Instead of developing their own movement Rolex chose to use the Valjoux movement. It was available in three sizes and they were all simple one button chronographs. These allowed the user to time one continuous event.
This one button chronograph was popular but the more it was used the more obvious its limitations were. Customers demanded the ability to stop the watch intermittently which was of course impossible without resetting the time. It was not until the late 1930′s that anything changed with the arrival of the two button chronograph. This was a major breakthrough and now allowed people to stop the watch to take necessary breaks and than restart it on the same time as when they left off. A football referee could stop the watch each time a ball went out an then get an accurate 45 minutes play.
At the end of the 1930′s the “Zerograph” was produced in very limited quantities. The watch model 3462 marked an important turning point for Rolex as it was the first watch to feature the Oyster crown and is now extremely sort after.
The first true Oyster chronograph was the model 4500, which never sold in huge quantities as it was released during World War II. The 6232 and the 3668 models followed but proved just as unpopular. Both new models used the 13″ Valjoux movement and had just a thirty minute register. While Rolex in 1942 had introduced an hour recorder it was a snap on back it would be another seven years before the Oyster case and the three button chronograph would be brought together in the form of the 5034. During the next fifteen years the 5034 changed into the 6034, which then became the 6234. This in turn became the 6238 and then finally evolved into the 6239.
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