I · The Instrument/II · The Design/III · The Collector's Piece/IV · Acquisition
Room I · The Instrument
The tool Rolex built to keep its most famous promise
In 1926 Rolex sealed a watch against water and dust for the first time and called it the Oyster. The following year the swimmer Mercedes Gleitze crossed the English Channel with an Oyster around her neck, and the waterproof watch became part of Rolex's identity. Rolex knew a claim of waterproofness was only worth as much as the proof behind it. This is that proof.
The Étanchéiscope is the instrument Rolex built to test the Oyster case, the tool that stood on the bench in Rolex service centres and at authorised watchmakers, deciding whether a case was truly sealed before it went back on a customer's wrist.
The Étanchéiscope is the instrument Rolex built to test the Oyster case, the tool that stood on the bench in Rolex service centres and at authorised watchmakers, deciding whether a case was truly sealed before it went back on a customer's wrist.
Room II · The Design
Green hammertone, signed gauge, glass chamber
The body is cast metal finished in Rolex's distinctive green hammertone crackle enamel, the top flange cast in relief with ROLEX OYSTER PATENT. Above it rises a tall glass chamber, and crowning the whole instrument is a pressure gauge with a white dial signed ROLEX beneath the coronet, marked ÉTANCHÉISCOPE and graduated in centimetres of mercury. Two levers work the pump, and a knurled clamp on the rising spindle holds the watch under test.
The method is beautifully direct. The glass chamber is filled with distilled water and the watch suspended inside. The lever draws a vacuum, and the gauge shows the level of that vacuum. If the case is perfectly sealed, nothing happens. If it is not, air trapped inside is pulled out through the tiniest gap and rises through the water as a telltale stream of bubbles, showing the watchmaker exactly where the case is failing.
The method is beautifully direct. The glass chamber is filled with distilled water and the watch suspended inside. The lever draws a vacuum, and the gauge shows the level of that vacuum. If the case is perfectly sealed, nothing happens. If it is not, air trapped inside is pulled out through the tiniest gap and rises through the water as a telltale stream of bubbles, showing the watchmaker exactly where the case is failing.
Room III · The Collector's Piece
Complete, handsome, and still holding a vacuum
Étanchéiscopes come up from time to time, but most have been retired for decades and show it: untested, in need of service, or with a chamber gone cloudy and crazed. A complete, handsome example that still performs its one job is a different thing entirely, and a far scarcer one.
It belongs with a serious Rolex collector, with a watchmaker who would appreciate having the original factory instrument on the bench, or simply with anyone who wants a genuine, signed piece of Oyster history to display.
It belongs with a serious Rolex collector, with a watchmaker who would appreciate having the original factory instrument on the bench, or simply with anyone who wants a genuine, signed piece of Oyster history to display.
Body
Excellent
Green hammertone crackle enamel remarkably well preserved. Even colour throughout with only light honest rub-through around the front lever slot and the raised boss. No active rust or flaking.
Gauge
Excellent
Signed Rolex dial clean and fully legible. Crystal intact and clear. Needle responsive and resting correctly.
Glass Chamberone honest fault
Very Good
Sound and clear. No cracks, chips or hairlines. Light internal patina low down, consistent with age and use.
Mechanism
Excellent
Fully functional. Both levers move freely; the pump draws and holds a vacuum.
Completenessone honest fault
Very Good
Complete with both operating levers and the knurled specimen clamp. No box or papers.
- Maker
- Rolex
- Model
- Oyster Patent Étanchéiscope
- Reference
- 1000
- Function
- Oyster case waterproofness tester (vacuum bubble test)
- Gauge
- Signed Rolex, graduated in cm Hg (0 to -76)
- Body
- Cast metal, green hammertone crackle enamel
- Chamber
- Glass
- Markings
- ROLEX OYSTER PATENT (cast base); gauge signed ROLEX / ÉTANCHÉISCOPE / cm Hg / Swiss Made
- Country
- Switzerland
- Era
- Mid-century, circa 1950s to 1960s
- Approx. dimensions
- Base 18.5 cm, height 35 to 37 cm
- Condition
- Excellent, fully functional
The Estate Collection
Room IV · Acquisition
€3.450
We'd love to discuss this piece with you.
Rolex
€3.450
Enquiry
Rolex Étanchéiscope, Ref. 1000
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