Watches and Wonders: New Datejust 36mm Palm Motif Dial

 By DANNY CRIVELLO

If you ask me what among Rolex's new releases will emerge to be the hot piece of 2021, the way the turquoise-dialed Oyster Perpetual drove the market crazy last year, I'd say the 36mm Datejust with the palm motif dial. 

While most of the press watch world wonders every year how Rolex will update its sports line—especially what is discontinued—I enjoy watching the brand display expertise in other areas of watchmaking, such as dial-making or gem setting. (In my opinion, Rolex's mastery in gem setting is unparalleled.)

 

Rolex is finding ways to use reflection—or "play of light," as one Rolex rep told me—to make a watch look naturally more lustrous. The latest Explorer's case has been redesigned, for example, to make better use of reflection in order to highlight the case profile.

While some demure the lack of anti-reflective coating on crystals in Rolex watches, I like how light bounces off the crystal and makes the dial gleam. I can sometimes spot a Rolex watch wearer in a store or restaurant by the small flashes of glint from the watch's face. 

The laser-etched palm motif dial on the 36mm Datejust released this year is the latest example of Rolex playing with light to enhance a watch's appeal.

The 36mm size has always been a key size at Rolex. I joke that 36mm Datejust is Latin for "timeless." Rolex watch expert and collector Eric Ku calls it the golden size—and a reason why Rolex has never stopped making the 36mm Day-Date. "Any [size] that they do subsequent to that is to capture another piece of demographics," he said. Besides, a 36mm Datejust can still be pulled off by most men and women.

A Rolex rep told me that the green of the palm motif dial is darker in real life than in the digital presentation, making the watch more masculine. A Youtuber with close to 20,000 subscribers, who comments almost daily about all things Rolex, said the palm motif dial appeals to his tree-hugger side. 

In my opinion, this year's releases showcase Rolex's expertise in dial making in two extremes: a dial that is inspired from deep within Earth's ground—a palm tree; and a dial from outer space, the new Daytona's meteorite dial. The very trendy green color, combined with the timeless and universal 36mm size of a classic Datejust, the reflection from its dial pattern, all are making this watch the sleeper hit watch of 2021.

Watches and Wonders: New Explorer 36mm

A MINIMALIST'S

WATCH GETS

SMALLER

Explorer Returns to 36mm Size

By DANNY CRIVELLO

To me the biggest surprise of this year's Rolex announcement is the Explorer's return to 36mm. A reduction in size of three millimeters in such an iconic model is not something I would have expected from Rolex, especially not less than a year after it had made both the Submariner and Oyster Perpetual larger.

What made the announcement even more stunning to me is that you rarely see Rolex create a design change to only walk it back a few years later. But this is Rolex saying fashion trends can change fast, and we are not shackled by past decisions.

What we learned also from the Rolex announcement this week—or were reminded rather—is that Rolex is the Michael Jordan of two-tone. After all, it invented two-tone, a signature feature of the brand since 1933, and it's often said that Rolex's number-one selling watch in the world is a two-tone Ladies Datejust.

 

What is different today is that more and more sports watches are getting the bi-metal treatment—to Rolex purists' chagrin—watches that have long been a staple of their Professional collection. While we take for granted the brand's full-gold Submariner, GMT or Daytona, I could almost feel a collective gasp from the watch community at Baselworld 2019, as if feeling betrayed, when the brand unveiled the two-tone Sea-Dweller. Et tu, Rolexus?

Jose Pereztroika, who has done amazing horological forensic research both for these pages and his blog, Perezcope, pointed out to me after the 45-minute Webex conference with Rolex that we actually have historical precedence: A two-tone Explorer can be traced back to the brand's two-tone Bubbleback.

All watches have their origin story and Rolex’s can be traced back to the so-called Bubbleback. It wasn’t Rolex's first timepiece, but it was quite probably their first breakthrough best-seller, a cornerstone of sorts in the quest to associate the Rolex brand with terms such as reliability, toughness, precision. The Oyster Perpetual is an evolution to the Bubbleback. And of course, the Explorer is an homage to the Oyster Perpetual worn during the numerous Himalayan expeditions and the conquest of Mount Everest.

But for me, the return to the 36mm size, the same size as the original Explorer of 1953, is checking two boxes for Rolex: 

1) Adding a vintage flair to a modern watch, a strategy other brands have long adopted. (Keen eyes will notice the move of the "EXPLORER" text from 6 to 12 o'clock, like in vintage Explorers.)

2) Creating a watch that can be worn both by men and women. (A Rolex rep told me that when it comes to fashion in watches "there is no gender anymore" though she could envision women being drawn to the two-tone Explorer while some men might favor the Explorer II.)

Finally, the last thing that struck me during the Explorer's announcement is that Rolex continues to make improvement because, well, it is Rolex even though no one asked for them. No one had complained about the Chromalight, yet Rolex decided to improve it with this generation of the Explorer and going forward with new models. The new Chromalight makes the blue intensity last longer at night, while during the day the markers and hands will show a brighter white hue. 

A two-tone Explorer at 36mm is so unique in the Rolex line-up that for me it is a watch I will be looking for when it hits the stores as early as April in the U.S. 

New Daytona with Meteorite Dial

UBER RARE

MEETS

UBER FAST

New Daytona With Meteorite Dial

 By DANNY CRIVELLO

"It's really a pity you have just the digital presentation this year," a Rolex rep in Geneva told me via Webex on the first day of Watches and Wonders. "When you have a chance to see the watch in real, the dial is amazing." 

My love as a pilot for the Cosmograph Daytona has been quite chronicled on Jake's Rolex World, including here, here, here, and here. 

When you take a watch that is the ultimate watch for those with a passion for driving and speed and put in a dial that is made entirely from an asteroid that exploded millions of years ago, how can the pulse of a pilot not quicken? Is there a faster watch out there?

This latest release demonstrates once again Rolex's expertise in developing and manufacturing dials. This is not the first time Rolex offers a meteorite dial on the Cosmograph Daytona. The picture of the 2008 Rolex Daytona 116509, below, comes courtesy of Amsterdam Vintage Watches. However, it is the first time the meteoric dial is offered with a ceramic-bezeled Daytona.

The meteorite metal is not just a layer on the dial, the entire dial is made out of meteorite. It will be available for precious metal versions of the Daytona (18 ct yellow, white and Everose gold).

So let's recap, shall we? The most reputable watch brand in the world just took the rarest sports reference and, after casing it in a precious metal, added a dial that—oh, I don't know—took millions of years to create a unique crystallization pattern that is impossible to re-create on Earth. 

If you want something très rare and très fast, mon ami, but also extremely good looking, then this Daytona will be your pick of Watches and Wonders 2021!

THE ORANGE HAND EXPLORER II

 

 EXPLORER II

ALL ORANGE

HAND

Rolex is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Rolex Explorer II by updating the 42MM Rolex Explorer II with a new movement, thinner lugs, a wider bracelet—and on the black dial version, Rolex switched the black-and-orange hand with a completely orange hand, which looks a zillion times better, as pictured above and below. 

'

Below we see all four of Rolex's new Explorer models which include the return of the 36MM Explorer in stainless as well as a new twist with a two-tone 36MM Explorer which has a very vintage looking 'gilt' dial vibe. 



The Rolex advertorial seen below was published 3 days after Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary conquered Everest.

You can learn all about the history of the Rolex Explorer by checking out my 8 Part story named "The Complete History: Rolex Conquers Mount Everest." You can also learn all about Tenzing Norgay who was the first to conquer Mount Everest.. 

1957 Rolex Mount Everest Ad

1964 Rolex Explorer

On Top Of The Matterhorn

1968 Rolex Explorer Ad

This amazing Rolex Explorer Ad appears courtesy of Adpatina.com.

1978 Dan McCullin

Rolex Explorer II Orange Hand 

Reference 1655

1997 Adrienne Vittadini

 Rolex Explorer Ad

Vintage Rolex Explorer Ad

Conquering Mount Everest

Watches & Wonder 2021: Sky-Dweller on Jubilee

SKY-DWELLER 

GETS JUBILEED

For the First Time, the Sky-Dweller Is

Equipped With a Jubilee Bracelet

 By DANNY CRIVELLO

If the GMT-Master was designed for those sitting in the front of a jet, then the Sky-Dweller was definitely meant for those sitting in the back. 2021 could be a jubilee year for passengers and air travel again after more than a year of confinements, lock-downs and closed borders. 

So why not celebrate with a new bracelet. The Sky-Dweller case hasn't changed and still houses one of the most complicated movements from the brand.

Still, this is the first time Rolex will give customers the option to wear a Sky-Dweller on Jubilee. Last September, Rolex released the Oysterflex bracelet for the Sky-Dweller in yellow gold and Everose. The Sky-Dweller line is also offered on an Oyster bracelet. 

While the BLNR just got Oystered this year, the other watch that keeps track of time across the world is being Jubileed. The size remains the same for the Sky-Dweller. At 42mm, it looks like a Datejust that has been to the gym and is ready to leave the boardroom to show off its beach bod to the world. Let's travel! 

Watches & Wonders 2021: BLNR Is Back on Oyster Bracelet

THE BATMAN

RETURNS

(AGAIN)

Your Choice of Oyster or Jubilee

By DANNY CRIVELLO

Batman and Batgirl? Batman and Robin? Batpersons? Your choice of nicknames—and of bracelets. In a first in decades, Rolex said it will offer a steel GMT-Master on both Oyster and Jubilee bracelets, something we haven't seen since the pre-ceramic GMT days.

Rolex stopped selling the 116710BLNR in 2019, the Rolex GMT-Master II with a black and blue bezel on Oyster bracelet. I was at Baselworld that year when it announced the same watch on Jubilee but with an updated movement.

The new movement is now going to the Oyster bracelet version of the BLNR. Jubilee or Oyster, both watches will have the same reference: 126710BLNR.

The new Batman's Oyster bracelet has the typical broad, flat three-piece links that equips the majority of the Professional line such as the Submariner, the Explorer, the Yacht-Master and the Daytona, and on some classic models such as the Datejust, the Day-Date and the Sky-Dweller.

To be clear, the Rolex GMT-Master II with a blue and red bezel ("Pepsi") has been offered on either Oyster or Jubilee bracelet before; but only the Jubilee bracelet had equipped the steel version while the Oyster bracelet was reserved for the white-gold model. The 2021 Batman is offered for both bracelets in steel. Starting today the Pepsi is also offered on both Oystersteel and Jubilee.

Rolex & The Masters

Rolex & The Masters

 

Update by Jake

April 5, 2021

This story has been getting a great deal of attention—and rightfully so—as Dr. Joe MacInnis' SINGLE-RED 'SEALAB' SEA-DWELLER represents 'The Holy Grail of SEA-DWELLER models'. Keep in mind, this story is ONLY a preview with the final story coming soon... 

Searching for this hyper-elusive Rolex over the past two decades was extremely complicated and tedious and often felt like I was trying to find and prove that Bigfoot exists!?!! 

This is a moment I have been waiting for a long, long, long time, and as you will see in the final article this story has many far-reaching implications as much new information has been pouring in from my global research team and other amazing sources. In other words, I believe when the new story is published in the not-so-distant future, it will represent the first time we gain a truly comprehensive understanding of the genesis of the Rolex SEA-DWELLER.

World's First

SINGLE-RED

 

SEALAB 

SEA-DWELLER 

Finally Discovered!!!!!!!!

This is such big news I had to borrow Hodinkee's BREAKING NEWS header again!!!! Since Rolex published a teaser yesterday for their new releases which we will be covering live next week, I thought I would share a teaser for an amazing upcoming RolexMagazine.com story which is a complete game-changer in the history of the Rolex SEA-DWELLER.

Dr. Joe MacInnis rocking his 1968 SINGLE-RED 'SEALAB' SEA-DWELLER Prototype (Reference 1665) back in 1985 while on a mission to the Spanish galleon treasure ship 'Atocha' near Key West, Florida which sank off the Florida Keys in 1622.

Dr. Joe MacInnis

Renowned Physician Scientist,

DEEP-SEA Explorer & Author

Back in 2010, as part of my 20 Chapter series titled "The Complete History of The Rolex Submariner & SEA-DWELLER: Rolex's Conquest of the Ocean", I published Part 15 which was titled "Dr. Joe MacInnis, DEEP-SEA Explorer" in which I first identified him wearing a vintage Rolex SEA-DWELLER back in the early 1970s. At the time I had no idea he was wearing a SINGLE-RED 'SEALAB' SEA-DWELLER!?!!

The exclusive recent photo below shows Dr. Joe's previously undocumented SINGLE-RED 'SEALAB' SEA-DWELLER which features the original dial.

Dr. Joe MacInnis Single Red SEALAB SEA-DWELLER Prototype (Reference 1665) in a recent exclusive photo.

This story represents one of the most profound discoveries I have ever made in my close to a decade-and-a-half of publishing Jake's Rolex World and showcases one of the greatest missing pieces of the Rolex SEA-DWELLER history!!! I have spent many hours interviewing Dr. Joe MacInnis for this upcoming story over the past year which has been amazing!!! "Dr. Joe" as he is affectionately referred to was a member of the SEALAB III Mission and was given his Rolex SINGLE-RED 'SEALAB' SEA-DWELLER back in 1968 by Rolex U.S.A. in October of 1968 just after he joined the SEALAB III Program.

Dr. Joe MacInnis pictured above in 1968 at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco wearing his prototype Rolex SINGLE-RED 'SEALAB' SEA-DWELLER while examining the SEALAB III habitat as it sits in dry-dock before traveling down to San Diego for her mission.

U.S. Navy SEALAB 3 In The Pacific Ocean off San Clemente Island, California 

[55 Nautical Miles (102 Kilometers) Off The Coast of California]

The photo above shows the SEALAB III Habitat as she is being towed to her mission off the coast of Southern California. In the photo below we see mission divers pictured in front of the SEALAB III habitat.

The photo below features a super-cool Rolex Magazine Submariner advertisement from 1974 which features Dr. Joe MacInnis.

Jose from Perezcope.com and I put together the poster below named "HISTORY OF THE ROLEX SEA-DWELLER—Rolex's Conquest Of The Ocean", which shows the historical ark of how the Rolex SEA-DWELLER evolved from the original 1926 Rolex Oyster. 

Click image to zoom in for much more detail

Jose and I have been busy putting together many new puzzle pieces for the upcoming Dr. Joe MacInnis story which we intend to publish sometime in the next month!!!