Timeline / The first waterproof wristwatch
The first waterproof wristwatch
Rolex closed the last opening in the watch case with a crown that screws down onto the case, and called the result the Oyster.
- The need
- Dust and water got in through the case back, the glass and, above all, the winding crown.
- Made by
- Rolex, under Hans Wilsdorf. The screw-down crown was patented in 1925 by Paul Perregaux and Georges Perret of La Chaux-de-Fonds; Wilsdorf bought the rights in July 1926 and his engineers redesigned it.
- What was new
- A crown that screws down onto a threaded tube, with a clutch so the watch can still be wound, on a case with a screwed back and bezel: sealed at every opening.
- Worth knowing
- In October 1927 the swimmer Mercedes Gleitze wore an Oyster on a Channel swim, and Rolex bought the front page of the Daily Mail to say so. Demonstrating a watch in public rather than describing it starts here.
Historian’s noteNot the first waterproof watch: François Borgel patented a screw case in 1891 and Tavannes sold a Submarine from 1915. The patent Rolex bought did not work as filed. The defensible claim is the first effective and commercially successful waterproof wristwatch.
SourcesRolex
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