Rolex new releases 2023 at Watches and Wonders
3 new Sky-Dweller models
Rolex’s most complicated timepiece, the Sky-Dweller, has dropped three new versions for 2023’s Watches & Wonders, featuring an updated movement and two new dial colours. The new blue-green dial colour, a first for any Rolex model, is paired with an Everose Gold case and bracelet, while the mint green dial variant finds its place in an Oystersteel/white gold version.
The mint green dial was previously only an option available on the Datejust model. Both new models come on Explorer bracelets.
Compared to other Rolex collections, the Sky-Dweller is a relatively new addition to the family, first presented in 2012. Developed with global travellers in mind, the dual time zone function allows the simultaneous tracking of time in two different time zones. The Sky-Dweller always featured the Saros annual calendar display that can differentiate between 30 and 31-day months. The Sky-Dweller collection continues to impress aesthetically, with new additions in several case materials and dials – black, mint green and a blue-green – and a slightly updated movement.
Also new is a white gold/black-dialled model that wears Rolex’s black Oysterflex rubber strap. All models share a 42mm Oyster case size, hermetically sealed caseback, and Twinlock crown, ensuring water resistance of 100 metres.
Control of the watch’s functions is via the Ring Command system, which allows the user to easily set the time zone and calendar functions by way of the bidirectionally rotating fluted bezel and the crown. It’s a clever design that shows the current month in red, via 12 apertures around the edge of the dial, automatically compensating the date for 30 and 31-day months.
Movement: calibre 9002, manufacture Rolex – mechanical movement with bidirectional self-winding via Perpetual rotor - centre hour, minute and seconds hands - Local time via conventional hands, independent rapid-setting of the hour hand - reference time via 24-hour, off-centre disc - Saros instantaneous annual calendar: rapid, bidirectional and secure setting of the date at 3 o'clock; month display via 12 apertures around the circumference of the dial - stop-seconds for exact time setting – 46 jewels - power reserve approximately 72 hour
Bracelet: depending on the reference – Oysterflex; Oyster, three-piece solid links in Oystersteel with polished centre links, or Oyster, three-piece solid links in 18k Everose gold with polished centre links, satin-finished outer links with polished edges, with ceramic inserts
Case: 42mm diameter x 13.8mm thick – Oystersteel and white gold, white gold, or Everose gold – scratch-resistant sapphire with anti-reflective coating - cyclops lens over the date with double anti-reflective coating – 100m water resistant
Dial: right black, gloss, sunray finish; mint green, gloss, sunray finish or blue-green, gloss, sunray finish, depending on the reference
It has a power reserve of approximately 72 hours. It uses the brand’s patented blue Parachrom hairspring, and Paraflex shock absorbers, with all the movement’s features at work to provide greater accuracy and resistance to shocks and magnetic fields. Another technical feature characteristic of all the Sky-Dwellers is the Ring Command system, which connects the rotating bezel, winding crown and movement to select and set the watch’s functions in a safe and user-friendly manner.
The Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona
The Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona celebrates its 60th anniversary this year and comes with upgrades rather than new models. After all, you won’t change an icon, right?
The collection has often undergone relentless but slight evolution, and Rolex has gone for continuous improvement, making its most wanted timepieces more appealing.
The case has been slightly redesigned, too; for example, the lugs have undergone minor tweaks like smoother edges and a more refined, luxurious geometry. The outcome is enhanced lightness compared to the outgoing collection and a more contemporary look and feel; the Cerachrom ceramic bezel now holds an outer ring crafted in the same material as the case itself.
The new Rolex Perpetual 1908 model is unexpected and defined by Rolex as “the new face of excellence”, paying tribute to the brand’s historical roots as a pioneer of innovation and watchmaking breakthroughs. The new collection draws inspiration from a 1931 Oyster Perpetual model, and “1908” is the year of the official foundation while opening new horizons for the brand.
The Perpetual 1908’s design is quintessentially classic with several contemporary takes, like the applied Arabic numerals at 3, 9 and 12, and a small seconds counter at 6. It comes in an 18 ct yellow or white gold case, whose see-through case lets you admire the movement’s finishes.
During a normal year, the prospect of seeing a spate of new Rolex models would be about as slim as Vladimir Putin’s chances of winning the Nobel Peace Prize. But for Rolex, 2023 isn’t a normal year. It’s a year that celebrates major anniversaries of some of its most iconic models.
We’re banking on the Crown to push the boat out during 2023 and give its fans a few things to get really excited about. We’re not talking about improving the magnification of a cyclops date window by one per cent or adding a millimetre to the case of a Datejust. We’re predicting some significant changes to revitalise the Rolex line-up…
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Celebrating Rolex New 2023 sport models
The staff at Rolex will be eating a LOT of birthday cake this year as the Submariner turns 70 and the Daytona turns 60. Meanwhile it’s 70 years since a prototype Explorer reached the summit of Everest.
Out of these three, the Submariner is arguably the most likely to get an aesthetic tweak, and that usually means the introduction of a new bezel colour, with red being the hot favourite.
It’s a colour already tried and tested by sister brand Tudor on its Heritage Black Bay series so it would hardly be the shock of the century. A bigger surprise would be a white-dial Submariner, something Rolex has toyed with in the distant past—examples are extremely rare—and if they really wanted to go crazy, why not make it in titanium.
Speaking of which, after the release of the Deepsea Challenge in this ultra-light material last year, we expect Rolex to use titanium for its stalwart sports models. A titanium Explorer or Daytona could be in the works, though given the fact that Tudor has used it for its Pelagos dive watch, the Submariner is definitely the leading contender.
Rolex threw us a curveball last year with the left-hander GMT Master II, complete with a new green and black bezel combination. Since the GMT Master doesn’t celebrate its 70th birthday for another two years, we’d be shocked if they did something similar this year.
No, we reckon a fully updated “Coke” bezel GMT-Master II on an Oyster bracelet will be as far as Rolex goes when it comes to this particular model. Nothing ground-breaking, but long-time Rolex aficionados will lap up the familiarity of such a model coming back into the fold.
As 80s-inspired timepieces are starting to come back into fashion, we’ve seen an array of releases in bold yellow-gold colourways—Vacheron Constantin’s new 222 model is a prime example. Rolex has already released bi-metal models of the Explorer I and Sea-Dweller in steel and yellow-gold, but could it unveil full yellow-gold versions this year? Or perhaps the Crown will bring us another bi-metal yellow-gold and steel number via the Explorer II…
And don’t rule out Rolex doing something really creative with the Explorer II’s dial. Maybe one that reflects its rugged aura of adventure—the blue of Alpine lakes or a nod to the rolling dunes of the Sahara desert.
New Rolex 2023 Releases
Rolex typically isn’t the type of brand who blows things out for a watch’s birthday, but the Daytona isn’t just a drinks-and-dinner type of timepiece. For the watch’s 60th anniversary, the brand has completely revisited the line. And, for Rolex, which prefers to make changes incrementally, that means there are “subtle refinements” to the dial and case, according to a press release, and a new movement. Those subtle refinements include smaller hour markers and a lil’ crown at 6 o’ clock. The new movement, the Daytona’s first since 2000, adds new functionality, like the ability to “measure intervals of time.”
Only the most desirable color combinations are part of the revamped Daytona line. The showstopper is the platinum model with an ice-blue dial and irresistible chocolate bezel. Other color combinations include the black-and-white “Panda” dial and a lot of gold: gold dial with a black bezel, gold bezel with a white dial, and rose-gold-everything with a black dial.
The revamped Daytona will steal headlines but the watches I’m gravitating towards initially are these golden versions of the GMT-Master II. The leader in the clubhouse of Watch I’d Sell My Soul For is the full-gold GMT. While the GMT usually sports a bright two-tone bezel in famous configurations like the red-and-blue Pepsi or blue-and-black Batman, this new model takes a subtler approach. The bezel is still two toned but pairs black with… less black. One new version comes on a “Rolesor” bracelet—meaning a combination of gold and steel—and the other is made entirely out of gold.
The GMT was invented as a sporty watch for Pan-Am crews in the ‘50s but this a very upgraded take on that original model. While that watch was built for commercial flying, this is a GMT designed for the PJ.
Judging by the standards of most watch brands, the new lineup of Day-Dates is pretty out there. By Rolex’s standards, they are completely off the wall. We’ve rarely ever seen anything from the Crown like its new jigsaw Day-Date. The watch’s dial, which comes in light blue and mandarin orange, features an image of a jigsaw puzzle and the hour markers are made out of a Haribo-pack of baguette diamonds.
This is a watch that completely embraces our current new-age wellness era. The Day-Date typically uses the window at top to display the day of the week and the aperture at 3 o’clock to show the date but who needs to be on time for appointments when you have this watch? The new Day-Date coasts entirely on vibes. Really good ones: the day window now rotates between affirmative words like “Happy,” “Eternity,” “Gratitude,” “Peace,” “Faith,” “Love,” and “Hope.” The date window also shows a new emoji, like a heart, every day. Isn’t that sweet?
While all variants of the stainless steel and white gold Rolex Sky-Dweller are popular, the blue dial version is the most in-demand of them all. In fact, the Sky-Dweller ref. 326934 with a blue dial has a market value that's about twice its official retail price
What complication does the Sky-Dweller have?
Since the Rolex Sky-Dweller is fitted with 'Saros' (the name of its annual calendar complication) the watch's date display automatically adjusts for the different numbers of days in each month and only requires resetting once per year – at the end of February.
As the brand does each year, for 2021, Rolex introduced a series of new model line extensions for its popular watches. In the Sky-Dweller family, we timepiece lovers get six new models, each paired with one of Rolex’s Jubilee-style multi-link bracelets. The new 2021 Rolex Sky-Dweller watches include mostly steel models (the fluted bezels are always in gold), as well as two-tone Rolesor versions. Rolex already offers the Sky-Dweller on Oyster-style bracelets, as well as Oysterflex straps. On the Jubilee bracelet, the reference 326933 and 326934 (as pictured in this post) very much feel like “Super Datejusts” with highly similar personalities but with larger cases and more complicated movements than the icon Datejust.
That’s right, Balazs and Mike are on the move across Germany and the Netherlands. They’ve decided to bring along some wireless mics and record while driving because, honestly, they’re talking about watches anyhow. It just so happens that the episode falls during a period when there’s some real news from Synchron, Omega, and Grand Seiko. We think that the sound quality is rather good despite our high-speed transit, but please be aware that some wind noise may occur.
This week, our Handgelenks Kontrolle is actually part of the main topic! Mike kicks things off from the helm with the brand-spanking-new Synchron Militsary Poseidon, a cool take on the Synchron Military/Doxa Army theme. He explains the back story of this fun release. Balazs, on the other hand, is in the passenger seat wearing his stunning Grand Seiko SBGA439. Despite some struggles with getting it sized just right, he’s rocking it on the factory bracelet. This leads the duo to discussions about the new Grand Seiko SLGA021, a watch that both really like.
Then, we take a verbal detour and spend a few minutes talking about the Autobahn, explaining that it’s not always all that it’s cracked up to be. Finally, we give our thoughts on the just-announced Omega Speedmaster Super Racing. It’s not a small watch, but we both find aspects to like while hoping that the technology continues to make its way into more Omega watches.
We hope you enjoyed this week’s episode, and thank you for listening. It was truly a lot of fun to record! As always, if you have ideas for future shows, feel free to let us know.