Rolex... I’m not angry... I’m just disappointed.
How does everyone feel about the latest releases from Watches and Wonders yesterday?
Rolex were predictably disappointing and in my opinion missed a huge opportunity to exploit the 60th anniversary of the Explorer II by failing to release a special edition, which everyone wanted.
Instead they removed the 39mm Explorer 1 (which is in my opinion the perfect size for it) and replaced it with a 36mm, then opting to do a bicolour version which nobody foresaw and few wanted.
Gold versions of the Sub and GMT and Yachmaster are all fine because they are ironically brash, a rich yob’s middle finger to the world. The Explorer 1 was always the innocent one, the purists tool watch, and by making it gold I’m left feeling that Rolex has corrupted its essence and the look seems to grate against its ethos.
The two new Datejust 36 dials (Palm and Fluted motifs) are nice, but it’s a shame they weren’t offered in the 31 and 41mm too.
The GMT Batman and Pepsi are now available with Osyter bracelets.... great... you could always do this, they were always interchangeable. It’s not as if the bracelets have been brought up to modern standards (Rolex are seriously lagging behind their contemporaries here, Omega and IWC in particular).
And the Daytona is now available with the Oysterflex rubber strap and a meteorite dial. As good as it looks, it seems odd that they didn’t make the Oysterflex available on their actual core DIVING watches (Submariner and SeaDweller).
I think IWC, Breitling and Tudor absolutely knocked it out of the park with their new Baby Big Pilot, Premier Heritage and Black Bay 58 ranges.
Rolex..... I’m not angry... I’m just disappointed.
Rolex were predictably disappointing and in my opinion missed a huge opportunity to exploit the 60th anniversary of the Explorer II by failing to release a special edition, which everyone wanted.
Instead they removed the 39mm Explorer 1 (which is in my opinion the perfect size for it) and replaced it with a 36mm, then opting to do a bicolour version which nobody foresaw and few wanted.
Gold versions of the Sub and GMT and Yachmaster are all fine because they are ironically brash, a rich yob’s middle finger to the world. The Explorer 1 was always the innocent one, the purists tool watch, and by making it gold I’m left feeling that Rolex has corrupted its essence and the look seems to grate against its ethos.
The two new Datejust 36 dials (Palm and Fluted motifs) are nice, but it’s a shame they weren’t offered in the 31 and 41mm too.
The GMT Batman and Pepsi are now available with Osyter bracelets.... great... you could always do this, they were always interchangeable. It’s not as if the bracelets have been brought up to modern standards (Rolex are seriously lagging behind their contemporaries here, Omega and IWC in particular).
And the Daytona is now available with the Oysterflex rubber strap and a meteorite dial. As good as it looks, it seems odd that they didn’t make the Oysterflex available on their actual core DIVING watches (Submariner and SeaDweller).
I think IWC, Breitling and Tudor absolutely knocked it out of the park with their new Baby Big Pilot, Premier Heritage and Black Bay 58 ranges.
Rolex..... I’m not angry... I’m just disappointed.