Particularly sought after are the selection of gilt brass and green enamel Rolex retailer’s window display stands c.1960.
They demonstrate the defining features of each model – the swoosh of an aeroplane as it flies across the globe (the GMT-Master equipped to show two time zones) or a desk calendar (for the Datejust, the first self-winding chronometer to display the date in a window on the dial).
Few survivors
For both dealers and collectors it is the perfect accessory to go with a watch of the same period.
Most were scrapped after retailers changed their window displays a year or two later, making some of them surprisingly hard to find – and expensive (see also ATG No 2385).
The highest price in this category appears to be the massive HK$190,000 (£19,000) bid at Sotheby’s Hong Kong (25% buyer’s premium) in November 2019 for the rare ‘Trident Fish Bowl’ made to promote the Rolex Oyster Perpetual ref 313.
Another of these (there are two models) was included in the Rolex-themed Revolution sale at Antiquorum New York in 2008 – one of the first auctions to explore the market for this kind of ‘point of sale’ memorabilia.
A particularly comprehensive collection of Rolex accessories such as product booklets, paperweights, ashtrays, case-opening tools and window displays was offered (without reserve) by Sotheby’s Hong Kong on June 2.
A selection of the brass and green display stands from that auction appears in this article.
