Rolex Prince 3937
Prince → 3937
The Rolex Prince ref. 3937 is a rectangular watch with curved lugs often called “Rams Horn” or “Scroll Lug” by collectors. Auction records document examples in 14-karat yellow gold, 18-karat rose gold and pink gold with steel. Some were presented through the T. Eaton Company’s Quarter Century Club. The catalogues date individual watches from circa 1938 to circa 1950; they do not establish production endpoints.
Core facts
| detail | documented examples |
|---|---|
| reference | 3937 |
| family | Prince |
| case | Rectangular, with curved lugs; Sotheby’s and Antiquorum each give 22 × 45mm for their examples |
| materials | 14-karat yellow gold and 18-karat rose gold; an Antiquorum lot describes pink gold with steel |
| dates | Bonhams catalogued one watch circa 1938; Sotheby’s catalogued one circa 1950; Antiquorum dates an Eaton example to the 1940s |
| movement | Manual wind. Sotheby’s lists 15 jewels; Antiquorum lots list 18. No caliber number is confirmed; Fabsuisse uses “Cal. 971A,” an unverified attribution |
| Eaton presentation | Antiquorum records an Eaton 1/4 Century Club dial and a dedication on the caseback |
Case and name
The curved lugs distinguish the 3937’s outline from the straighter Prince cases shown on the family page. Collector Christian Wass uses “Rams Horn” for this shape and describes the 3937 as the last case model issued in the Prince line. The auction catalogues reviewed here call it a rectangular Prince; “Rams Horn” is a collector name, not a Rolex model designation.
Sotheby’s gives its yellow-gold example as 45mm long by 22mm wide, with a snap-on caseback. Antiquorum describes its 14-karat gold example as 22 × 45mm. These are catalogue measurements of two watches.
Eaton Quarter Century Club examples
The T. Eaton Company’s Quarter Century Club recognized employees with 25 years of service. Waddington’s dates the Rolex partnership to around 1930 and says the program continued until 1966; it also notes that the earliest Eaton watches included Prince models. Its account covers the program as a whole, not the 3937’s specific production dates.
Antiquorum’s 2024 sale catalogue identifies ref. 3937 case 547877 as an Eaton 1/4 Century Club watch. It describes a 14-karat yellow-gold case, a dedication on the caseback, an 18-jewel chronometer movement and an extra silver dial. The dial is signed for Eaton. That lot documents one presentation watch; it does not establish a standard inscription or the number of 3937s given to employees.
Movement notes
The catalogues do not give a consistent specification. Sotheby’s lists a manual movement with 15 jewels and calls it “observatory quality”; Antiquorum’s Eaton 3937 has an 18-jewel chronometer movement but no caliber number. Antiquorum’s 1998 catalogue describes a pink-gold-and-steel example with an 18-jewel, 7½-ligne movement adjusted to six positions. Fabsuisse calls the movement in a separate 14-karat rose-gold example “Cal. 971A” and lists 18 jewels. The Movement guide treats 971A as a Prince case reference, and the auction catalogues do not confirm the dealer’s caliber label. Without a readable movement marking that resolves the conflict, the caliber remains unconfirmed. These descriptions stay attached to their respective watches.
Auction record
| sale | catalogue description | result |
|---|---|---|
| Bonhams, 13 September 2023, lot 50 | 18-karat rose-gold ref. 3937; catalogued circa 1938 | Not stated |
| Sotheby’s, 11 March 2020, lot 73 | 14-karat yellow-gold duo-dial Prince; catalogued circa 1950; case 45 × 22mm | Result not shown on the public lot page |
| Antiquorum, Geneva, 18 April 1998, lot 367 | Pink-gold-and-steel Prince; two-tone dial; 18 jewels; 22 × 42mm | CHF 13,800 |
| Antiquorum, Geneva, 10 November 2024, lot 464 | 14-karat yellow-gold Eaton 1/4 Century Club; case 547877; circa 1940s | CHF 6,250 |
Related references
- Prince 971
- Prince 1490
- Prince 1491
- Prince 1527
- Prince 3361
- Prince family index
- Movement reference
- Serial numbers by year
Image gallery
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Prince 3937 Eaton presentation example -
Curved lugs on the Sotheby’s 2020 example -
Eaton Quarter Century Club dial -
Fabsuisse example; the listing calls it Cal. 971A
Sources
- Bonhams, lot 50, 13 September 2023 — 18-karat rose-gold ref. 3937, catalogued circa 1938.
- Sotheby’s, lot 73, 11 March 2020 — circa-1950 yellow-gold duo-dial example; case dimensions and movement description.
- Antiquorum, Geneva, lot 367, 18 April 1998 — pink-gold-and-steel case, two-tone dial, movement description and result.
- Antiquorum, Geneva, lot 464, 10 November 2024 — Eaton presentation, caseback dedication, 18 jewels and result.
- Fabsuisse, “Rolex Prince ref. 3937, 14k rose gold, 1946–47” — dealer description labels the movement Cal. 971A; this conflicts with the case-reference numbering and is unconfirmed by the auction catalogues.
- Dara Vandor, “The Canadian Rolex: Eaton’s ¼ Century Club Watch,” Waddington’s, 11 April 2024 — history of the company program and its Rolex partnership; does not date the 3937 specifically.
- Christian Wass, “The Rolex Prince — my journey so far,” Vintage Rolex Forum — collector use of “Rams Horn” and description of the 3937’s place in the Prince line.