A Slice of Canadiana: Eatons ¼ Century Club
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with a collector (who prefers to remain anonymous) in my city of Toronto, and one of the watches in his impressive collection was the “Eatons ¼ Century Club”made by Rolex - it was passed down to him by a relative of his sometime in the early 80s, which has been sitting in his safe until recently. We started talking about it, and it really got me thinking about Canada’s often-overlooked contributions in the watch industry on a larger scale. Ironically, he was more interested in the Speedmaster ref.145.022 I was wearing that day.
The Canadian watch market, while not as globally renowned as Switzerland's or Japan's, played a crucial role in the evolution of timepieces, particularly during the mid-20th century. While the words Canada and Rolex are not always synonymous these days, they did make a handful of watches both under the Rolex name and other labels. Many of these watches were intended for military use, or in this case, employee appreciation.
Rolex introduced several models tailored specifically for the Canadian market. Canada served as a testing ground for Rolex's debut of manual-wind watches featuring movements from Fabrique d’Horlogerie de Fontainemelon (FHF), notably the renowned Rolex Caliber ‘59’, deviating from their traditional partnership with Aegler and their agreement with Gruen. Predominantly crafted from gold-filled or stainless steel, they were predominantly distributed to Canadian soldiers during the Second World War, bearing diverse model names such as Corvette, Majestic, Seaforth, and Victory. They also had references released for the Canadian market included variations on existing designs or experimental new models, such as the Air-King Date, Golden Egg, Oyster Air-Lion, Explorer-Date, and The King-of-Wings.
1940s Rolex King-of-Wings Reference 4125. Image credit: Hodinkee.
Canadian Rolex watches differ slightly from those in other markets due to the country’s importation laws. Like the United States, Canada taxed precious metals. To circumvent these taxes, Rolex arranged for the production of cases within Canada, partnering with case manufacturers such as ID,DiVincenzo & Arienti, and Pioneer. Additionally, for certain Oyster waterproof watches, a modified ebauche was used and sold under the Rolex name.
These watches were created specifically for the Canadian company and were never publicly sold. Instead, it was awarded to employees of the T. Eaton Company, a prominent Canadian department store chain, who had achieved 25 years of service. Origins and History The T. Eaton Company, founded in 1869 by Timothy Eaton, was a retail giant in Canada. At its peak, the company operated a vast network of stores across the country and even ventured into the global market. To recognize and reward the dedication of its long-serving employees, Eatons collaborated with Rolex to create a unique timepiece - the Eatons Quarter Century Club watch. It was presented for service to Eatons from 1931-1956. The partnership between Eatons and Rolex dates back to the early 20th century. Eatons also had its own in-house watch brand, Solar, which was a collaboration between them and Rolex. Eaton’s introduced a series of watches under the “Solar Aqua” line. The term “Aqua” was a nod to Rolex's trademark Oyster brand. It's worth noting for collectors to distinguish that watches labeled as “Solar” without “Aqua” do not originate from Rolex.
The watches are rare in the fact that it is perhaps the only a few instances were Rolex allowed their watches to be rebranded with another companies name and certainly the only one I know of in the post war era. This case houses the calibre 710 and is a solid 14 karat gold Oyster, reference 6422, case engraved on the back (Remind me how I forgot to take a photo of it again?) with the delightful rolling script associated with the Eatons presentations. Unlike the typical double-signed Rolex watches, these pieces bear only the retailer's name, Eaton, alongside the distinctive "1/4 CENTURY CLUB" designation, presented with applied letters on the dial.
Engraved caseback of the Eatons ¼ Century Club. Image credit: Loupe This.
The Canadian watch market, with its unique collaborations and rare timepieces, remains an underexplored territory. The rich history and distinctive models like the Eaton's ¼ Century Club watch highlight the need for greater attention and exploration of this market. It is high time the Canadian watch market received the recognition it deserves.
