Immaculate Creations
This year, Rolex takes watch enthusiasts on a journey to the skies, seas, and racetrack, armed with new interpretations of its classic collections.
By The Time Place Magazine
Emotional Touchstone
For those who often find themselves travelling from one place to another, the iconic Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II is not only a reliable timekeeping tool, its 24-hour hand also points to another location that resonates with the wearer-a reminder of the emotions that accompany them on their journey.
Available in two new Oystersteel versions, the GMT-Master II features a 24-hour graduated two-colour Cerachrom bezel insert in grey and black ceramic—introduced last year. The first watch is fitted with an Oyster bracelet, while the second sports a Jubilee bracelet.
With a black lacquer dial that bears the inscription ‘GMT-Master II’ in green, echoing the colour of the triangle-tipped 24-hour hand, the GMT-Master II is driven by calibre 3285, a movement at the forefront of watchmaking technology, enabling it to display the date and an additional time zone in a 24-hour format, as well as the hours, minutes and seconds.
The GMT-Master II, like all Rolex watches, carries the Superlative Chronometer certification, which ensures excellent performance on the wrist.
Beacon of Light
Bringing light to the dark abyss, Rolex unveils the Oyster Perpetual Rolex Deepsea, presented in 18 ct yellow gold for the first time. Majestic and innovative, the timepiece sports a 60-minute graduated Cerachrom bezel insert in blue ceramic as well as a blue lacquer dial bearing the name ‘DEEPSEA’ in powdered yellow.
This new version also incorporates a technical innovation: the high-performance compression ring within the Ringlock system is crafted from ceramic. A marvel of precision engineering, this Cerachrom ring is the result of a state-of-the-art manufacturing process. Coloured blue and embellished with a circular satin finish and inscriptions that are engraved then gilded, this component also marks a new way of integrating ceramic into a watch case: the compression-resistance and anti-deformation properties of this high-tech material contribute to the waterproofness of the watch.
The Rolex Deepsea is equipped with calibre 3235, which boasts a self-winding system via a Perpetual rotor. Thanks to its barrel architecture and the escapement’s superior efficiency, the power reserve of this movement extends to approximately to 70 hours.
Rounding off the precious timepiece is an 18 ct yellow gold Oyster bracelet, with threepiece solid links boasting satin finishing with polished edges and ceramic inserts. It is fitted with an Oysterlock folding safety clasp, also in 18 ct yellow gold, as well as the Rolex Glidelock extension system, which extends length of the watch bracelet to approximately 20 mm in increments of 2 mm. The Oyster Perpetual Rolex Deepsea, like all Rolex watches, is covered by the Superlative Chronometer certification redefined by Rolex in 2015. The Superlative Chronometer status is symbolised by the green seal that comes with every Rolex watch and is coupled with an international five-year guarantee.
Perpetual Reinvention
The Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona, launched in 1963, was designed to meet the needs of professional racing drivers. Fitted with a tachymetric bezel and a high performance mechanical movement, this legendary chronograph is the instrument of choice for measuring time intervals and determining average speeds. Over the course of its history, it has been introduced in gem-set versions in which the emblematic tachymetric scale is replaced with diamonds or coloured precious stones.
Through its name and functions, the Cosmograph Daytona is forever linked to the world of motor sport and, more than six decades after its launch, continues to boast unparalleled status among sport chronographs. A legendary model renowned for its wealth of variations, Rolex presents two new iterations of the Cosmograph Daytona. Achieving the perfect balance of precision and exquisiteness, the 40 mm watches are distinctive for their contrasting dials made from natural mother-of-pearl and graced with eight diamonds and three Chromalight hour markers. Both crafted in 18 ct white gold, the bezels of the watches are crowned with a dazzling array of 36 brilliant-cut diamonds.
The first version, fitted on an Oysterflex bracelet, features a dial in white mother-ofpearl with chronograph counters in black mother-of-pearl. The colour combination is reversed on the second watch, which has an Oyster bracelet and a black mother-of-pearl dial with white mother-of-pearl counters.
The discs of material used for the dial and the counters are positioned to optimise the colour intensity of each variety of mother-of-pearl and further enhance the contrast between them. This design called for the creation of a specific and technically demanding manufacturing process.
The Cosmograph Daytona is equipped with calibre 4131, a movement at the forefront of watchmaking technology that features bridges decorated with Rolex Côtes de Genève and a cut-out oscillating weight. Calibre 4131 enables the Cosmograph Daytona to measure intervals of time via the chronograph function, in addition to displaying the hours, minutes and seconds.
The Cosmograph Daytona is covered by the Superlative Chronometer certification redefined by Rolex in 2015. This designation testifies that every watch leaving the brand’s workshops has successfully undergone a series of tests conducted by Rolex in its own laboratories according to its own criteria, following the official certification of the movements by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC). The in-house certification tests apply to the fully assembled watch, after casing the movement, guaranteeing superlative performance on the wrist in terms of precision, power reserve, waterproofness and self-winding. The precision of a Rolex Superlative Chronometer is of the order of −2/+2 seconds per day—the rate deviation tolerated by the brand for a finished watch is significantly smaller than that accepted by COSC for official certification of the movement alone.
The Superlative Chronometer status is symbolised by the green seal that comes with every Rolex watch and is coupled with an international five-year guarantee.
Visual Masterpiece
Launched just last year, the Perpetual 1908 is a watch of rare distinction. A reinterpretation of traditional horological style imbued with the quintessential expertise and aesthetic heritage of Rolex, the 1908 was named in homage to the year Hans Wilsdorf devised the name ‘Rolex’ to sign his creations and registered the brand in Switzerland. In 2024, Rolex introduces a new version decked in 950 platinum and graced with an ice blue dial featuring a guilloche rice-grain motif.
This rosette-like design is distinctive for its three dimensional, repeating geometric pattern that extends across the surface of the dial, starting from the small seconds counter at 6 o’clock. The minute track is surrounded by a filet sauté with a crimped pattern, which is also guilloché. When light bounces off the raised pattern, a variety of reflections are produced with every movement of the wrist.
With the introduction of a dial created via guillochage, or engine turning—a technique that uses a turning tool to sculpt a pattern into a surface—Rolex is pursuing the course it has set for the Perpetual collection as a tribute to the classic art of watchmaking infused with the brand’s know-how and creativity. This exclusive dial bears the same Arabic numerals 3, 9 and 12, the same faceted hour markers and the same hands as that of the 18 ct gold versions. The watch is mounted on a brown alligator leather strap fitted with a Dualclasp, a double folding clasp.
The 1908 is powered by calibre 7140, which features bridges decorated with Rolex Côtes de Genève and a cut-out oscillating weight. Calibre 7140 enables the Perpetual 1908 to display the small seconds, as well as the hours and minutes.
Harmonious Variations
A testament to the brand’s enduring desire for rare and wide-ranging expertise to be found in even the smallest details, the prestigious Oyster Perpetual Day-Date is now available in new and attractive combinations.
Previously only reserved for the iconic Day-Date 36 and set with diamond hour markers, ombré dials now make their debut on the Day-Date 40. One version, in 18 ct Everose gold, introduces slate ombré—a completely new hue for such a dial, whose surface, coloured at the centre, progresses to a deep black around the edge. Also appearing for the first time on the ombré dial of this watch are faceted, deconstructed Roman numerals and faceted index hour markers in 18 ct pink gold. A second version, fashioned from 18 ct white gold, features a dial made of pearlised white mother-of-pearl. This natural material is used on the model for the very first time. The shimmer of the mother-of-pearl is further enhanced by the 10 baguette-cut diamonds set onto the dial as hour markers.
Conversely, the Day-Date 36 now features a dial with faceted, deconstructed Roman numerals and faceted index hour markers, which were until now only exclusive to the Day-Date 40. A new exciting variant of the Day-Date 36 in 18 ct yellow gold reveals a white lacquer dial complemented by these now-emblematic hour markers with their perfect geometrical forms and uniformly smooth and shiny surface. For the first time, the Day-Date 36 in 18 ct Everose gold sports a blue-green dial—a colour introduced on the Sky-Dweller last year—which is adorned with 10 baguette-cut diamonds. This dial of remarkable depth and intensity is notably available on a version with bezel set with 60 trapeze-cut diamonds.
The watches mentioned are equipped with calibre 3255, a movement at the forefront of watchmaking technology, enabling them to display the day and the date, as well as the hours, minutes and seconds.
Similar to all Rolex watches, the Day-Date 40 and the Day-Date 36 carry the Superlative Chronometer certification, which ensures excellent performance on the wrist.
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