Notes: The Rolex Company developed the Rolex Commander 2784 to be a highly durable and precise timepiece for the adventurous at heart.

Mechanism: Also known as the FF30. This is a Rolex modified ebauche movement made by Fontmelon (FHF). Likely only used in Rolex models for the Canadian market ca. 1935-1945 variants with sub- and sweep second signed with 59. Data 10.5''', Dm= 23.3mm, Do= 23.7mm; H= 4.2mm; 15 jewels; f = 18000 A/h; power reserve 40h; Balance staff U1317; Stem W1110; Mainspring / battery: Zf1389, 1.70 x 9.0 x 0.10 x 290mm; Hands: 1.40 x 0.70mm

Family Notes: The Rolex Canadian market Oyster watches date back to the late 1930’s and are some of the most affordable vintage Rolex watches available on the used watch market today. They differ from Swiss marketed Rolex’s in that they used a Rolex modified ebauche movement made by Fontmelon, their caliber FF30 subsequently renamed the Rolex caliber 59. The movements were stamped Rolex Geneva on the top plate and were not engraved or stamped Rolex on the bridge. On some variations of the movement, the bridges were engraved with the name Oyster Watch Ltd.

The various models marketed included names such as Oyster Centregraph, Oyster Lipton, Oyster Junior Sport, Oyster Raleigh, Oyster Commander, Oyster Recorda, Oyster Edison, Oyster Grenfell, Oyster Standard and Oyster Shipmate. These watches were most frequently sold in gold-filled and stainless steel Oyster cases. These watches are frequently seen with 24-hour military dials and as such, many were given as gifts to soldiers departing for active service in Europe during World War 2. Many of the watches returning to Canada came back with the serviceman’s registration numbers engraved on the rear of the case back.

Type: The Oyster Commander forms part of a small group of vintage Rolex Oysters, all from the late 1930s and early 1940s, that were intended originally for sale in the Canadian market. These include the Oyster Centregraph, Oyster Lipton, Oyster Raleigh and the Oyster Aqua. We have never read an entirely plausible explanation for why these Canadian models exist, but it seems that somehow, this matter is linked to the fact that Rolex watches were not offered in the USA at this time as part of a complex legal agreement between the Jean Aegler company in Switzerland, which manufactured almost all early Rolex movements, Rolex, which sold its products in Britain, Europe and the British colonial countries, and Gruen, which also bought movements from Aegler and sold them in the USA.