The Roland Garros 1952 Reverso

A steel Staybrite Reverso (case No. 467193) whose cloisonné enamel dial — stamped 104*014, the “tennis player” design in the Stern Frères numbering system — shares its maker with the Wimbledon-ground dial elsewhere in this archive. The case-back is engraved “Roland Garros 1952,” alongside a facsimile signature of René Lacoste and Lacoste’s crocodile emblem; Lacoste, a former French Open champion himself, had founded his clothing house in 1933 and was closely tied to the tournament. Auction house research considers it highly probable, though unconfirmed, that Lacoste presented this specific watch to that year’s men’s singles champion, the Czech player Jaroslav Drobný — who also won Roland Garros the year before, in 1951, and Wimbledon in 1954. Named for the aviator and WWI hero, the Roland Garros stadium was built in 1928 for France’s first Davis Cup entry.