First Batch
Early Chronographs (pre-Daytona) Monoblocco 3525 — First Batch
1939
Earliest examples, with case and reference numbers stamped on the case back rather than between the lugs; one is fitted with an original “Brevet” Oyster crown, another with a “Patent Oyster” crown.
Serial batches around 40'xxx–50'xxx, mid-100'000 and mid-300'000 (Phillips). Patrizzi and Cappelletti estimate about 200 steel examples in total (cited by HODINKEE).
No verified image of this watch yet
Identifying details
- Chronograph
Stopwatch function with registers.
- Tachymeter scale on dial
Tachymeter track printed on the dial.
- “Monoblocco” case
Case and machined from one block of metal, closed only by a screw-down back.
Variants of 3525
Reference overview →| Variant | Production |
|---|---|
| First BatchCurrent | 1939 |
| Second Batch | c. 1942 |
| Second Batch · Prisoner of War | c. 1942 |
| Third (Post-War) Batch | c. 1945–? |
Case & movement
- Reference
- 3525
- Production
- 1939
- Case serials
- c. 40,000–50,000
- Case diameter
- 35 mm
- Movement
- Manual winding
- Date
- No
- Caliber
- Valjoux 23
Dial, bezel & hands
Unknown attributes are left out rather than guessed.
Movement
Valjoux 23
13-ligne hand-wound column-wheel chronograph, the two-register base of Rolex’s early chronographs including the 3484, 3525 and 4500.