In the watch industry, when it comes to “popular,” it is always inevitable to put it in quotation marks. For example, in recent years, tourbillons have become “popular,” and watch manufacturers don’t know what to do to make tourbillons; clock editors can’t think of a topic to write about, so they write about tourbillons; customers buy tourbillons when they can’t afford other watches—but in terms of production, tourbillon watches actually make up a very small portion of the overall watch market, and although they are “popular,” the product itself is by no means widely accepted.
Any product that can be “popular” is either a new thing that fades quickly after brief excitement or a classic that never goes out of style. Although I am not an expert on the history of watches, I can tell that gold watches do not fall into the former category. From my personal experience at auctions, the earliest gold watches date back to the forties of the last century, when men’s watches were gradually becoming finalized and their contemporary characteristics started to be seen.
At that time, many manufacturers made intermittent gold watches, among which the most influential and productive were Rolex’s Ref. 2940 small three-hand watch and Ref. 3372 large three-hand watch. They feature Rolex’s signature “Oyster” case and “Bubble Back” case back, which, together with the gold design that was later dubbed the “Rolesor” by the factory, makes them stand out as classics. It is likely that it is the efforts of Rolex that have made the gold watch so durable.
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