Tudor @ Watches and Wonders 2026

WATCHES AND WONDERS

...Coverage...

 Tudor 2026 

Teddy Baldassarre

1926, which was 100 years ago, was a seminal year for Rolex as they launched their most innovative watch, which was the Rolex Oyster, but in the same year, Rolex founder, Hans Wilsdorf, also launched his Tudor brand, and in the image below we see the original "THE TUDOR" trademark registration.

Teddy Baldassarre sat down with the super cool Tudor representative, Cole Pennington to discuss all the Tudor Novelties at Watches and Wonders, as Tudor, which is still owned by Rolex, celebrates its 100 year anniversary.

Britt Pearce shares her fascinating thoughts and opinions on the new Tudor novelties in the video below:

Adrian Barker offers his insight and perspective in the video below on Tudor's 2026 novelties.

36MM Stainless Oyster Perpetual...Multicolored Laquer Dial with Jubilee Motif

WATCHES AND WONDERS

...36MM Stainless Oyster Perpetual...

 

MULTICOLOR 

Laquer Dial 

Avante-Garde Jubilee Motif

"The WARHOL OP"

Andy Warhol looks a scream

Wear him on my wrist

Andy Warhol, Silver OP

Can't tell them apart at all

The all new 36MM Multicolored Laquer Dial "Jubilee Motif" dial Rolex Oyster Perpetual is getting a lot of attention based upon its striking PoP Art dial, and I am going to go out on a limb my nicknaming it "The Warhol". Just like, The Pepsi GMT, The Coke GMT, The Batman GMT, The RootBeer GMT, The Kermit Submariner, The Hulk Submariner, etc.—you get the idea.

Rolex said their inspiration for the lacquered dial was the from "the Jubilee motif introduced at the end of the 1970s, which has since become iconic". Rolex loves playing around with colors, and this reminds me of Rolex's Basel World 2018 introduction of the RAINBOW Daytona.

When I say this new Rolex model has Pop Art vibe, it totally reminds me of Andy Warhol's PoP Art. In the photo below we see Andy Warhol with his Protoge, Jean-Micel Basquiat, and we see Andy rocking his ladies 28MM yellow gold Datejust on a President Bracelet. 

Andy Warhol pictured above wearing his Rolex Datejust with Protégé, Jean-Michel Basquait

The color palette of the new Rolex dial totally reminds me of Jean-Michel Basquait's masterpiece which is pictured below

"Untitled," 1982 Jean-Michel Basquiat Painting sold for $110.5 Million on May 18, 2017

The new dial also reminds me very much of the repetitive square grid of Andy Warhol's pop art, like with his famous Marilyn print grid layouts as pictured below.

Repetitive Grid alignment was a trademark of Andy Warhol, which is a fascinating way to layout artwork, as his original inspiration was that of comic books.

The all new 36MM Multicolored Laquer Dial "Jubilee Motif" dial Oyster Perpetual is getting a lot of attention based upon its striking PoP Art dial. Rolex said their inspiration for the lacquered dial was the from "the Jubilee motif introduced at the end of the 1970s, which has since become iconic".

One More Thang
Our Captain Danny, who publishes Coronet.org shared this image with me from the Screw Down Crown Newsletter, which might provide another clue as to the genesis or inspiration behind the colorway grid design, which is a blanket, made by Artist Alighiero Boetti. Alighiero Boetti was a 20th century Italian conceptual artist, and was also a member of the Arte Povera movement. 

Boetti was famous for a series of embroidered maps of the world, “Mappa,” created between 1971 and his death in 1994, and also created the embroidery pictured above in 1988 which looks very similar to the dial on the new Rolex OP model.

Rolex Jubilee Guilloché Dial Inspiration
As mentioned, the all new Multicolored Rolex Lacquer Dial with the Jubilee Motif was inspired by Rolex's original Jubilee Motif dials which incorporated a Guilloché engraving design.

Rolex began making the original Rolex Jubilee dials back in the late 1970s and in 1985 to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Datejust, by engraving solid gold disk dials with the "ROLEX" logo monogram. 
When Rolex invited me to be part of a group of the first journalists to tour all four Rolex factories in Switzerland, eleven years ago, back in 2013, Rolex explained to us that there was NOT a computerized CNC method that could achieve the same magic process, which the Guilloché can.  


In the photo below we see the Rolex dial Guilloché process taking place. The way it works, is the Guilloché master engraving disk is located on the left side in the photo below, and it has the master pattern that is being engraved in miniature scale on the gold Rolex dial which we see located on the right side in the center of the engraving apparatus.

I will NEVER forget, that when the four of us (pictured below) were touring the Rolex factories in Switzerland, the Rolex Public Relations representatives told us not to touch the Guilloché machine, while it was running in front of us, as doing so would cause the machine to fail, and Arial Adams, from A Blog To Watch, reached out and touched the machine anyway, and messed up the engraving, which was so bizarre!?!! 
I mean somebody tells you specifically NOT to do something, and you do it anyway, which was like the Spiros Antonapoulous character in opening scene from the 1968 classic Alan Arkin movie: "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter", who walks by the local bakery and sees tasty deserts in the window, and uncontrollably decides to break the glass to get to the desert since it looks so intriguing to him. Below is a picture of Ben Clymer, James Dowling, Ariel Adams and myself visiting the Rolex Wonka Works in Switzerland back in 2013.

Benjamin Clymer, James Dowling, Ariel Adams, and Jake Ehrlich November 19, 2013 Rolex Factory Tour in Switzerland (Hodinkee.com, Timezone.com, ABlogToWatch.com, and RolexMagazine.com)

41MM Datejust with Green Lacquer Ombré Dial

WATCHES AND WONDERS

...41MM Stainless Datejust...

 Green Lacquer 

Ombré Dial

My favorite new Rolex watch model introduced at Watches & Wonders 2026 is the 41MM Oyster Perpetual Datejust adorned with a new green lacquer ombré dial, along with a fluted white gold bezel, and a matching Rolex Oyster bracelet.

Watches & Wonders 2026 Coverage...

WATCHES AND WONDERS

...Coverage...

 Around The Web 

HODINKEE.com

Rolex introduced it's novelties @ Watches and Wonders in Geneva, Switzerland and Hodinkee.com has complete coverage of all the new models, if you are interested in getting a superb overview.

Also, Rolex's NEWSROOM is an excellent choice if you wish to take a deeper dive into the novelties released @ Watches & Wonders 2026:

As usual, I plan to offer my "Jake's Take" perspective on the novelties and will be publishing them this week, so stay tuned...

100th Anniversary Rolex Oyster Teaser Video from Rolex

WATCHES AND WONDERS

ROLEX COLLECTION 2026 

...Official ROLEX Teaser Video...

 100th Anniversary 

Rolex Oyster

It's that time of the year again, almost like Christmas for Rolex fans, but this year in April, where Rolex will soon unveil their 2026 novelties at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, Switzerland and we will, of course, have full live coverage, but until then, Rolex launched this teaser video that features a Rolex with a special dial designation that says "100 Years".

There is a very subtle detail on this screenshot from the Rolex teaser video below—beyond the obviously apparent "100 YEARS" dial designation—and that is green dial second markers on the left and right.

ID Guy just published a pretty compelling video that seems to figure out the details of the "100 YEARS" model:

The image below is a screenshot from ID Guy's video seen above, and he shows off renders of what he speculates the new models might to look like.

The ROLEX Magazine ad below was originally published in 1956, which was first published 70 years ago on the 30th Anniversary of the the Rolex Oyster, and notice the unmistakable doubled up timeless design language for the 15, 30 and 45 minute markers, which was incorporated into the most recent Rolex Oyster Perpetual models. This design language is what makes Rolex watches so timeless...

1968 Rolex Explorer Ad

1968 Rolex Explorer Ad

What is cooler than vintage Rolex Magazine ads? Not much, especially this amazing Rolex Explorer Ad from 1968 which appears courtesy of Adpatina.com.

The Rolex Explorer Ad seen above from 1968 reminds me of the one below from 1967

Rolex Macro Shot of the Day: A Black Dial Daytona from Eduardo...

...Rolex Macro Shot Of The Day...

Magnificent Macro

Eduardo's Rolex Daytona

[Rolex Reference 116520]

1983 Cristal Champagne Rolex Magazine Ad

 

1983 Cristal Champagne 

Rolex Magazine Ad

Rolex rarely publishes ads that use other companies product to analogize Rolex products, but this is a rare example from 1983 when they featured Cristal Champagne. 

If you are not familiar with Cristal it really is considered to be the Rolex of Champagne. Cristal is widely regarded by many people to be the first Prestige Cuvée.

Cristal was originally created in 1876 for Czar Alexander who was the Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland and Grand duke of Finland from March 1855 until he was assassinated in 1881.

Watches & Wonders 2026 Prediction

WATCHES AND WONDERS

ROLEX COLLECTION 2026 

...Prediction/Hope/Desire...

 Pepsi GMT-Master

Lumed Bezel

Many people ask me what my prediction is for what novelties Rolex may introduce at Watches and Wonders 2026, which is right around the corner, starting on April 14, 2026? There has been a lot of speculation that Rolex has discontinued the current Pepsi GMT-Master, which would seem to by very confusing and hyper-counterintuitive.

I genuinely have NO IDEA what Rolex will surprise us with this year, so all I can really do is share with you what I would LOVE to see!!!

I am hoping Rolex finally brings back their luminous GMT-Master Bezel insert, which debuted back in 1956 on the Reference 6542, which his pictured below in an image that appears courtesy of Stefano Mazzariol. Just to be crystal clear, the first Rolex GMT-MASTER model launched back in the mid 1950s featured 24 luminous hour markers on the bicolor bezel with glowed in the dark, which you can faintly see in the image below:

The next two images of a 1957 Rolex GMT-Master, Reference 6542 appear courtesy of Amsterdam Vintage Watches and we begin with this killer wrist shot that was taken in natural light. 

Upon first glance, the wrist shot above looks normal, especially with the 24 hour markers on the bezel insert, but the real magic of the original Rolex GMT-Master glowing bezel comes to life when the lights turn off as we see below in this AMAZING LUME SHOT from Amsterdam Vintage Watches that shows the original radium bezel insert glowing.

I am including one more image below, from Banzaff that shows how 3Dimensional the lumen bezel's looked on the original GMT-Master. This was due to the fact that the 24 hour markers on the bezel insert were suspended in a clear exoxy, or bakelite material. 

Nothing would make me happier than to see Rolex bring this beautiful lumed bezel insert back to life on the Pepsi GMT-Master. Fingers crossed!!!!

The image below of a GMT-Master [Reference 6542] was taken by Dr. Strong (Jeff) which offers a superb perspective on the bakelite bezel along with the "small arrow" 24 hour GMT Time Hand. 

GMT Bakelite Bezel

The original GMT Master models—beginning in 1955—featured a so-called "bakelite" bezel insert that would glow in the dark, and some of them still do, as seen in the lume-shots below. This first image from Stefano Mazzariol shows the bezel insert still glowing after all these years.

This next image shows both the dial and bezel insert and hands still glowing.

The first generation Rolex GMT had what has been dubbed a "Bakelite Bezel" but I don't think it is made from bakelite. It appears to be some kind of clear epoxy. 

The amazing thing about the design of these original GMT bezels is that the numbers on the bezel glowed in the dark and as M has shown in these amazing macro photos, the numbers seem to be frozen in an icy bezel–kind of like insect specimens that got trapped in tree sap millions of years ago, and can still be seen through the sap.

Rolex GMT-Master Ad

1958-1959 

Rolex Macro Shot Of The Day.. Rolex Sky Dweller

...Rolex Macro Shot Of The Day...

Rolex Sky Dweller

The stunning photo below is from Rolex and shows a close-up of the Sky-Dweller dial with the red triangle pointing to time at home (while traveling) on the rotating 24-hour disc.