Reference:2240: Difference between revisions

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Import reference 2240 article
 
Correct 2240 auction corpus, provisional Bubbleback attribution, and SCOC chronology
 
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The 2240 is a self-winding Oyster Perpetual in a 32mm stainless steel tonneau case, and it is
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex Oyster Perpetual 2240}}
the one reference in its cohort that still has a claim to the Bubbleback name once the
evidence is checked. The collector list that put the 2240 into circulation also lists the 1873
and the 2765, and both of those turn out to be hand-wound flat-back Oysters wearing the
Bubbleback's case but none of its mechanics. The 2240 is different: both Antiquorum examples
are described as centre-second and self-winding, on a 9¾-ligne movement, which is the size
Rolex used for its automatic Perpetual calibers and not the 10 to 10½ lignes of the manual
flatbacks.


The thing the nickname actually refers to went undocumented for thirty years. Neither 1995
{{#seo:
catalogue says whether the caseback is domed, and neither of their photographs shows it. A third
|title=Rolex 2240 Bubbleback — Self-Winding Oyster Perpetual | BezelBase
example surfaced in March 2026 at a general auctioneer in Nottingham, catalogued as a ref.
|description=Rolex reference 2240: two self-winding Oyster Perpetual catalogue records, movement and dial evidence, and the unresolved Bubbleback caseback attribution.
2240 and photographed from the back, and that back is domed. It is the first image of a 2240
|image=Ref 2240 hero.webp
caseback in the public record. It is also one non-specialist house's attribution on a watch
|type=article
whose dial reads only Rolex Oyster, without the Perpetual signature both Antiquorum examples
}}
carry, which strengthens the Bubbleback reading without closing it.


It is still, by some distance, the least seen watch in the group. Three lots exist in the
<small>[[Reference:bubbleback|Bubbleback]] → '''2240'''</small>
public record: two Antiquorum sales in 1995 and one English provincial sale in 2026.


[[File:Ref 2240 hero.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 2240 Oyster Perpetual with mat silver dial and applied gold indexes|Mat silver dial with applied gold indexes, the Geneva lot]]
Two Antiquorum catalogues from 1995 identify ref. 2240 as a 32mm steel Oyster Perpetual with
centre seconds and a self-winding, 19-jewel movement. That makes its Bubbleback classification
probable. Neither catalogue shows a reference engraving, movement, or caseback, so the identity
and domed-back construction have not been documented together on one watch.
 
Arthur Johnson & Sons attributed a domed-back Rolex to ref. 2240 twice in March 2026. Its
photographs show the case profile and movement number 31706, but no case number or reference
engraving. The dial reads Rolex Oyster rather than Oyster Perpetual. It is useful evidence for a
Bubbleback-form watch, but not a securely identified ref. 2240.
 
[[File:Ref 2240 hero.webp|thumb|right|340px|alt=Rolex 2240 Oyster Perpetual with mat silver dial and applied gold indexes|Mat silver dial with applied gold indexes, Antiquorum Geneva 1995]]


==Core facts==
==Core facts==
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|-
|-
| family
| family
| Bubbleback (Oyster Perpetual)
| Oyster Perpetual; Bubbleback classification probable, not fully documented
|-
|-
| production
| production
| 1930s or 1940s; catalogues disagree, no firm years documented
| no documented range; Antiquorum dates individual examples to the 1930s and 1940s
|-
|-
| case diameter
| case diameter
Line 44: Line 45:
|-
|-
| case
| case
| polished and satined, screwed back and crown, waterproof
| steel tonneau, polished and satin-finished on the two Antiquorum examples; screw-down back and crown
|-
|-
| caseback profile
| caseback profile
| domed, coin-edged screw-down back on the 2026 Arthur Johnson example; neither 1995 catalogue states it and neither 1995 photograph shows it
| not shown on the Antiquorum watches; domed on the Arthur Johnson watch attributed to ref. 2240
|-
|-
| bezel
| bezel
Line 53: Line 54:
|-
|-
| crystal
| crystal
| acrylic
| material not stated in the catalogues
|-
|-
| crown
| crown
Line 68: Line 69:
|-
|-
| case materials
| case materials
| stainless steel (all three documented examples)
| stainless steel on all three attributed watches
|-
|-
| dials documented
| dials documented
| mat silver with applied gold indexes; mat silver with painted Arabic numerals, bâton radium hands on both; silvered sector dial with applied Roman numerals and gilt leaf hands
| two Antiquorum watches wear different mat-silver layouts; the Arthur Johnson attribution has a silvered Roman sector dial; original fitment unproved
|-
|-
| dial designations
| dial designations
Line 79: Line 80:
==Where it sits in the line==
==Where it sits in the line==


Two details separate the 2240 from the Bubblebacks that get written about. It has centre
Both Antiquorum descriptions specify centre seconds, self-winding, 19 jewels and a 9¾-ligne
seconds rather than the sub-seconds register at six o'clock that the earliest Perpetuals
movement. Those details place the watches among early Oyster Perpetual automatics, but they do
carried, and it has nineteen jewels against the seventeen of the Cal. 520 and Cal. 620
not identify a caliber or case generation. The catalogues describe screw-down backs and crowns;
families that powered the reference's better-known neighbours.
neither calls the case two-piece or shows it disassembled.
 
That combination places it later in the Bubbleback story than the 1933-era three-piece watches
and squarely among the mature automatics — the generation running on the two-piece Oyster case
that arrived in 1936 with the 3131 and 3132. Centre-seconds Perpetuals of this era are well
attested elsewhere in the family; catalogued 2940 examples carry "luminous filled sword hands,
center seconds", so the layout is not anomalous for the period. It is simply not the layout
most people picture when they hear Bubbleback.


Where exactly the 2240 falls inside that window is the problem, and the two surviving lots
References 1873 and 2765 are useful contrasts because catalogued examples are manually wound,
make it worse rather than better. Antiquorum dated its Geneva example to the 1940s and its
and ref. 1873 is explicitly described with a flat back. Their similar tonneau outlines do not
Hong Kong example to the 1930s, two months apart, in the same year. Both readings stand in the
prove that they share case construction with ref. 2240.
record. The 1936 start year that circulates for the reference comes from the same unverified
collector list that mis-assigns its neighbours, and has no independent support behind it.


==Production outline==
==Production outline==


The public record for the 2240 consists of three lots. Two are Antiquorum sales from 1995:
Four online auction appearances have been located, representing three watches. Antiquorum sold
Geneva at the Hôtel des Bergues on 22 April, lot 304, and Hong Kong at the Hotel Furama
two different examples in 1995. Arthur Johnson listed the same watch on 7 and 14 March 2026,
Kempinski on 14 June, lot 29. A full sweep of the house's archive, which reaches back to 1974,
first with a recorded £800 hammer and then at £680. The reason for the reoffer is not published.
returns nothing else, and no lot surfaced at Phillips, Sotheby's, Christie's, Bonhams or
Heritage. The third is later and a great deal humbler: Arthur Johnson & Sons, a general
auctioneer in Nottingham, sold one as lot 7287 in a mixed Saturday sale on 14 March 2026,
catalogued in a single line as an Oyster Bubbleback, ref. 2240, with an automatic movement.


No lot page published a case number, so no serial anchor exists and no production window can
Antiquorum dated one watch to the 1930s and the other to the 1940s. Neither listing gives a case
be constructed from observed examples. No production figures appear in any documented source.
number, and the Arthur Johnson photographs show no case number or reference engraving. These
All three documented watches are stainless steel; whether Rolex built the 2240 in gold, gold
dates remain catalogue estimates for individual watches; they do not establish a production
shell or two-tone, as it did across much of the contemporary range, is unknown.
range. All three attributed watches are steel.
 
There is a plausible reason the reference is so scarce in the record, offered here as
speculation rather than fact. Both Antiquorum sales predate the internet-era auction archives
that most collector research now runs on. The 2026 lot shows the other half of the problem: it
passed through a provincial general auctioneer, described in one line, indexed nowhere that
vintage Rolex collectors habitually look. A reference can stay invisible by selling in the
wrong century or in the wrong room.


==Movement notes==
==Movement notes==


Nine and three-quarter lignes, rhodium-plated, nineteen jewels, lever escapement,
Both Antiquorum catalogues describe the movement as self-winding, 9¾ lignes and 19 jewels, with
monometallic balance, self-compensating Breguet balance-spring, self-winding, centre seconds.
a lever escapement, monometallic balance, Breguet balance spring and centre seconds. Automatic
Both Antiquorum catalogues give that specification word for word, independently, on opposite
winding rests on the explicit catalogue descriptions, not on the size: Rolex also used 9¾-ligne
sides of the world and two months apart.
manual movements.


The ligne size is the most useful number in the description, because it is the one that
Neither catalogue names a caliber. The centre-seconds layout makes Cal. 630 or a related
places the watch. Nine and three-quarter lignes is the size of Rolex's automatic Perpetual
600-series Perpetual plausible, but the jewel count and hand layout are not enough to make that
movements — the lineage running from the Cal. 520 of 1933 through the 620 and its
assignment. The Arthur Johnson movement is engraved No. 31706, but its caliber marking and the
sweep-seconds successors. The manual-wind flat-back Oysters Rolex was building alongside them
watch's reference engraving are not shown.
run larger, at 10 to 10½ lignes; all three documented examples of the neighbouring ref 2765
measure in that range. The 2240's movement therefore sits inside the automatic family on its
dimensions alone, which is independent corroboration of the self-winding descriptions rather
than a restatement of them.
 
Neither catalogue names a caliber, and this article does not supply one. The 19-jewel
centre-seconds configuration is architecturally distinct from the 17-jewel sub-seconds Cal.
520 and Cal. 620 that powered the earlier Bubblebacks, and it would be easy to reason from
that to a specific sweep-seconds caliber. No documented source makes that attribution for the
# The ligne size, the jewel count, the escapement, the balance and the seconds layout are
what the record supports.


==Dial map==
==Dial map==
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[[File:Ref 2240 dial-variant-painted-arabic.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 2240 mat silver dial with painted Arabic numerals at every hour|Painted Arabic numerals and outer minute track, the Hong Kong lot]]
[[File:Ref 2240 dial-variant-painted-arabic.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 2240 mat silver dial with painted Arabic numerals at every hour|Painted Arabic numerals and outer minute track, the Hong Kong lot]]


Three dials are documented, one per lot, and the sale photographs confirm all three.
The three attributed watches wear different dials. The photographs document their condition at
sale, not original delivery.


The Geneva example carries a mat silver dial with applied gold indexes and radium-filled
The Geneva example carries a mat silver dial with applied gold indexes and radium-filled
bâton hands, reading Oyster Perpetual below the coronet and carrying its chronometer
bâton hands, reading Oyster Perpetual below the coronet and carrying its chronometer
designation above six o'clock. The Hong Kong example is the more obviously pre-war of the
designation above six o'clock. The Hong Kong example is mat silver, with painted Arabic numerals
two: mat silver again, but with painted Arabic numerals at every hour, an outer minute track
at every hour, an outer minute track
with five-minute markers, Chronomètre above six, and the same radium-filled bâton hands.
with five-minute markers, Chronomètre above six, and the same radium-filled bâton hands.


[[File:Ref 2240 dial-variant-roman.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 2240 silvered sector dial with applied Roman numerals and gilt leaf hands|Applied Roman numerals on a sector-style dial signed Rolex Oyster, the Nottingham lot]]
[[File:Ref 2240 dial-variant-roman.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 2240 silvered sector dial with applied Roman numerals and gilt leaf hands|Applied Roman numerals on a sector-style dial signed Rolex Oyster, the Nottingham lot]]


The Nottingham watch is the outlier, and the way it differs matters more than the way it
The Nottingham watch has a silvered dial with a faint sector pattern, applied Roman numerals at the even
looks. Its dial is silvered with a faint sector pattern, applied Roman numerals at the even
hours and applied batons at the odd ones, a printed outer minute track, gilt leaf hands and a
hours and applied batons at the odd ones, a printed outer minute track, gilt leaf hands and a
centre seconds hand. The surface is heavily crazed and plainly unrestored. What it does not
centre seconds hand. Its surface is heavily crazed. The signature reads Rolex Oyster rather
carry is the word Perpetual: the signature reads Rolex Oyster and nothing else, where both
than Oyster Perpetual, a warning when assessing the auctioneer's automatic ref. 2240 attribution.
Antiquorum dials name the watch an Oyster Perpetual and give a chronometer designation.
Rolex's self-winding watches of this period almost always say so on the dial, so an original
Rolex Oyster dial on a watch sold as an automatic 2240 is a genuine discrepancy and is
recorded here as one.


Applied indexes against painted Arabics is a real stylistic split and not a cataloguing quirk,
The Geneva watch has visible Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified wording. Rolex dates
and it maps onto the two dating readings the catalogues give: the painted-Arabic Hong Kong
that designation to the late 1950s, while Antiquorum dates the watch to the 1940s. At least one
watch reads as the earlier of the pair. Three examples is not enough to call that a production
element of that record is therefore wrong. Without a case number and closer dial examination,
sequence, but it is enough to say the reference was built with more than one dial treatment.
the evidence cannot distinguish a later replacement or refinish from a misdated watch.
 
One detail on the Geneva dial deserves a flag rather than a conclusion. Its lot title gives
the designation as Superlative Chronometer, Officially Certified, wording generally associated
with a later period than the 1940s that the same lot assigns the watch. That could point to a
later example, a replacement dial, or simply Antiquorum paraphrasing in the title. The
chronology of Rolex's shift between the two chronometer designations has not been checked
against independent sources here, so nothing is concluded from it.


==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==
==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==


Stainless steel, tonneau-shaped, 32mm, polished and satin-finished, with screwed back and
Antiquorum describes both watches as 32mm steel tonneau cases, polished and satin-finished, with
screw-down crown. Smooth polished bezel and an acrylic crystal, as the era requires. The Hong
screw-down backs and crowns. It calls them waterproof in period catalogue language. The crystal
Kong catalogue adds one word the Geneva one does not: it calls the case massive, Antiquorum's
material and internal case construction are not stated.
term for a case with real substance to it.


The caseback was the open question for thirty years, and it is the one that matters most.
[[File:Ref 2240 caseback.webp|thumb|right|300px|alt=Domed coin-edged screw-down caseback of a Rolex attributed to reference 2240|Domed, coin-edged screw-down back on the Arthur Johnson watch attributed to ref. 2240; no reference engraving was shown]]
Neither 1995 catalogue states whether it is domed. Both give the case description in full and
both stop at "screwed back and crown". The two Antiquorum photographs are front three-quarter
views on leather straps, and neither shows the back at all.


[[File:Ref 2240 caseback.webp|thumb|right|300px|alt=Domed coin-edged screw-down caseback of a Rolex 2240 on a black leather strap|The domed, coin-edged screw-down back of the Nottingham example, the first 2240 caseback photographed in the public record]]
The Arthur Johnson watch has a pronounced domed back seated in a coin-edged screw ring. Its crown
would not screw down. The photographs do not show a reference engraving or case number, so this
construction cannot yet be tied securely to ref. 2240.


The Nottingham sale turned the watch over. Its fifth photograph is a caseback view, and the
Christie's description of a ref. 2764 shows why Antiquorum's silence is inconclusive: the house
back is a pronounced dome seated inside a coin-edged screw ring, the profile the nickname
calls the 2764 a Bubbleback but does not describe its back as domed in the technical text. That
describes. The crown stands proud of the case in the same frame, which fits the one condition
comparison explains the missing word; it does not identify the 2240's case construction or caliber.
note the lot carried: the crown would not screw down and wanted attention.
 
That earlier silence was never as damning as it looked, because the catalogues of the period
do not describe caseback doming even when the watch is unambiguously a Bubbleback. Christie's
catalogued a ref 2764 as an Oyster Perpetual Bubble Back in the lot title and then described
it in body text as a 9¾-ligne, 19-jewel, sweep-seconds movement in a two-part 32mm case with a
domed crystal and a screw-down back and crown. The only thing domed in that description is the
crystal. Strip the title away and it reads exactly like the two Antiquorum 2240 lots. The formula does
not discriminate, which means the 2240's description is consistent with a Bubbleback and
simply fails to settle the question.
 
Everything else points the same way. That Christie's 2764 specification — 9¾ lignes, nineteen
jewels, sweep seconds, 32mm, screw-down back — is the 2240's specification line for line. And
the flat-backed automatics that make self-winding an insufficient test are a later development
in the 6000-series references, arriving once Rolex had slimmed the calibers enough to drop the
bulge. A 32mm self-winding tonneau Oyster running a 9¾-ligne movement in the late 1930s or
1940s sits before that change.
 
So the reasonable reading is that the 2240 is a Bubbleback, and there is now a photograph of a
domed back on a watch catalogued as one. The reading is better supported than it was and still
short of settled. That photograph comes from a general auctioneer running a mixed Saturday
sale, not from a watch specialist; no case number was published to anchor the attribution
independently; and the same watch wears a Rolex Oyster dial without the Perpetual signature
both Antiquorum examples carry. A specialist cataloguing of that watch, or a case number,
would close the question.


==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==
==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==


Nothing is documented. Neither lot was sold on a Rolex bracelet, and no period fitment for the
All three attributed watches were photographed on leather straps. No ref. 2240-specific factory
reference appears anywhere in the surfaced record.
bracelet or end-link documentation has been located.


==Auction record==
==Auction record==
Line 253: Line 185:
| HKD 15,000–18,000 (USD 2,000–2,200)
| HKD 15,000–18,000 (USD 2,000–2,200)
| Not published
| Not published
|-
| Arthur Johnson & Sons, Nottingham
| 2026-03-07
| 7353
| Not dated
| Silvered sector, applied Roman numerals, gilt leaf hands
| Not published
| GBP 800 hammer recorded; reoffered one week later
|-
|-
| Arthur Johnson & Sons, Nottingham (The Saturday Auctions)
| Arthur Johnson & Sons, Nottingham (The Saturday Auctions)
Line 263: Line 203:
|}
|}


Neither Antiquorum lot page carries a realised price, so for thirty years the reference had no
Neither Antiquorum page publishes a realised price. The Nottingham entries are not two examples:
auction result on record at all. What it had instead was two estimates set within about ten
the photographs show the same watch, first listed as lot 7353 and reoffered one week later as lot
percent of each other by the same house in the same year, on two continents, roughly USD
7287. The reason for the reoffer is unknown, so the £800 and £680 figures should not be treated as
2,000–2,400 either way. The single realised figure the reference now has is the GBP 680 hammer
two independent market observations.
at Nottingham in 2026, which prices a worn, unrestored watch with a crown fault in a sale that
was not looking for a Rolex collector. Three data points spread over thirty-one years, two of
them unrealised estimates, do not describe a market, and no attempt to read one is made here.


What the three lots do establish is narrower and more useful: that the reference exists, that
The secure record is narrower. Antiquorum catalogued two different self-winding ref. 2240
the two specialist-catalogued examples are self-winding on a 9¾-ligne movement with centre
watches with 9¾-ligne, 19-jewel movements and centre seconds. Arthur Johnson catalogued one
seconds and nineteen jewels in a 32mm steel case, that it appeared with at least three dial
domed-back automatic watch as ref. 2240 twice, without showing the reference engraving.
treatments, and that a watch catalogued as a 2240 has a domed back.


== Related references ==
== Related references ==
Line 290: Line 226:
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-118-304 "Rolex Oyster Perpetual, Superlative Chronometer, Officially Certified, Ref. 2240", Antiquorum, 1995-04-22]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-118-304 "Rolex Oyster Perpetual, Superlative Chronometer, Officially Certified, Ref. 2240", Antiquorum, 1995-04-22]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-120-29 "Rolex Oyster Perpetual Chronometre, Ref. 2240", Antiquorum, 1995-06-14]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-lot-120-29 "Rolex Oyster Perpetual Chronometre, Ref. 2240", Antiquorum, 1995-06-14]
* [https://www.arthurjohnson.co.uk/catalogue/lot/350817b99cbeedece0cbed6103e2def4/1d509dfe86f02da2d7cbda445ef6ff1f/the-saturday-auctions-7th-march-2026-lot-7353/ "Arthur Johnson & Sons Lot 7353 — Rolex Oyster 'Bubbleback' attributed to ref. 2240", Arthur Johnson & Sons, 2026-03-07]
* [https://www.arthurjohnson.co.uk/catalogue/lot/666399e1d8d806483b36d5f21241ba50/1d509dfe86f02da2d7cbda445ef6ff1f/the-saturday-auctions-14th-march-2026/ "Rolex - an Oyster 'Bubbleback' wristwatch, ref. 2240, stainless steel case, automatic movement", Arthur Johnson & Sons, 2026-03-14]
* [https://www.arthurjohnson.co.uk/catalogue/lot/666399e1d8d806483b36d5f21241ba50/1d509dfe86f02da2d7cbda445ef6ff1f/the-saturday-auctions-14th-march-2026/ "Rolex - an Oyster 'Bubbleback' wristwatch, ref. 2240, stainless steel case, automatic movement", Arthur Johnson & Sons, 2026-03-14]
* [https://newsroom.rolex.com/watchmaking/features/superlative-chronometers Rolex, "Superlative chronometers", Rolex Newsroom]
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-rolex-bubbleback-and-why-it-still-matters "Buying, Selling, & Collecting: The Rolex Bubbleback And Why It Still Matters", Hodinkee]
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-rolex-bubbleback-and-why-it-still-matters "Buying, Selling, & Collecting: The Rolex Bubbleback And Why It Still Matters", Hodinkee]
* [https://robbreport.com/style/watch-collector/lists/rolex-bubbleback-watches-collector-guide-1931-1950s-1235893131/ "A Collector's Guide to Rolex Bubbleback Watches, From 1931 to the 1950s", Robb Report]
* [https://robbreport.com/style/watch-collector/lists/rolex-bubbleback-watches-collector-guide-1931-1950s-1235893131/ "A Collector's Guide to Rolex Bubbleback Watches, From 1931 to the 1950s", Robb Report]
Line 298: Line 236:


[[Category:Bubbleback]]
[[Category:Bubbleback]]
[[Category:References]]

Latest revision as of 22:37, 23 August 2026


Bubbleback → 2240

Two Antiquorum catalogues from 1995 identify ref. 2240 as a 32mm steel Oyster Perpetual with centre seconds and a self-winding, 19-jewel movement. That makes its Bubbleback classification probable. Neither catalogue shows a reference engraving, movement, or caseback, so the identity and domed-back construction have not been documented together on one watch.

Arthur Johnson & Sons attributed a domed-back Rolex to ref. 2240 twice in March 2026. Its photographs show the case profile and movement number 31706, but no case number or reference engraving. The dial reads Rolex Oyster rather than Oyster Perpetual. It is useful evidence for a Bubbleback-form watch, but not a securely identified ref. 2240.

Rolex 2240 Oyster Perpetual with mat silver dial and applied gold indexes
Mat silver dial with applied gold indexes, Antiquorum Geneva 1995

Core facts

detail value
reference 2240
family Oyster Perpetual; Bubbleback classification probable, not fully documented
production no documented range; Antiquorum dates individual examples to the 1930s and 1940s
case diameter 32mm
case shape tonneau
case steel tonneau, polished and satin-finished on the two Antiquorum examples; screw-down back and crown
caseback profile not shown on the Antiquorum watches; domed on the Arthur Johnson watch attributed to ref. 2240
bezel smooth, polished
crystal material not stated in the catalogues
crown screw-down
winding self-winding
seconds centre seconds
movement 9¾ lignes, rhodium-plated, 19 jewels, lever escapement, monometallic balance, self-compensating Breguet balance-spring. No caliber number published
case materials stainless steel on all three attributed watches
dials documented two Antiquorum watches wear different mat-silver layouts; the Arthur Johnson attribution has a silvered Roman sector dial; original fitment unproved
dial designations "Oyster Perpetual, Superlative Chronometer, Officially Certified"; "Oyster Perpetual Chronomètre"; "Rolex Oyster"

Where it sits in the line

Both Antiquorum descriptions specify centre seconds, self-winding, 19 jewels and a 9¾-ligne movement. Those details place the watches among early Oyster Perpetual automatics, but they do not identify a caliber or case generation. The catalogues describe screw-down backs and crowns; neither calls the case two-piece or shows it disassembled.

References 1873 and 2765 are useful contrasts because catalogued examples are manually wound, and ref. 1873 is explicitly described with a flat back. Their similar tonneau outlines do not prove that they share case construction with ref. 2240.

Production outline

Four online auction appearances have been located, representing three watches. Antiquorum sold two different examples in 1995. Arthur Johnson listed the same watch on 7 and 14 March 2026, first with a recorded £800 hammer and then at £680. The reason for the reoffer is not published.

Antiquorum dated one watch to the 1930s and the other to the 1940s. Neither listing gives a case number, and the Arthur Johnson photographs show no case number or reference engraving. These dates remain catalogue estimates for individual watches; they do not establish a production range. All three attributed watches are steel.

Movement notes

Both Antiquorum catalogues describe the movement as self-winding, 9¾ lignes and 19 jewels, with a lever escapement, monometallic balance, Breguet balance spring and centre seconds. Automatic winding rests on the explicit catalogue descriptions, not on the size: Rolex also used 9¾-ligne manual movements.

Neither catalogue names a caliber. The centre-seconds layout makes Cal. 630 or a related 600-series Perpetual plausible, but the jewel count and hand layout are not enough to make that assignment. The Arthur Johnson movement is engraved No. 31706, but its caliber marking and the watch's reference engraving are not shown.

Dial map

Rolex 2240 mat silver dial with painted Arabic numerals at every hour
Painted Arabic numerals and outer minute track, the Hong Kong lot

The three attributed watches wear different dials. The photographs document their condition at sale, not original delivery.

The Geneva example carries a mat silver dial with applied gold indexes and radium-filled bâton hands, reading Oyster Perpetual below the coronet and carrying its chronometer designation above six o'clock. The Hong Kong example is mat silver, with painted Arabic numerals at every hour, an outer minute track with five-minute markers, Chronomètre above six, and the same radium-filled bâton hands.

Rolex 2240 silvered sector dial with applied Roman numerals and gilt leaf hands
Applied Roman numerals on a sector-style dial signed Rolex Oyster, the Nottingham lot

The Nottingham watch has a silvered dial with a faint sector pattern, applied Roman numerals at the even hours and applied batons at the odd ones, a printed outer minute track, gilt leaf hands and a centre seconds hand. Its surface is heavily crazed. The signature reads Rolex Oyster rather than Oyster Perpetual, a warning when assessing the auctioneer's automatic ref. 2240 attribution.

The Geneva watch has visible Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified wording. Rolex dates that designation to the late 1950s, while Antiquorum dates the watch to the 1940s. At least one element of that record is therefore wrong. Without a case number and closer dial examination, the evidence cannot distinguish a later replacement or refinish from a misdated watch.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

Antiquorum describes both watches as 32mm steel tonneau cases, polished and satin-finished, with screw-down backs and crowns. It calls them waterproof in period catalogue language. The crystal material and internal case construction are not stated.

Domed coin-edged screw-down caseback of a Rolex attributed to reference 2240
Domed, coin-edged screw-down back on the Arthur Johnson watch attributed to ref. 2240; no reference engraving was shown

The Arthur Johnson watch has a pronounced domed back seated in a coin-edged screw ring. Its crown would not screw down. The photographs do not show a reference engraving or case number, so this construction cannot yet be tied securely to ref. 2240.

Christie's description of a ref. 2764 shows why Antiquorum's silence is inconclusive: the house calls the 2764 a Bubbleback but does not describe its back as domed in the technical text. That comparison explains the missing word; it does not identify the 2240's case construction or caliber.

Bracelets, end links, and clasps

All three attributed watches were photographed on leather straps. No ref. 2240-specific factory bracelet or end-link documentation has been located.

Auction record

Venue Date Lot Dated by catalogue Dial Estimate Result
Antiquorum, Geneva (Hôtel des Bergues) 1995-04-22 304 1940s Mat silver, applied gold indexes, bâton radium hands CHF 2,600–2,800 (USD 2,200–2,400) Not published
Antiquorum, Hong Kong (Hotel Furama Kempinski) 1995-06-14 29 1930s Mat silver, painted Arabic numerals, bâton radium hands HKD 15,000–18,000 (USD 2,000–2,200) Not published
Arthur Johnson & Sons, Nottingham 2026-03-07 7353 Not dated Silvered sector, applied Roman numerals, gilt leaf hands Not published GBP 800 hammer recorded; reoffered one week later
Arthur Johnson & Sons, Nottingham (The Saturday Auctions) 2026-03-14 7287 Not dated Silvered sector, applied Roman numerals, gilt leaf hands Not published GBP 680 hammer

Neither Antiquorum page publishes a realised price. The Nottingham entries are not two examples: the photographs show the same watch, first listed as lot 7353 and reoffered one week later as lot 7287. The reason for the reoffer is unknown, so the £800 and £680 figures should not be treated as two independent market observations.

The secure record is narrower. Antiquorum catalogued two different self-winding ref. 2240 watches with 9¾-ligne, 19-jewel movements and centre seconds. Arthur Johnson catalogued one domed-back automatic watch as ref. 2240 twice, without showing the reference engraving.

Related references

See also the Bubbleback family index, movement reference, bracelet & clasp guide, and serial numbers by year.

Sources

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