A "new old stock' solid fourteen carat yellow gold, automatic, Rolex Oyster Perpetual watch. This reference 1005 is a rare example of a watch that was given as a presentation piece for, in this case, twenty eight years of continual service. The individual worked for a company that started life as the Kewanee Oil Company. These watches are a non-date version of the reference 1500, and are called "OP" for short.
The W.W. Smith Charitable Trust was the forerunner of Kewanee Oil and was founded in 1871 by Col. Joseph D. Potts who, with five partners associated with the Pennsylvania Railroad, founded the 'Enterprise Transit Company'. This company was initially involved in oil transport and later concentrated on exploration and production. William Wikoff Smith, the man who established the trust, was Potts’ great-grandson and joined the company after World War II. According to the history, the board of directors of Enterprise Transit met “in a town called Kewanee” in November 1908 and “created the Kewanee Oil and Gas Company to conduct its oil and gas operations, primarily in the state of Illinois.”
According to the account, the name “Kewanee,” means “prairie hen” in Winnebago, the language of the Indians once indigenous to that area.”.In 1966, Kewanee Oil Company of Bryn Mawr, Pa., merged with Harshaw Chemical Co.. In turn, Kewanee-Harshaw was acquired by the Gulf Oil Corp. in 1977.
An extract from the New York Times, in 1976 noted;
"The Gulf Oil Corporation of Pittsburgh announced yesterday that its board and the hoard of Kewanee Industries of Bryn May..r, Pa., had approved a merger agreement calling for Gulf Oil'Oil purchase of 9,570,000 shares of Kewanee stock at $46 a share—a total of about $440.2 million.
Kewnee manufactures a variety of specialty and industrial chemicals in addition to its activities as an oil and gas producer. It produces about 20,000 barrels of crude oil and 70 million cubic feet of natural gas a day.
In 1976, Kewanee earned 535.4 million, or 43.70 a share, on sales of 5430 million. Gulf Oil said that the merger was expected to take place upon approval by Kewanee stockholders at a special meeting later this year and completion of necessary legal steps."
Moving back to the watch itself. The benefit of not having a date window at the three o'clock position, and the accompanying cyclops, is a much cleaner and more elegant watch than its "Date" relative. The movement inside is the classic automatic movement from the period. The caliber 1530 movement was launched by Rolex in 1957, and was a line in the sand for the watch maker. They were the first movements to be fully made in house. This is one of the earlier generation of the movement being only seventeen jeweled, but features the upgraded 'half moon' rotor, as opposed to the early butterfly versions. They went on to make both a twenty five and twenty six jeweled examples. These movements were regarded as dependable workhorses by the brand and were fitted to early Submariner and other models, such as the Air King.
The case back features an original presentation to a Mr. H.Lee in 1975 for twenty eight years service to the Harshaw Division of Kewanee. The case also features the 14K gold mark crisp and shape on the inside lug, with a control mark on the other. The case is presented in superb, very unworn condition, and unpolished. Even the hand engraved personalisation remains very sharp and crisp with a great patina. There is no comparison to the colour of old gold.
The dial is a gorgeous, semi-gloss, silver sunburst brushing with applied gold, long, coffin-shaped markers with angled detailing. The printing on the dial is all black, including the minute track around the dial’s outer edge. The dial is signed "T Swiss T" at the bottom and very appealing, simple serif font "Rolex" and "Oyster Perpetual" below the applied coronet. There is tritium luminous material applied to the dial, and in the center of the original classic baton hands. All of which is present and has turned into a soft, handsome latté colour. The dial is all original, and in perfect condition throughout. It all responds evenly, and consistently under UV light.
This watch represents an interesting part of the US oil company history as the likes of Gulf expanded their domestic operations. Also, these "OP" thirty four millimeter cases in solid gold are quite rare. This watch also comes on presumably its original Rolex stamped lizard band with large and rare coronet buckle. This is an exceptionally rare opportunity to own a complete, original and unworn very handsome Rolex watch now over fifty years old!
