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Four Score and Seven Years Ago: What is a brand new Rolex?
Approaching 100 years ago The Horological Journal presented the tidbit: WHAT IS THE MEANING OF "BRAND NEW WATCHES?" regarding the grey-area of the new-watch versus old-watch war-of-words and to the surprise of no present reader Rolex was concerned.
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF "BRAND NEW WATCHES?" A dispute between the Rolex Watch Company, Ltd., and William Whiteley, Ltd., of Bayswater, regarding an offer for sale of Rolex watches at half-price, was the subject of an action in the Vacation Court.
Mr. D. U. Jenkins moved on behalf of the Rolex Watch Company for an interim injunction to restrain William Whiteley, Ltd., from advertising or offering for sale under the description "brand new," or any other description calculated to induce the trade or the public to believe that they were newly supplied by plaintiffs, any Rolex watches sold by plaintiffs to third parties more than three years before the date of such advertisement or offer.
Counsel said that a firm of retailers, in clearing out obsolete stock, collected from its branches 160 Rolex watches. These were sold to agents who, in turn, disposed of them to William Whiteley, Ltd. Whiteleys advertised them as a "special offer of the well-known Rolex watches at half-price—brand new, in perfect condition." Plaintiffs complained that that advertisement might lead the public to believe it was being given the opportunity of buying at half-price the current products of the Rolex Company. Mr. D. C. Russell (for William Whiteley, Ltd.) said the firm denied that the advertisement was misleading, and contended that the action was wholly misconceived. Counsel read an affidavit by a representative of the agents who sold the watches to Whiteleys, saying that he had never heard it suggested that a watch manufactured and sold by the manufacturers more than three years before was not properly described as a new watch, provided it had not been worn or sold to a member of the public. The phrase "brand new" was not in any way a technical term in the trade denoting that a watch had been manufactured or issued within the preceding three years or any other period. The words would be used to show that the watch was not second-hand. It was common knowledge in the trade that a watch might be kept five or ten years before sale, and by reoiling, kept in as good condition as when it came from the factory.
Mr. Justice Wrottesley: This case appears to raise the question of what is the meaning of "brand new." That is a complicated question. I shall do nothing to-day on this motion except to make an order that the costs be costs in the action.
Four Score and Seven Years Ago: What is a brand new Rolex?
Approaching 100 years ago The Horological Journal presented the tidbit: WHAT IS THE MEANING OF "BRAND NEW WATCHES?" regarding the grey-area of the new-watch versus old-watch war-of-words and to the surprise of no present reader Rolex was concerned. WHAT I...
