Visual Description
The Ref. 881003 is a round Vendôme in 18k gold, 30 mm across, with a bezel in three golds. Osenat describes a yellow gold case with a Trinity three-gold bezel, and Smith & Singer a reeded tri-color gold bezel, T-bar lugs and a crown set with a blue cabochon. Monaco Legend measured one at 29 mm.
The white dial carries painted Roman numerals, a railroad minute track and the secret signature at VII. Catalogs show the watch on a leather strap with a pin buckle or on a three-color gold bracelet with a deployant buckle.
Reference Significance
The 881003 is the 30 mm Vendôme in three golds, cataloged as the Vendôme Trinity. Auction houses print its number two ways: Smith & Singer, Osenat and Shapiro as 881003, and Monaco Legend as 81003. The case back runs 81003 into the serial, as on the example Shapiro cataloged, stamped 810030983.
The 24 mm Vendôme in 18k yellow gold is the Ref. 881002. A smaller Vendôme Trinity, 25 mm, also exists: Fellows cataloged one numbered 810042830.
Historical Context
Auction houses date the 881003 to the 1990s: Osenat catalogs one as circa 1990, and Smith & Singer and Monaco Legend date examples to the 1990s. No source found gives a production range.
Fellows and Monaco Legend both catalog the quartz movement as the cal. 81, Monaco Legend with 9 jewels.
What to Look For
Read the case back: it should run 81003 into the serial, as on Shapiro's 810030983 and the 810035572 Fellows cataloged, and Fellows notes an 18k stamp with a hallmark. Check the three golds of the bezel, the painted Roman numerals and the secret signature at VII on the dial, and the blue cabochon in the crown.
Ask for a photograph of the quartz movement, cataloged as the cal. 81, and ask whether the strap or bracelet came with the watch: one example Fellows cataloged was on an unsigned strap.
