French Government to Sell 66 Rolex Watches in Largest Rolex Auction of the Year

Image: encheres-domaine.gouv.fr

In a rare event, this year's largest Rolex auction in France will take place on Dec. 6, when no fewer than 66 Rolex watches will be for sale, including new and vintage GMTs, Submariners and Daytonas with bidding prices starting at 800 euros for a two-tone Datejust to 8,000 euros for a gold Daytona 116518 on Oysterflex. All the proceeds are going to the French government.

The watches for sale came from AGRASC, or the French Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets. The watches being surplussed by the French government were seized during police operations. A total of 160 watches will be auctioned off in Besançon, France, including from brands like Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe. Online bidding is allowed via auction house Drouot.

Rolex Outer Bezels to Unlock Chrono Pushers

Image: Rolex via USPTO

Rolex has recently filed a patent improving the lock and unlock mechanisms of their future chronograph pushers.

Instead of unscrewing the chronograph pushers individually by hand, the outer rim of a bezel would be able to unscrew both pushers at the same time.

While the bezel would remain fixed, in the case of a Daytona or a Yacht-Master II, for example, the outer edge of the bezel could rotate when it is gripped by the wearer. Small teeth placed under the outer rim would connect with and unscrew both chronograph pushers as it rotates, the patent revealed.

These pages reported last month Rolex had filed a patent for a new Yacht-Master II movement. The movement would allow for the use of the pusher at 4 o’clock to set the minute countdown hand by pressing the pusher repetitively, a quicker process than in the current model.

The reference number of the Yacht-Master II is one of the last to still start with “11.” A new reference could be released as early as Apr. 9, 2024.

Rolex Testimonees Are Getting Younger

Jamie Chadwick and Harry Charles. (Photo courtesy: Rolex)

Racecar driver Jamie Chadwick was recruited by Rolex when she was 24. The three-time winner of the W Series, who is now a test driver for a racing team in Formula 1, has her picture on Rolex’s website next to Sirs Malcolm Campbell and Jackie Stewart. “[She] embodies the evolution of motor sport to be inclusive of women,” Rolex said.

Chadwick is part of a trend at Rolex to sign athletes young and before their first big win.

Attending the CHI de Genève next week, the world’s leading showjumping event, is Rolex's youngest equestrian testimonee, Britain’s Harry Charles. Recruited as a Rolex testimonee while still a teenager, Charles said he found the title intimidating at first. “When I went to my very first Rolex lunch with all the fellow highly successful testimonees, 19-year-old me was feeling a little bit out of place,” he told the South China Morning Post.

In tennis, Iga Świątek and Carlos Alcaraz were signed by Rolex when they were teenagers. Today they rank 1st and 2nd, respectively, in the world. Coco Gauff was signed by Rolex when she was just 16. When she won her first Major singles title three years later, at the U.S. Open in Sept. 2023, Rolex had her picture on the frontpage of Rolex.com, a rare display for the brand.

New Rolex Video Shows NFC Feature on Service Cards

From Rolex.com

Rolex added a video explaining the use of Near Field Communication technology, or NFC, on service cards. Back in October, these pages first reported Rolex had switched to an NFC-chipped service card, the two-year warranty card included when a Rolex watch returns from service. This feature first equipped original warranty cards in 2020.

The 23-second clip shows the kinds of information gleaned when a service card is placed near a smartphone. Rolex says the new service card technology is compatible with most smartphones, including versions, or newer versions, of Apple iPhone 7 with iOS 13, Samsung Galaxy S3, Huawei P9, Xiaomi Mi3, Google Nexus 4, Pixel, HTC One.

The service card data include the watch's reference and serial number, the end date of the warranty, as well as details on the service performed by Rolex.

The iPhone in the video shows a date of 28 and a time of exactly 10:10, the standard time and date displayed on all Rolex communication.

AI Teases Watch Lovers With Lego-Rolex Collab

Photo credit: @AIslides on TikTok

What happens when the most reputable brand teams up with the most reputable watch brand. We could only wish! A TikTok user has recently created and posted this AI-rendition of a Rolex-edition lego set, and it has the watch community’s imagination running wild.

The AI-generated pictures captioned “Lego Luxury Watch Sets,” which include Rolex, AP and Cartier, went viral last week and were reposted on major high-horology accounts on Instagram. “It would probably be the collaboration that satisfies everyone. Please @lego do it,” one Instagram user wrote. “It would be the best way to introduce children to the field of fine watchmaking.”

Dear Santa…

Rolex Gears Up Recruitment Efforts

Photo courtesy: Rolex

Rolex announced this week it will hold recrutement en direct, or walk-in job interviews, for a variety of internship positions in the company next year. The interviews will be held in Geneva on Feb. 1st, 2024, and are free to anyone without prior registration. Rolex closes for most of the month of January.

The positions offered are for apprentissage, or internship, but it's unclear if the positions are unpaid. Rolex also posted over 270 full-time paid positions. The company has 9,000 employees.

The listings posted on Rolex’s website include a wide variety of jobs: R&D engineering, Java developer, quality control, robotic mechanic, illustrator, translator, etc.

A position worth noting: Ingénieur Environnement. “For our Production and R&D divisions, we are looking for Environmental Engineers whose main mission will be to carry out studies of the environmental impacts of products and manufacturing processes,” Rolex said on its website. Rolex earlier this month published for the first time its sustainability policy.

Artisans de Genève Unveils New Custom Rolex Daytona

Photo courtesy: Artisans de Genève

Swiss-watch customization brand Artisans de Genève, which made the news in August when Maroon 5 Adam Levine revealed his neon Daytona, has once again introduced a new work to its collection.

The brand unveiled on Thursday the new custom watch “Scona” with a blue dial and a midnight-blue ceramic bezel.

The customer, who desired to remain anonymous, said he wanted his Rolex Daytona 116500 to reflect his fond memories of Italian vintage watches, cars and other items, combining vintage lifestyle codes with his passion for traditional watchmaking. "I’ve always been fascinated by this era: the objects, the cars, the unique know-how but also the drive to be ever more creative," he said.

The realization of the dial alone required seven layers of lacquer, each one grained and polished by hand, according to Artisans de Genève.

Amid a Market Slump, an Unlikely Performer

Photo credit: Fratello

Prices for used Rolex watches fell to fresh two-year lows on the secondary market last month, a Bloomberg article reported this week. “Rolex prices have now been declining for 20 months, and they've dropped 30% since their peak,” according to a recent WatchCharts video titled "When Will Rolex Prices Stop Falling."

One Rolex that has completely beaten the market is not your typical hype-watch: a five-digit, yellow-gold, 36mm Day-Date. The Rolex Day-Date 36 ref. 18238 has never stopped increasing in value during the secondary market's biggest slump in recent memory.

According to ChronoPulse, a market tracker by Chrono24, the Day-Date 36 ref. 18238 was continuously the best performer of the past three years.

The value of the 18238 has appreciated 17.75% in the past three months alone based on actual Chrono24 sold prices, not just list prices; 16.99% in the past six months. If you bought a 18238 a year ago, your watch value would have gone up 8.45%; if you bought it three years ago, 68.63%. Four years: an astounding 88.86% increase in value.

Don Walsh, Ultimate Deep-Sea Diver, Dies at 92

Photo courtesy: Rolex

Retired Navy Capt. Don Walsh, a renowned explorer who traveled to the ocean’s deepest point with an experimental Rolex strapped to the bathyscaphe, passed away Sunday. He was 92.

Walsh, a native of Berkeley, Calif., enlisted in the Navy in 1948 and worked as an aircrewman before he attended the U.S. Naval Academy. He became a submarine officer, commanding USS Bashaw (SSKS-241), and later became the Navy’s first deep submersible pilot.

Walsh was a Navy lieutenant on Jan. 23, 1960, and in command of the bathyscaphe Trieste when he and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard dove deep into the Mariana Trench, the deepest known depression on the Earth's surface. An experimental Rolex Oyster watch, the Deep Sea Special, was attached to the outside of the Trieste.

Rolex gifted Walsh, in 2010, an engraved Submariner “Hulk” 116610LV for the 50th anniversary of the historic dive. The caseback engraving read: “Don Walsh. Deepest Dive. 1960-2010. In Appreciation.” Walsh said in a Rolex video he was very proud of the watch. “It never leaves my sight,” he said.

Rolex Files Patent for New Yacht-Master II Movement

The Rolex dedicated to sailing and built for the timing of a regatta start, the Yacht-Master II, has one of the most complicated movements of Rolex's lineup. Also nicknamed “the other Rolex chronograph,” the Yacht-Master II has a countdown timer which can be set between 1 to 10 minutes, allowing skippers to time their start on the water.

According to a recent patent filed by Rolex, the Yacht-Master II will soon get a refresh, and the new movement will be easier to use. The countdown programmation can be easily done by repetitively pushing the button at 4 o’clock while the chrono is stopped. No need to use the command bezel or to unscrew the crown. (When the button at 4 o’clock is pushed while the chrono is running, the flyback function remains as in previous models.)

The movement design stems from 2007, when the Yacht-Master II was first introduced. A decade ago, Rolex introduced the steel version of the Yacht-Master II and renamed the movement from 4160 to 4161. The reference number of the Yacht-Master II is one of the last to still start with “11”. A new Yacht-Master II that is easier to use will likely put pressure on prices for the discontinued model.

Rolex Releases Sustainability Policy

Rolex.com

Rolex added for the first time details of its sustainability policy on rolex.com, wanting "to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs."

Will future Rolex watches include climate-friendly features? Rolex said it is committed to use "innovation and pioneering spirit" to "adapt to tomorrow's challenges." It also wants to reduce its environmental impact in the process, from manufacture to sale.

For the first time, the watchmaker has also built an alert system for anyone to register concerns linked to harmful effects by Rolex’s supply chain related to minerals or metals sourced from high-risk areas or involving child labor.

Earlier this year, Rolex trademarked the name and logo for “Rolex Impact and Sustainability.” In 2019, it launched the Perpetual Planet Initiative.

Jörg Bucherer Dies Months After Selling Business to Rolex

Photo courtesy: Bucherer

Jörg G. Bucherer, the billionaire third-generation scion of the largest Swiss watch retailer in the world, has died just months after agreeing to sell the business to Rolex. He was 87. The Swiss newspaper Handelszeitung was first to report the news, which was confirmed Tuesday by the Lucerne-based Bucherer group.

Mr. Bucherer took over his father's business in 1977 and pursued a policy of expansion in Austria and Germany. He also opened the world's largest watch and jewelry store in Paris and made acquisitions in the U.K. and U.S. He launched into the second-hand luxury watch business and was first to take part in Rolex’s certified pre-owned program. Today, the brand has more than a hundred specialized jewelry stores around the world and 2,400 employees.

On August 24, 2023, Rolex issued a press release announcing it had decided to acquire the watch retailer “following the choice made by Jörg Bucherer, in the absence of direct descendants, to sell his company’s business.” Rolex said it wanted to preserve the close partnership ties that have linked both companies since 1924.

Mr. Bucherer was the last businessman to personally know Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf and work with him. 

The Rolex 1908 Makes an Appearance... on the Tennis Court

Photo courtesy: Rolex

Real-life sightings of the Rolex Perpetual 1908, Rolex's newest collection, have been rarer than Daytona Le Mans'. But that's the watch Polish tennis pro Iga Świątek chose Monday to celebrate her WTA Finals win, in Cancun, re-capturing the world No. 1 ranking in the process.

The very first spotting in the wild of a Perpetual 1908 line was at this year's Met Gala, when Roger Federer who was co-chairing the event, wore the white-gold, black-dial version, just a month after its release.

Since then, the Perpetual 1908 — the 39mm gold watch with an exhibition caseback named after the year the Rolex brand was created — has been seen extremely rarely.

Ms. Świątek was signed by Rolex back in January 2021, at the age of 19. She had been the highest-ranked teenager in women's tennis singles and the first Polish player to win a Grand Slam singles title in history. On Monday, the 22-year-old selected a yellow-gold, white-dial 1908 to celebrate her win.

Rolex CPO Inventory in U.S. Reaches New High

Photo credit: Govberg Jewelers

WatchBox, Govberg, Radcliffe and Hyde Park Jewelers announced last week they have merged into a single organization called The 1916 Company, named after the year Govberg Jewelers was founded in Philadelphia. The four entities will sell all their pre-owned Rolex watches through the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned program only.

Executive chairman of The 1916 Company Danny Govberg said the new merged company has around 1,000 Rolex watches that have been through the Rolex CPO process and will be sold with the new international guarantee. He believes the company “will probably be one of, if not the largest certified pre-owned Rolex jeweler in the world.”

Meanwhile, Boston-based and family-owned jeweler Long’s Jewelers, founded in 1878, also announced on Nov. 1st it had started offering CPO Rolex watches for the first time at two Long’s Jewelers stores and online at longsjewelers.com.

Rolex’s U.S. rollout of its certified pre-owned program began in the spring at Tourneau/Bucherer. Watches of Switzerland’s U.S. stores started selling certified pre-owned Rolex watches in August.

Rolex Partners With Wildlife Photographers

Photo courtesy: Cristina Mittermeier

Rolex said it is now supporting two wildlife photographers in their efforts to document the issues facing the world’s oceans through visual storytelling.

Award-winning photographers Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen — who cofounded SeaLegacy, a non-profit that brings together filmmakers, photographers, marine and climate experts to build engagement and protect the oceans — are the latest addition to Rolex’s expanding portfolio of partnerships.

Rolex said it helped Ms. Mittermeier and Mr. Nicklen produce two films featuring the ocean as a place of discovery and exploration that supports all life on earth.

In recent years, Rolex has increasingly moved from supporting exploration for the pure sake of discovery to exploration for protecting the planet, as part of its Perpetual Planet Initiative launched in 2019.

Unpolished 70-Year-Old Rolex Surfaces at Auction

Photo courtesy: Phillips

A fresh-to-market unpolished Rolex ref. 6062 will be auctioned off in Geneva on Nov 4th. Auction house Phillips calls it "an absolutely exceptional specimen. Preserved in unpolished condition, the case is a sight to behold."

The 36mm stainless-steel Rolex manufactured circa 1953 is expected to reach between 1 million and 2 million Swiss francs. Reference 6062 is one of two Rolex models to feature a triple-calendar complication with a moon phase complication.

Phillips says this example displays completely original lines, curves and finishes with the numbers between the lugs "incredibly crisp." The inside caseback does not display any service marks of any kind; the auction house believes the watch must have seen very little wrist time since its creation.