Rolex Reference 2508 | A stainless steel antimagnetic chronograph wristwatch, Circa 1946 | 勞力士 | "型號2508 | 精鋼防磁計時腕錶，約1946年製"
Rolex
Reference 2508
A stainless steel antimagnetic chronograph wristwatch, Circa 1946
勞力士
型號2508
精鋼防磁計時腕錶，約1946年製
Dial: silvered
Calibre: cal. Valjoux 22 mechanical, 17 jewels
Case: stainless steel, snap on case back
Case number: 512'200
Closure: brown unsigned alligator strap and stainless steel buckle
Size: 35 mm diameter
Signed: case, dial and movement
Accessories: none
Founded in 1905, in London, by Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis, Rolex then was not known for its immensely popular tool watches that we enjoy wearing today. The Submariner collection was not even founded until half a century later, followed by other collections such as the GMT-Master, Daytona and Day-Date. What sparked the legendary status of Rolex in the field of sport watches was the vintage reference 2508 founded in the 1930s and is seen as one of the finest chronographs ever made.
As Rolex’s first chronograph wristwatch to feature two subsidiary registers on the dial accompanied with two pushers on the case for start, stop and reset purposes, the reference 2508 is seen sporting a much larger case than other watches at the time. Today, watch aficionados have identified the reference 2508 housed in two types of cases, an early oversized case of 37.2 mm with olive-shaped pushers and a later 35.2 mm case with rectangular pushers that are both very popular and infrequent to appear in the secondary market. Available in various types of dial materials and configurations as shown in forthcoming examples, the reference 2508 represents the pinnacle of Rolex chronographs in terms of rarity, quality, and sheer beauty.
