Rolex presents new models once a year at the “Watches & Wonders” watch fair in Geneva. At the industry’s most important event, many other manufacturers also share their innovations with the world, including Rolex’s sister Tudor. While the latter surprises with a new GMT model, the innovations from Rolex are almost reserved – with one exception.
This year at Rolex you can see the huge Deepsea diving watch with a yellow gold case – quite a statement when you consider that the watch is actually made for divers, who can use it to reach depths of up to 3900 meters without having to worry having to make the instrument. Yellow gold is therefore a somewhat strange choice, because the huge watch is actually a tool – even if divers no longer only travel with a mechanical watch.
Tudor also joins in here: The Black Bay 58, also a diving watch with a water resistance of up to 200 meters, is now available in yellow gold with a corresponding bracelet – both are of course also suitable for diving, but are more likely to be used in yacht clubs and when playing golf looks.
No “Coke”, but still a new Rolex GMT-Master II
The fan scene is somewhat disappointed by the new Rolex GMT-Master II with a gray-black bezel. The color combination black and red was actually expected this year, often referred to as “Coke”, named after the drink. However, there is no sign of a new edition of the popular GMT version at this year’s “Watches & Wonders”. Instead, Rolex is releasing a successor to the black bezel GMT-Master II, which was discontinued some time ago. Instead of a consistent color for the ceramic insert, the nighttime hours are now black and the daytime hours are light gray. An extremely reserved combination that is not nearly as noticeable as, for example, the most popular model with a blue and black border.
The most expensive watch among the new products is the Rolex Daytona with a diamond rim. Depending on how many diamonds adorn the watch and which bracelet you choose, the new Cosmograph costs up to 125,900 euros (Everose gold with full diamond setting).
The presentation of new watches is always a farewell at Rolex – because at the same time the manufacturer removes some very popular models from the catalog without any major announcement, thereby making it clear that the watches will no longer be available. Many had feared that despite its great popularity, the Rolex GMT-Master II 126710BLRO, nicknamed “Pepsi”, could be hit this year. There have recently been various reports with this watch that Rolex is having serious problems with the production of the two-tone bezel and can hardly supply any watches anymore. Dem stern This was confirmed in discussions with several watchmakers. It said the red and blue ceramic ring was prone to breakage, causing problems in both the manufacture of new watches and service work.
Rolex is removing its anniversary model from its offering and the Yacht-Master II is being discontinued
But a look at the Rolex homepage reveals: Everything is fine, the “Pepsi” is still in the range. It is unclear whether the alleged problem with the bezel is a thing of the past or whether the watches will only be delivered in minimal quantities in the future.
But fans have to say goodbye to the Rolex Daytona with the reference 126529LN. This is the coveted white gold model with the nickname “Le Mans”, which Rolex only introduced in June 2023 and was therefore sold for less than a year. For the price, that doesn’t mean anything good. If you had the chance to buy the watch directly from the concessionaire, it would have been “only” around 50,000 euros. Even without discontinuing the model, the price was recently more than 200,000 euros. The future price direction of the anniversary model should now be set – if you even see it on offer.
Rolex does not provide a genuine replacement for this watch, but visitors to the trade fair noticed a similar watch in yellow gold, which Rolex does not show on the homepage. There are always so-called “off-catalogue” models; they are not part of the regular offering and are only available through the best relationships with the brand. During the course of the fair, other rarities could appear that you would probably never see at a jeweler.
Some dial variants of the Datejust and the Yacht-Master II were also discontinued.