Rolex oyster perpetual superlative chronometer officially certified cosmograph precio

History of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual

In 1926, Rolex’s founder, Hans Wilsdorf, invented the world’s first waterproof wristwatch. He called it the Oyster. The hermetically sealed Rolex Oyster watch featured a patented system that brought together a screw-down bezel, caseback and winding crown.

In 1931, Rolex unveiled the first self-winding system for a wristwatch equipped with a free rotor named the Perpetual rotor. The rotor oscillates freely in both directions thanks to the natural motions of the wearer’s wrist, thus constantly winding the watch. Therefore, Oyster Perpetual simply means an automatic water-resistant Rolex watch.

The combination of the waterproof Oyster case and the automatic Perpetual movement made way for the now-iconic Rolex Oyster Perpetual watches. The earliest versions of vintage Rolex Oyster Perpetual watches picked up the nickname “Bubbleback” due to their bulbous casebacks to accommodate the thick rotor.

Over the following decades, Rolex used the waterproof and automatic Oyster Perpetual as the basis of most of its watches, but added a variety of other functions and design touches to create entirely new models. The Oyster Perpetual Datejust featured a date window at 3 o’clock while the Oyster Perpetual Day-Date included both a date window and day window. In the 1950s, Rolex unveiled a slew of tool watches including the Oyster Perpetual Explorer for adventurers, the Oyster Perpetual Submariner for divers, the Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master for pilots and the Oyster Perpetual Milgauss for scientists.

By the late 1960s, Rolex released the first Submariner with a date window, complete with the text “Oyster Perpetual Date” on the dial. Modern Rolex sports watches with date windows, such as the Submariner Date, GMT-Master II, Explorer II, Yacht-Master, and Sea-Dweller will all have “Oyster Perpetual Date” on the dial. However, this is not to be confused with the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date watch model, which is similar to the Datejust—the biggest difference being its smaller case size.

Although Rolex developed the Oyster Perpetual range into a vast assortment of famous watches equipped with various mechanical complications and design features, the brand never abandoned the Oyster Perpetual base model. In 2015, Rolex introduced the largest version yet with the Oyster Perpetual 39.

Rolex Oyster Perpetual

Features and

Maintenance

While there are plenty of old Rolex Oyster Perpetual watches in gold, modern versions are exclusively made in stainless steel. Current Oyster Perpetual watches share the following design traits:

Round stainless steel Oyster cases water-resistant to 100 meters

Time-only dials with three hands at center

Stainless steel Oyster bracelets

Automatic movements

Although the watches themselves are the simplest Rolex models, the brand does offer many dial colors within the collection, ranging from black and white to vibrant red grape and blue.

Rolex makes both men’s Rolex Oyster Perpetual and women’s Oyster Perpetual watches, currently available in five different sizes:

• Oyster Perpetual 39 ref. 114300 (Caliber 3132)
• Oyster Perpetual 36 ref. 116000 (Caliber 3130)
• Oyster Perpetual 34 ref. 114200 (Caliber 3130)
• Oyster Perpetual 31 ref. 177200 (Caliber 2231)
• Oyster Perpetual 26 ref. 176200 (Caliber 2231)

Regardless of the specific caliber, all Oyster Perpetual watches run on automatic movements with a power reserve of about 48 hours.

In 2015, the company redefined its Superlative Chronometer certification whereby all Rolex watches, including Oyster Perpetual, boast an accuracy rating of −2/+2 seconds per day.

As a watch that’s rated to be water-resistant to 100 meters deep, it’s safe to take a modern used Oyster Perpetual watch swimming as long as the winding crown is safely screwed into the case. However, vintage Oyster Perpetual watches may no longer be water-resistant, therefore it is not recommended to get them wet.