I · The Dealer Clock/II · The Design/III · The Collector's Piece/IV · Acquisition
Room I · The Dealer Clock
Made for the counter, never for sale
Through the 1970s and 1980s Rolex supplied its authorised retailers with a small number of desk clocks to sit on the counter beside the watches: a quiet piece of theatre in gilt and glass that told a customer, before a word was spoken, exactly whose window they were standing in.
This is one of those clocks. A genuine Rolex concessionaire piece, Reference 455, individually numbered on the caseband as No. 1212, dating from circa 1985. It is not a novelty or a tribute. It is a genuine Rolex product, and it survives complete and in working order.
This is one of those clocks. A genuine Rolex concessionaire piece, Reference 455, individually numbered on the caseband as No. 1212, dating from circa 1985. It is not a novelty or a tribute. It is a genuine Rolex product, and it survives complete and in working order.
Room II · The Design
Every Rolex cue, carried from wrist to desk
The bezel is the coin-edge fluting of a Datejust. The dial and its surround wear the warm brown root figuring of the tobacco 'wood' dials Rolex used on its gold GMT-Masters. A cyclops lens sits over the date at three o'clock. The hands are the Mercedes set from the sports watches, the markers applied and luminous, and the dial is signed in gilt: ROLEX, QUARTZ, TIME TO THE SECOND.
The case is a tapering drum of reeded gold-plated brass, heavy in the hand and made to catch the light. Behind the dial is a Swiss quartz clock calibre with a sweeping centre-seconds hand and date. Dial, case and movement are all Rolex-signed.
The case is a tapering drum of reeded gold-plated brass, heavy in the hand and made to catch the light. Behind the dial is a Swiss quartz clock calibre with a sweeping centre-seconds hand and date. Dial, case and movement are all Rolex-signed.
Room III · The Collector's Piece
From showroom to shelf
These clocks were made for counters, handled daily, and most were thrown away when a showroom was refitted. To find one whole, running, with its wood dial clean and its cyclops intact, is uncommon.
On a desk it does something a watch cannot. It carries the whole visual language of Rolex at a scale you can read across a room, and it comes from the same idea Rolex still returns to today: the gilt desk clock with the fluted bezel and the cyclops date. This is the vintage original of that idea, from the era when these were made for the people who sold the watches rather than the people who bought them.
On a desk it does something a watch cannot. It carries the whole visual language of Rolex at a scale you can read across a room, and it comes from the same idea Rolex still returns to today: the gilt desk clock with the fluted bezel and the cyclops date. This is the vintage original of that idea, from the era when these were made for the people who sold the watches rather than the people who bought them.
Caseone honest fault
Very Good
Gold-plated brass, bright and presentable; reeded band and coin-edge bezel with only minor handling marks consistent with age.
Dial
Excellent
Wood-effect root dial clean and even; gilt ROLEX / QUARTZ / TIME TO THE SECOND printing crisp; applied luminous markers intact.
Movementone honest fault
Very Good
Swiss quartz, centre-seconds with date; running.
Crystal
Excellent
Domed crystal with cyclops magnifier, clear; no chips or cracks noted.
Settingone honest fault
Very Good
Set and adjusted from the movement (no crown); STOP hack lever and fine regulator present.
Accessories
No box or papers.
- Maker
- Rolex
- Model
- 'Time to the Second' desk clock, Reference 455 (No. 1212)
- Circa
- 1985
- Case
- Gilt brass (gold-plated), tapered reeded drum with coin-edge bezel
- Diameter
- 119 mm (height approx. 95 mm)
- Dial
- Wood-effect / root, gilt signed, applied luminous markers, Mercedes hands
- Movement
- Swiss quartz, centre-seconds and date (catalogued as Cal. 8035)
- Functions
- Hours, minutes, sweep centre-seconds, date with cyclops
- Crystal
- Domed acrylic with cyclops magnifier
- Country
- Switzerland
- Signed
- Dial, case and movement
The Estate Collection
Room IV · Acquisition
€15.500
We'd love to discuss this piece with you.
Rolex
€15.500
Enquiry
Rolex Desk Clock, Ref. 455, c.1985
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