Reference:2765: Difference between revisions

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Sync Core-facts table to corrected prose: dial designations and documented-example count (per 2026-08-23 re-audit)
Correct 2765 caseback evidence, catalogue labels, and Milan result
 
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex 2765 Oyster Chronometer}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex 2765 Oyster Chronometer}}
{{#seo:
{{#seo:
|title=Rolex Oyster Chronometer 2765 — Dials, Movements & Auction Record | BezelBase
|title=Rolex Oyster Chronometer 2765 — Dials, Movements & Auction Record | BezelBase
|description=The 2765 is a manual-wind Oyster of the late 1930s and early 1940s, filed among the Bubblebacks for decades but flat-backed on every documented example. Dial designations, movement grades, case numbers and the Antiquorum and Bonhams auction record.
|description=Rolex reference 2765: manual-wind movement grades, catalogue designations, case evidence, and auction records from the 1930s and 1940s.
|keywords=Rolex, 2765, Oyster, Oyster Royal, Oyster Scientific, manual wind, reference guide
|image=Ref 2765 hero.webp
|image=Ref 2765 hero.webp
|image_alt=Rolex Oyster Chronometer 2765 retailed by Murdock's of Cape Town
|type=article
|type=Article
|og_type=article
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
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}}


<small>Oyster -> '''2765'''</small>
<small>Oyster → '''2765'''</small>
[[File:Ref 2765 hero.webp|thumb|right|300px|alt=Rolex Oyster Chronometer 2765 retailed by Murdock's of Cape Town|Rolex Oyster Chronometer 2765 retailed by Murdock's of Cape Town — 32mm steel tonneau case, flat screw-down caseback, centre seconds. Antiquorum New York, December 2009.]]


The 2765 is a manual-wind Oyster of the late 1930s and early 1940s, and it is the cleanest
The 2765 is a manual-wind steel Oyster made around the late 1930s and early 1940s. It appears
demonstration in the whole early-Oyster catalogue of what actually makes a Bubbleback a
on some collector Bubbleback lists, but the auction record does not support that classification:
Bubbleback. The case is the same 32mm tonneau that the contemporary Oyster Perpetuals wear.
the documented movements are manually wound, with no Perpetual rotor.
The lugs, the bezel, the screw-down crown are the same. The caseback is flat. Rolex domed
the back of a Bubbleback to clear a Perpetual rotor; the 2765 has no rotor to clear, so it
does not get the dome. Collector reference lists have filed the 2765 among the Bubblebacks
for years on the strength of that shared silhouette, and every documented example
contradicts them.


The second oddity is the dial text. At least eight Rolex model names are documented on this
Auction catalogues apply several names to the reference, including Oyster Chronometer,
one reference number: Oyster Chronometer, Oyster Chronomètre, Oyster Royal, Oyster Scientific,
Chronomètre, Oyster Royal, Oyster Scientific, Oyster Gammeter and Observatory. Some are visible
Oyster Precision, Ultra Prima, Oyster Gammeter and Observatory.
on photographed dials; others are catalogue model labels and should not be read as confirmed
Rolex was still using dial text to advertise which grade of movement a buyer was getting
dial signatures.
rather than which model he had bought.
 
[[File:Ref 2765 hero.webp|thumb|right|340px|alt=Rolex Oyster Chronometer 2765 retailed by Murdock's of Cape Town|Rolex Oyster Chronometer 2765 retailed by Murdock's of Cape Town, Antiquorum New York, December 2009]]


==Core facts==
==Core facts==
Line 43: Line 35:
|-
|-
| production
| production
| 1930s–1940s; no firm start or end year documented
| no documented range; auction catalogues date individual examples from circa 1939 to circa 1942
|-
|-
| case diameter
| case diameter
| 32mm
| 32mm
|-
| lug-to-lug
| about 39mm
|-
| thickness
| about 11mm
|-
|-
| case construction
| case construction
| two-body, polished and brushed
| steel tonneau; one Antiquorum example described as two-body; screw-down back and crown
|-
|-
| caseback
| caseback
| flat, screwed down
| screw-down; flat profile reported in secondary listings, not established across the auction record
|-
|-
| bezel
| bezel
Line 64: Line 50:
|-
|-
| crystal
| crystal
| acrylic
| material not established by the cited auction catalogues
|-
|-
| crown
| crown
Line 82: Line 68:
|-
|-
| case materials
| case materials
| stainless steel (8 documented examples)
| stainless steel on eight documented watches
|-
|-
| dial designations
| catalogue designations
| Oyster Chronometer / Chronomètre, Oyster Royal, Oyster Scientific, Oyster Precision, Ultra Prima, Oyster Gammeter, Observatory (per Bonhams cataloguing; see Dial variants)
| Oyster Chronometer / Chronomètre, Oyster Royal, Oyster Scientific, Oyster Gammeter, Observatory; additional secondary-listing names remain unverified
|-
|-
| retailer variants
| retailer variants
Line 93: Line 79:
==Where it sits in the line==
==Where it sits in the line==


Rolex did not stop making hand-wound watches when the Perpetual arrived in 1933. It ran two
Rolex continued making hand-wound Oysters after the Perpetual arrived. Hodinkee's Bubbleback
lines side by side for the better part of two decades. Hodinkee's Bubbleback collecting guide
collecting guide describes these parallel manual-wind watches as “flatbacks.” Ref. 2765 belongs
makes the point directly, describing the "flatbacks" that sat alongside the automatics of the
to the manual branch: all three Antiquorum descriptions and the Bonhams catalogue texts specify
period: manual-wind watches, and even early chronographs. The 2765 belongs to that parallel
manual winding.
line, and it wears the Oyster case of its automatic contemporaries.


Placing it precisely inside that line is harder than it should be, because the auction record
Antiquorum dated two examples to the 1930s and one to the 1940s. Bonhams dates individual
disagrees with itself about when the watch was made. Antiquorum dated its Hong Kong and New
watches to circa 1939, circa 1940 and circa 1942. These estimates place the known watches near
York examples to the 1930s and its Milan example to the 1940s. Bonhams is both more specific
the turn of the decade but do not establish start and end years for the reference.
and more consistent, dating its examples circa 1939, circa 1940 and c.1942. Dealer listings put
the run at roughly 1936 to 1942. A serial that circulates without catalogue backing, 133596,
dated to 1941, now has rough company in the Bonhams Oyster Royal, whose case number the
catalogue published as 133***. The honest position is that the 2765 is a
late-1930s-into-the-war reference whose exact span nobody has published.


What is clear is the relationship to its automatic neighbours. The numerically adjacent 2764
The numerically adjacent ref. 2764 is automatic. Ref. 2765 is not. Their proximity and similar
is a Bubbleback proper: Cal. 620N, domed caseback, sub-seconds, "Super Precision" on the dial.
32mm tonneau outlines do not show that they share movements or caseback construction.
The 2765 sits one digit away with the same case diameter and an entirely different
architecture behind it. Rolex was allocating reference numbers by case and market position,
not by movement type, which is exactly why a list built from reference numbers alone gets the
family wrong.


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


Documentation is thin, and for a long time it looked thinner than it is. Three Antiquorum lots
Three Antiquorum lots span sales from 1995 to 2009. Bonhams accounts for five more watches
span fourteen years of sales, Milan in May 1995, Hong Kong in June 2001 and New York in
across seven appearances between 2019 and 2023. Two Bonhams watches were reoffered, so the ten
December 2009. Bonhams accounts for five more watches across seven appearances between
auction appearances represent eight watches rather than ten.
February 2019 and June 2023, six of them at Knightsbridge and one in an online New York sale
of a private Canadian collection. Below those sits a scatter of dealer listings that establish
variants but carry no catalogue authority.


Neither the start nor the end of the run is documented, but the case-number picture is no
Neither the start nor the end of the run is documented. The Antiquorum catalogues publish no
longer blank. The Antiquorum catalogues published no case numbers; the Bonhams ones do.
case numbers; several Bonhams records do.
Three sit close together, 90501 on the 1939-dated Oyster, 90751 on the Oyster Scientific and
Three sit close together, 90501 on the 1939-dated Oyster, 90751 on the Oyster Scientific and
90939 on the Oyster Gammeter, and a fourth sits far above them on the Oyster Royal, published
90939 on the Oyster Gammeter, and a fourth sits far above them on the Oyster Royal, published
only as 133***. Four numbers are a scatter rather than a range, and they cannot date the
only as 133***. Four numbers are a scatter rather than a range, and they cannot date the
reference on their own, but they are the first case-number evidence it has had. For a watch
reference on their own. They should not be turned into a production range.
made in reasonable quantity across at least half a decade the public record is still poor, and
the reason is probably that the 2765 spent the entire Bubbleback-collecting boom of the 1980s
and 1990s being catalogued as something else.


==Movement notes==
==Movement notes==
Line 146: Line 116:
straight-line lever and a Superbalance adjusted to six positions.
straight-line lever and a Superbalance adjusted to six positions.


Bonhams splits its five watches between two jewel counts and adds no ligne sizes. The Oyster
Bonhams splits its five watches between two jewel counts and gives no ligne sizes. The Oyster
Royal runs a 17-jewel manual wind with Rolex's patented Super Balance, the Oyster Gammeter a
Royal runs a 17-jewel manual wind with Rolex's patented Super Balance, the Oyster Gammeter a
17-jewel manual wind, the Oyster Scientific and the 1939 Oyster an 18-jewel manual wind timed
17-jewel manual wind, the Oyster Scientific and the 1939 Oyster an 18-jewel manual wind timed
Line 155: Line 125:
self-winding 2765.
self-winding 2765.


"Ultra Prima" is not a caliber. It is the top name in the grade hierarchy Aegler applied to
“Ultra Prima” is a movement grade, not a caliber. David Boettcher's history of Rolex and Aegler
the better movements it supplied to Rolex, running Prima, Extra Prima, Ultra Prima. David
movement grades dates Wilsdorf's registration of the name to 9 December 1930. Boettcher notes
Boettcher's research at vintagewatchstraps.com traces the first Prima markings to the 1920s
that the distinction between Extra Prima and Ultra Prima is unclear. The Milan 2765 is described
and dates Hans Wilsdorf's registration of "Ultra Prima" to 9 December 1930. What the grades
as Ultra Prima with 17 jewels.
actually bought is less settled than the names suggest. Boettcher finds the graded movements
otherwise identical to standard ones, which puts the difference in adjustment work, to poise
and isochronism, rather than in the design. He sees Prima on 15-jewel movements timed in six
positions, and both Extra Prima and Ultra Prima on 18-jewel movements, and says the gap
between the top two grades is not clear. The Milan lot sits outside that pattern: an Ultra
Prima with 17 jewels.


Neither the Antiquorum nor the Bonhams catalogues name a caliber number for the 2765. Dealer listings routinely
Neither Antiquorum nor Bonhams names a caliber. Secondary listings identify Cal. 700, but no
identify the movement as Cal. 700, an 18-jewel adjusted to six positions, which matches the
movement photograph with a visible caliber marking or Rolex technical document has been found.
New York 2009 lot's jewel count and position count exactly. That is not the same as
The attribution remains unverified.
confirmation. Until a movement photograph with a visible caliber marking or a Rolex parts
document surfaces, the ligne size and the grade are what the record supports. Cal. 700 stays
unverified.


==Dial map==
==Dial map==


The 2765 produced a wide dial range, and the catalogued examples barely repeat themselves.
The eight catalogued watches show several dial layouts. That variety documents watches as sold;
The three Antiquorum lots alone show three quite different watches.
it does not by itself prove factory delivery or a production sequence.


[[File:Ref 2765 dial-variant-silver-rose.webp|thumb|right|300px|alt=Rolex 2765 silvered and rose two-tone dial|Silvered and rose two-tone dial with printed Arabic numerals and burnished steel leaf hands, on the 10-ligne Ultra Prima example sold at Antiquorum Milan in May 1995.]]
[[File:Ref 2765 dial-variant-silver-rose.webp|thumb|right|300px|alt=Rolex 2765 silvered and rose two-tone dial|Silvered and rose two-tone dial with printed Arabic numerals and burnished steel leaf hands, on the 10-ligne Ultra Prima example sold at Antiquorum Milan in May 1995.]]
Line 183: Line 144:


The Milan 1995 dial is silver and rose-coloured, with printed Arabic numerals and indices and
The Milan 1995 dial is silver and rose-coloured, with printed Arabic numerals and indices and
burnished steel leaf hands, the most restrained of the three and the most obviously a dress
burnished steel leaf hands. The Hong Kong 2001 dial is bronze-coloured with mixed radium-coated Arabic and Roman
watch. The Hong Kong 2001 dial is bronze-coloured with mixed radium-coated Arabic and Roman
numerals, triangular and bâton indexes, and radium-coated "skeleton" hands; Antiquorum graded
numerals, triangular and bâton indexes, and radium-coated "skeleton" hands; Antiquorum graded
the dial 4-7-01 and the watch overall A (Good). The New York 2009 dial is copper-coloured
the dial 4-7-01 and the watch overall A (Good). The New York 2009 dial is copper-coloured
Line 200: Line 160:
rather than centre seconds.
rather than centre seconds.


Beyond the auction record, dealer listings add a two-tone silvered configuration with black
Secondary listings add other layouts, including a sector dial and a watch described as tropical,
baton markers and alternating Arabic numerals, a sector dial, and at least one tropical
but those records are leads rather than evidence of factory variants.
example from 1941 in the United Kingdom. Blued steel dagger hands with centre seconds recur
on the Scientific and Royal variants.


The dial designations are the reference's real signature. The same case appears marked Oyster
Antiquorum uses Oyster Chronometer and Oyster Chronomètre. Bonhams catalogues watches as Oyster
Chronometer, Oyster Chronomètre, Oyster Royal, Oyster Scientific, Oyster Precision and Ultra
Royal, Oyster Scientific, Oyster Gammeter and Observatory. Catalogue model fields are not always
Prima, and Bonhams adds two more names to the pile, cataloguing one example as Oyster Gammeter
literal dial transcriptions, so only wording visible in photographs should be treated as dial text.
and another simply as Observatory. Rolex was naming the watch after the grade of movement
Oyster Precision and Ultra Prima appear in secondary listings and remain lower-confidence additions.
inside it, which is why a single reference number can carry at least eight different lines of
dial text. The "Oyster Scientific"
marking is the same vocabulary as the salmon "Scientifical" dial Antiquorum documented on the
near-contemporary ref 1873 in 2024. Hodinkee's Bubbleback guide puts the word on a third
watch, a manual-wind flatback ref 3009 with a white enamel sector dial that it calls a Rolex
Scientific, which places the term across at least three manual Oysters of the period.


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


Two-body stainless steel, polished and brushed, tonneau-shaped, 32mm across, roughly 39mm
The catalogued watches have steel tonneau cases around 31–32mm. Antiquorum describes its Hong
lug-to-lug and about 11mm thick. Bonhams gives 32mm for four of its five examples and 31mm for
Kong example as a two-body case, polished and brushed, with a screw-down back and crown. That
the Oyster Scientific. Screwed-down caseback and screw-down crown, which is what
construction should not be generalized to every example. The crystal material is not stated.
earns the Oyster name. Smooth polished bezel. Acrylic crystal, as the era requires.


The caseback is the whole story. It is flat. Every listing that troubles to describe it says
Secondary listings call ref. 2765 a flat-back Oyster, and no auction description calls it a
so, several of them in the listing title, and neither the Antiquorum nor the Bonhams
Bubbleback or documents a self-winding movement. The manual movements are enough to reject the
descriptions mention a domed or bulged back on any example. Bonhams records a screw-down back
Bubbleback classification. The precise caseback profile still needs a clearly identified side
and crown on four of its five. A 2765 offered as a Bubbleback either
or rear photograph before it can be stated for every watch.
has the wrong caseback fitted or is being described by someone working from a reference list
rather than from the watch.


Stainless steel is the only case material documented. No gold, gold-shell or two-tone example
All eight catalogued watches are steel. That does not prove the reference was made only in steel.
appears in the record. With eight catalogued watches behind that statement rather than three
it carries more weight than it used to, though not enough to call the reference steel-only.


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


No original Rolex bracelet is documented on the reference. None of the three Antiquorum lots
No original-delivery Rolex bracelet is documented for the reference. Two Bonhams watches, the
was sold on one. Two of the Bonhams watches, the Oyster Royal and the 1939 Oyster, did come on
Oyster Royal and the 1939 Oyster, came on
steel link bracelets with folding clasps, but Bonhams calls both associated, which records
steel link bracelets with folding clasps, but Bonhams calls both associated, which records
what the watch wore into the saleroom rather than what left the factory with it. Signed
what the watch wore into the saleroom rather than what left the factory with it. The Hong Kong
hardware is not absent altogether: the Hong Kong 2001 example came on a stainless steel Rolex
2001 example came with a steel Rolex buckle and fitted box. No bracelet reference or end-link
buckle and with a fitted box, and Bonhams notes the cases of those same two watches as signed
number is documented.
Oyster Watch Co.


==Retailer variants==
==Retailer variants==
Line 248: Line 194:
[[File:Ref 2765 retailer-signature.webp|thumb|right|300px|alt=Murdock's Cape Town retailer signature on a Rolex 2765 dial|The Murdock's, Cape Town retailer signature sits below centre, under the Rolex Oyster Chronometre dial text.]]
[[File:Ref 2765 retailer-signature.webp|thumb|right|300px|alt=Murdock's Cape Town retailer signature on a Rolex 2765 dial|The Murdock's, Cape Town retailer signature sits below centre, under the Rolex Oyster Chronometre dial text.]]


One is documented so far: the New York 2009 example was retailed by Murdock's of Cape Town and
One is documented: the New York 2009 example was retailed by Murdock's of Cape Town and carries
carries the retailer's signature. None of the Bonhams lots records a retailer signature. Retailer-signed Rolex of this period is its own collecting
the retailer's signature. A single watch does not establish how widely Murdock's sold the reference.
category, and a South African signature is uncommon, but a single example establishes that
Murdock's carried the reference and nothing more.


==Auction record==
==Auction record==
Line 269: Line 213:
| Silver and rose, printed Arabic, leaf hands
| Silver and rose, printed Arabic, leaf hands
| 10′′′ Ultra Prima, 17j, 6 positions and temperatures
| 10′′′ Ultra Prima, 17j, 6 positions and temperatures
| ITL 2,990 (est. ITL 2,500–3,000), as printed
| Not recorded; catalogue scaling is ambiguous
|-
|-
| Antiquorum, Hong Kong
| Antiquorum, Hong Kong
Line 339: Line 283:
and November of the same year.
and November of the same year.


The Hong Kong 2001 lot remains the best-documented single example, and the money is the least
The Hong Kong 2001 lot came with a fitted box and a full Antiquorum condition grade of A (Good), case 4-6, movement 4-6* and
of it. It came with
a fitted box and a full Antiquorum condition grade of A (Good), case 4-6, movement 4-6* and
dial 4-7-01. It also came with a literature citation. Antiquorum noted that a similar watch is
dial 4-7-01. It also came with a literature citation. Antiquorum noted that a similar watch is
published in Osvaldo Patrizzi's ''Rolex, Collecting Wristwatches'' (Guido Mondani Editore,
published in Osvaldo Patrizzi's ''Rolex, Collecting Wristwatches'' (Guido Mondani Editore,
Genova, 1998) at page 278. That citation is the only published-book grounding to surface for this reference so far, and
Genova, 1998) at page 278. The citation says “a similar watch,” not ref. 2765 by number, and the
its wording is careful: the catalogue says "a similar watch", not this reference by number.
cited page has not been checked directly.


The New York 2009 result at USD 1,560 against a USD 1,500–2,500 estimate says something about
The Milan catalogue's lire figures have unclear scaling, so they are not reproduced as a sale
where the manual Oysters sat in the market at that point, landing at the bottom of the
result. The remaining prices span different dial conditions, accessories and sale formats and
estimate in a year when steel sports Rolex was already climbing hard. Milan 1995 is harder to
do not form a reliable price series.
read. The catalogue prints an estimate of ITL 2,500–3,000 against a sold price of ITL 2,990,
figures that cannot be taken at face value in 1995 lire and that the catalogue does not
scale. They are reproduced above exactly as printed. The Bonhams results a decade later run
from GBP 637.50 to GBP 4,062.50 inclusive of premium, a spread wide enough that no single
figure represents the reference.


== Related references ==
== Related references ==
Line 361: Line 298:
* [[Reference:2574|Oyster Royal 2574]] — pre-war manual Oyster, boy's size
* [[Reference:2574|Oyster Royal 2574]] — pre-war manual Oyster, boy's size
* [[Reference:1873|Oyster Royal 1873]] — manual flat-back Oyster, shares the "Scientifical" dial vocabulary
* [[Reference:1873|Oyster Royal 1873]] — manual flat-back Oyster, shares the "Scientifical" dial vocabulary
* [[Reference:2240|Bubbleback 2240]] — self-winding contemporary
* [[Reference:2240|Oyster Perpetual 2240]] — self-winding contemporary with provisional Bubbleback classification
* [[Reference:1858|Bubbleback 1858]] — the first Oyster Perpetual, 1933
* [[Reference:1858|Bubbleback 1858]] — the first Oyster Perpetual, 1933


Line 377: Line 314:
* [https://everywatch.com/rolex/precision/watch-2305652 "EveryWatch lot 2305652 - Rolex Precision 2765, steel, tropical dial, 1941, United Kingdom", EveryWatch]
* [https://everywatch.com/rolex/precision/watch-2305652 "EveryWatch lot 2305652 - Rolex Precision 2765, steel, tropical dial, 1941, United Kingdom", EveryWatch]
* [https://everywatch.com/rolex/2765/watch-9109166 "EveryWatch - Rolex Oyster Royal 2765, silver dial, 1940, United Kingdom", EveryWatch]
* [https://everywatch.com/rolex/2765/watch-9109166 "EveryWatch - Rolex Oyster Royal 2765, silver dial, 1940, United Kingdom", EveryWatch]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/25394/lot/50/rolex-a-stainless-steel-manual-wind-bracelet-watch-oyster-royal-ref-2765-circa-1940/ "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind bracelet watch, Oyster Royal, Ref: 2765, Circa 1940", Bonhams, London Knightsbridge, 2019-02-19, lot 50]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/25394/lot/50/rolex-a-stainless-steel-manual-wind-bracelet-watch-oyster-royal-ref-2765-circa-1940/ "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind bracelet watch, Oyster Royal, Ref: 2765, Circa 1940", Bonhams, 2019-02-19]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/25395/lot/74/rolex-a-stainless-steel-automatic-wristwatch-oyster-gammeter-ref-2765-circa-1940/ "Rolex ... Oyster Gammeter, Ref: 2765, Circa 1940", Bonhams, London Knightsbridge, 2019-05-21, lot 74]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/25395/lot/74/rolex-a-stainless-steel-automatic-wristwatch-oyster-gammeter-ref-2765-circa-1940/ "Rolex. A stainless steel automatic wristwatch, Oyster Gammeter, Ref: 2765, Circa 1940", Bonhams, 2019-05-21]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/25395/lot/75/rolex-a-stainless-steel-manual-wind-wristwatch-oyster-scientific-ref-2765-circa-1940/ "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind wristwatch, Oyster Scientific, Ref: 2765, Circa 1940", Bonhams, London Knightsbridge, 2019-05-21, lot 75]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/25395/lot/75/rolex-a-stainless-steel-manual-wind-wristwatch-oyster-scientific-ref-2765-circa-1940/ "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind wristwatch, Oyster Scientific, Ref: 2765, Circa 1940", Bonhams, 2019-05-21]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/25395/lot/88/rolex-a-stainless-steel-manual-wind-bracelet-watch-oyster-royal-ref-2765-circa-1940/ "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind bracelet watch, Oyster Royal, Ref: 2765, Circa 1940", Bonhams, London Knightsbridge, 2019-05-21, lot 88]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/25395/lot/88/rolex-a-stainless-steel-manual-wind-bracelet-watch-oyster-royal-ref-2765-circa-1940/ "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind bracelet watch, Oyster Royal, Ref: 2765, Circa 1940", Bonhams, 2019-05-21]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/25398/lot/37/rolex-a-stainless-steel-manual-wind-wristwatch-oyster-scientific-ref-2765-circa-1940/ "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind wristwatch, Oyster Scientific, Ref: 2765, Circa 1940", Bonhams, London Knightsbridge, 2019-11-19, lot 37]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/25398/lot/37/rolex-a-stainless-steel-manual-wind-wristwatch-oyster-scientific-ref-2765-circa-1940/ "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind wristwatch, Oyster Scientific, Ref: 2765, Circa 1940", Bonhams, 2019-11-19]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/27663/lot/27/rolex-a-stainless-steel-manual-wind-bracelet-watch-oyster-ref-2765-circa-1939/ "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind bracelet watch, Oyster, Ref: 2765, Circa 1939", Bonhams, London Knightsbridge, 2022-09-13, lot 27]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/27663/lot/27/rolex-a-stainless-steel-manual-wind-bracelet-watch-oyster-ref-2765-circa-1939/ "Rolex. A stainless steel manual wind bracelet watch, Oyster, Ref: 2765, Circa 1939", Bonhams, 2022-09-13]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/28398/lot/27/rolex-a-stainless-steel-manual-wind-wristwatch-observatory-ref-2765-c1942/ "ROLEX ... Observatory, Ref: 2765, c.1942", Bonhams, Watches: A Private Canadian Collection, Online New York, 2023-06-20/30, lot 27]
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/28398/lot/27/rolex-a-stainless-steel-manual-wind-wristwatch-observatory-ref-2765-c1942/ "ROLEX. A stainless steel manual wind wristwatch, Observatory, Ref: 2765, c.1942", Bonhams, 2023-06-30]
* "List of Bubbleback models (user w-v-m)", RolexForums
 
[[Category:Oyster]]
[[Category:Oyster]]
[[Category:References]]

Latest revision as of 22:43, 23 August 2026


Oyster → 2765

The 2765 is a manual-wind steel Oyster made around the late 1930s and early 1940s. It appears on some collector Bubbleback lists, but the auction record does not support that classification: the documented movements are manually wound, with no Perpetual rotor.

Auction catalogues apply several names to the reference, including Oyster Chronometer, Chronomètre, Oyster Royal, Oyster Scientific, Oyster Gammeter and Observatory. Some are visible on photographed dials; others are catalogue model labels and should not be read as confirmed dial signatures.

Rolex Oyster Chronometer 2765 retailed by Murdock's of Cape Town
Rolex Oyster Chronometer 2765 retailed by Murdock's of Cape Town, Antiquorum New York, December 2009

Core facts

detail value
reference 2765
family Oyster (manual-wind)
production no documented range; auction catalogues date individual examples from circa 1939 to circa 1942
case diameter 32mm
case construction steel tonneau; one Antiquorum example described as two-body; screw-down back and crown
caseback screw-down; flat profile reported in secondary listings, not established across the auction record
bezel smooth, polished
crystal material not established by the cited auction catalogues
crown screw-down
winding manual
movement 10 to 10½ lignes, rhodium-plated, 17 or 18 jewels, straight-line lever
movement grades documented Ultra Prima (6 positions); 17-jewel adjusted to 7 positions; 18-jewel
seconds centre seconds on some variants
case materials stainless steel on eight documented watches
catalogue designations Oyster Chronometer / Chronomètre, Oyster Royal, Oyster Scientific, Oyster Gammeter, Observatory; additional secondary-listing names remain unverified
retailer variants Murdock's, Cape Town

Where it sits in the line

Rolex continued making hand-wound Oysters after the Perpetual arrived. Hodinkee's Bubbleback collecting guide describes these parallel manual-wind watches as “flatbacks.” Ref. 2765 belongs to the manual branch: all three Antiquorum descriptions and the Bonhams catalogue texts specify manual winding.

Antiquorum dated two examples to the 1930s and one to the 1940s. Bonhams dates individual watches to circa 1939, circa 1940 and circa 1942. These estimates place the known watches near the turn of the decade but do not establish start and end years for the reference.

The numerically adjacent ref. 2764 is automatic. Ref. 2765 is not. Their proximity and similar 32mm tonneau outlines do not show that they share movements or caseback construction.

Production outline

Three Antiquorum lots span sales from 1995 to 2009. Bonhams accounts for five more watches across seven appearances between 2019 and 2023. Two Bonhams watches were reoffered, so the ten auction appearances represent eight watches rather than ten.

Neither the start nor the end of the run is documented. The Antiquorum catalogues publish no case numbers; several Bonhams records do. Three sit close together, 90501 on the 1939-dated Oyster, 90751 on the Oyster Scientific and 90939 on the Oyster Gammeter, and a fourth sits far above them on the Oyster Royal, published only as 133***. Four numbers are a scatter rather than a range, and they cannot date the reference on their own. They should not be turned into a production range.

Movement notes

Every documented 2765 is hand-wound. The Antiquorum lots describe movements of 10 to 10½ lignes, rhodium-plated, with a straight-line lever escapement, in three configurations.

The Milan 1995 example carried a 10-ligne Ultra Prima, 17 jewels, anchor escapement, monometallic balance with Breguet hairspring, regulated across six positions and temperatures. The Hong Kong 2001 example carried a 10½-ligne with 17 jewels, Rolex Superbalance and a self-compensating Breguet balance-spring, adjusted to seven positions. The New York 2009 example carried a 10½-ligne with 18 jewels, a straight-line lever and a Superbalance adjusted to six positions.

Bonhams splits its five watches between two jewel counts and gives no ligne sizes. The Oyster Royal runs a 17-jewel manual wind with Rolex's patented Super Balance, the Oyster Gammeter a 17-jewel manual wind, the Oyster Scientific and the 1939 Oyster an 18-jewel manual wind timed to six positions each, and the Observatory an 18-jewel manual-wind chronometer. One cataloguing slip is worth knowing about before searching that archive: Bonhams titled the Gammeter lot a stainless steel automatic wristwatch, while its own description of the same lot reads "17-jewel manual wind". The title is the error. Nothing in the record supports a self-winding 2765.

“Ultra Prima” is a movement grade, not a caliber. David Boettcher's history of Rolex and Aegler movement grades dates Wilsdorf's registration of the name to 9 December 1930. Boettcher notes that the distinction between Extra Prima and Ultra Prima is unclear. The Milan 2765 is described as Ultra Prima with 17 jewels.

Neither Antiquorum nor Bonhams names a caliber. Secondary listings identify Cal. 700, but no movement photograph with a visible caliber marking or Rolex technical document has been found. The attribution remains unverified.

Dial map

The eight catalogued watches show several dial layouts. That variety documents watches as sold; it does not by itself prove factory delivery or a production sequence.

Rolex 2765 silvered and rose two-tone dial
Silvered and rose two-tone dial with printed Arabic numerals and burnished steel leaf hands, on the 10-ligne Ultra Prima example sold at Antiquorum Milan in May 1995.
Rolex 2765 bronze dial with mixed Arabic and Roman numerals
Bronze-coloured dial with mixed radium Arabic and Roman numerals, bâton indexes and radium skeleton hands. Antiquorum Hong Kong, June 2001.

The Milan 1995 dial is silver and rose-coloured, with printed Arabic numerals and indices and burnished steel leaf hands. The Hong Kong 2001 dial is bronze-coloured with mixed radium-coated Arabic and Roman numerals, triangular and bâton indexes, and radium-coated "skeleton" hands; Antiquorum graded the dial 4-7-01 and the watch overall A (Good). The New York 2009 dial is copper-coloured with luminous Arabic numerals and an outer one-fifth-seconds track carrying five-minute Arabic markers, paired with luminous blued steel baton hands.

The Bonhams watches widen the range again. Its Oyster Royal is silvered, with luminous-filled Arabic numerals, an outer one-fifth-seconds track carrying Arabic five-minute markers, and blued steel Mercedes hands with luminous inserts. The Oyster Gammeter is two-tone salmon pink, with luminous baton hour markers, gilt inner Arabic quarters and blued steel pointed baton hands. The Oyster Scientific is two-tone silvered with black baton and Arabic markers and black leaf hands. The 1939 Oyster carries applied gilt Arabic numerals on silver, blued steel sword hands and a red centre seconds hand. The Observatory is the odd one out: two-tone silvered, luminous 1–12 Arabic numerals with a red 12–24 ring inside them, and subsidiary rather than centre seconds.

Secondary listings add other layouts, including a sector dial and a watch described as tropical, but those records are leads rather than evidence of factory variants.

Antiquorum uses Oyster Chronometer and Oyster Chronomètre. Bonhams catalogues watches as Oyster Royal, Oyster Scientific, Oyster Gammeter and Observatory. Catalogue model fields are not always literal dial transcriptions, so only wording visible in photographs should be treated as dial text. Oyster Precision and Ultra Prima appear in secondary listings and remain lower-confidence additions.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

The catalogued watches have steel tonneau cases around 31–32mm. Antiquorum describes its Hong Kong example as a two-body case, polished and brushed, with a screw-down back and crown. That construction should not be generalized to every example. The crystal material is not stated.

Secondary listings call ref. 2765 a flat-back Oyster, and no auction description calls it a Bubbleback or documents a self-winding movement. The manual movements are enough to reject the Bubbleback classification. The precise caseback profile still needs a clearly identified side or rear photograph before it can be stated for every watch.

All eight catalogued watches are steel. That does not prove the reference was made only in steel.

Bracelets, end links, and clasps

No original-delivery Rolex bracelet is documented for the reference. Two Bonhams watches, the Oyster Royal and the 1939 Oyster, came on steel link bracelets with folding clasps, but Bonhams calls both associated, which records what the watch wore into the saleroom rather than what left the factory with it. The Hong Kong 2001 example came with a steel Rolex buckle and fitted box. No bracelet reference or end-link number is documented.

Retailer variants

Murdock's Cape Town retailer signature on a Rolex 2765 dial
The Murdock's, Cape Town retailer signature sits below centre, under the Rolex Oyster Chronometre dial text.

One is documented: the New York 2009 example was retailed by Murdock's of Cape Town and carries the retailer's signature. A single watch does not establish how widely Murdock's sold the reference.

Auction record

Venue Date Lot Dial Movement Result
Antiquorum, Milan 1995-05-22 160 Silver and rose, printed Arabic, leaf hands 10′′′ Ultra Prima, 17j, 6 positions and temperatures Not recorded; catalogue scaling is ambiguous
Antiquorum, Hong Kong 2001-06-08 257 Bronze, mixed radium Arabic and Roman, skeleton hands 10½′′′, 17j, Superbalance, 7 positions HKD 23,000 (est. HKD 20,000–23,000)
Antiquorum, New York 2009-12-09 217 Copper, luminous Arabic, 1/5th-seconds track 10½′′′, 18j, straight-line lever, Superbalance, 6 positions USD 1,560 (est. USD 1,500–2,500)
Bonhams, London Knightsbridge 2019-02-19 50 Silvered, luminous Arabic, Mercedes hands (Oyster Royal, case 133***) 17j Super Balance, manual Unsold (est. GBP 500–700)
Bonhams, London Knightsbridge 2019-05-21 74 Two-tone salmon pink, luminous batons (Oyster Gammeter, case 90939) 17j, manual GBP 2,805 incl. premium
Bonhams, London Knightsbridge 2019-05-21 75 Two-tone silvered, black batons and Arabic (Oyster Scientific, case 90751) 18j, manual, 6 positions Unsold (est. GBP 1,200–1,800)
Bonhams, London Knightsbridge 2019-05-21 88 Silvered, luminous Arabic, Mercedes hands (Oyster Royal, case 133***) 17j Super Balance, manual GBP 637.50 incl. premium
Bonhams, London Knightsbridge 2019-11-19 37 Two-tone silvered (Oyster Scientific, case 90751, re-offered) 18j, manual, 6 positions GBP 4,062.50 incl. premium
Bonhams, London Knightsbridge 2022-09-13 27 Silvered, applied gilt Arabic, red centre seconds (Oyster, case 90501) 18j, manual, 6 positions GBP 2,550 incl. premium
Bonhams, Online New York 2023-06-20/30 27 Two-tone silvered, red 12–24 inner ring, subsidiary seconds (Observatory) 18j, manual, chronometer USD 3,840 incl. premium

Seven Bonhams appearances cover five watches: the Oyster Royal went unsold at Knightsbridge in February 2019 before selling there in May, and the Oyster Scientific did the same between May and November of the same year.

The Hong Kong 2001 lot came with a fitted box and a full Antiquorum condition grade of A (Good), case 4-6, movement 4-6* and dial 4-7-01. It also came with a literature citation. Antiquorum noted that a similar watch is published in Osvaldo Patrizzi's Rolex, Collecting Wristwatches (Guido Mondani Editore, Genova, 1998) at page 278. The citation says “a similar watch,” not ref. 2765 by number, and the cited page has not been checked directly.

The Milan catalogue's lire figures have unclear scaling, so they are not reproduced as a sale result. The remaining prices span different dial conditions, accessories and sale formats and do not form a reliable price series.

Related references

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

Sources

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