	Bonhams Hong Kong, lot 840	Case 90267	32 mm 18k yellow gold; silvered dial; snap-back case; signed manual movement; dated circa 1925

Gallery

Case 90267, front view. Bonhams Hong Kong, lot 840 (2024).
Outer caseback engraved “2023.” Bonhams Hong Kong, lot 840 (2024).
Gold buckle catalogued with case 90267. Bonhams Hong Kong, lot 840 (2024).

Sources