Exclusive Timepieces 7 –⁠ 8 December 2019 | Monaco

Auction Details

A wide selection of very fine vintage timepieces, property of various prominent collectors will be presented in this sale. Including a fine selection of Longines Chronograph coming from one of the most important collections worldwide.

34 Rolex Very Rare and Attractive Oyster Perpetual Automatic Wristwatch in Steel and Pink Gold, Reference 5028, With Centre Seconds, Retailed by Cuervo Y Sobrinos

Estimate: € 10,000 –⁠ 20,000

Sold € 13,000

Model: Oyster Perpetual
Material: Stainless Steel
Reference N°: 5028
Year: 1945
Case N°: 391657
Caliber: 10 1/2″
Movement type: Automatic
Bracelet: Steel and Pink Gold
Dimensions: 36 mm
Signed: Dial, case and movement

The principles on which Rolex was and is still based today were those of research, experimentation, innovation and cutting-edge tests with scientific research, since Wilsdorf immediately realized that watches would become the future of the industry. So, in 1926, he gave birth to the first totally waterproof case, named Oyster. Only 5 years later the company introduced the world’s first self-winding mechanism, a totally new era of convenience and functionality. From that moment on these two innovations were at the basis of basically al Rolex’s creation, such as the present example of reference 5028. This reference is very popular among collectors due to its unusually large size for the time and for this reason also known as the “Big bubble” or “Ovettone”. The present watch is very beautiful thanks to its stainless steel and pink gold Oyster riveted bracelet in nice conditions and nowadays difficult to find. The case is in stainless steel and is surprising for the conditions of both case back and bezel. The dial has aged heavenly with applied triangle pink gold numerals with luminous dots and dauphine hands and is still maintaining clear texts. Of them, the most important to be underlined is for sure the signature “Cuervos y Sobrinos”. Think about a shop in L’Havana where, during the first half of the XXth century, important characters such as Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, Clark Gable, Eleanora Duse and Pablo Neruda used to spend some time and stop by. That is Curervos y Sobrinos, which opened in the capital of Cuba in 1882 thanks to Don Ramon Cuervo which earned its place as the most successful jeweller and watch retailer in the Latin’s world. The name Cuervos y Sobrinos literally means Cuervo and Niece, as the skills and the passion for commerce have been handed down through the generations of the family. These skills were immediately noticed by various watch companies such as Rolex which began to produce pieces specifically for the Cuban store with the signature Cuervos y Sobrinos on the dial.