Rolex Oyster Perpetual 4487

The Rolex Oyster Perpetual ref. 4487 is a rare vintage timepiece produced during the late 1930s and early 1940s, at a pivotal time in Rolex’s development of waterproof, automatic wristwatches. It features a compact 24mm case made from stainless steel or gold, incorporating the brand’s patented Oyster architecture with a screw-down crown and caseback, combined with a domed acrylic crystal. The movement housed in this reference was likely one of Rolex’s early rotor-based automatic calibers, pre-dating the mass production of the Perpetual rotor, with an estimated 36-hour power reserve. Dial options were understated, often silver or cream in tone, featuring sub-seconds at 6 o’clock, applied numerals or indices, and leaf or pencil hands, frequently treated with radium lume.