Rolex's Newest Face of the Brand is 21

A watch to serve him well. (Credit: Rolex)

U.S. tennis player Ben Shelton announced this weekend on Instagram he is Rolex’s newest Testimonee. The announcement came before the start of the Australian Open, an event sponsored by Rolex that marks the start of the tennis season. The left-handed tennis player chose the Rolex GMT-Master II with the crown on the left.

Shelton joins Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Świątek and Coco Gauff, young players signed by Rolex early in their careers. From equestrian sports to Formula 1, Rolex is signing athletes younger than ever — some in their teens — and before their first wins, I’ve reported earlier. Shelton is just 21 and has never won a Grand Slam tournament or even an ATP Tour Masters.

None of the pros wear a Rolex while playing tennis, and they are rarely photographed when not plying their trades — unlike, say, actors or singers. Still, Rolex sponsors more tennis players than any other kind of celebrities. The brand wants to be associated with the lifting of the trophy, and it is willing to wait for it.

Is the Syloxi the Future of Rolex?

All the right moves. (Photo credit: Rolex)

Rolex released a "Celebrating Rolex Watchmaking in 2023" video earlier this week, and while the 30-second video briefly features the Parachrom hairspring, it’s leaving out the brand’s newest hairspring innovation which made an appearance for the first time in a men's watch in 2023: the Syloxi hairspring.

Rolex has been slowly and cautiously introducing the Syloxi hairspring for years in women's watches, like the Ladies Datejust, OP 31 and Yacht-Master 37. The brand says the silicon-made hairspring provides great stability during temperature variations and is also resistant to strong magnetic fields and shocks.

“Although it was designed for our small and medium-diameter models and our thinnest watches... [it] has all the makings of a giant,” Rolex said. The Syloxi could be the future in Rolex men’s watches and a new reason for its clients to upgrade.

Rolex to Build the Brand's Largest European Showroom

Building success. (Photo credit: @watchyouare)

Construction is underway for a new Rolex boutique on Bond Street, in London, to be operated by Watches of Switzerland.

The boutique will become the largest Rolex showroom in Europe, the latest sign Rolex continues to consolidate points of sale as it grapples with product shortage. Watches of Switzerland will close the other Bond Street location. Wempe closed its Bond Street boutique last year after Rolex cancelled its contract. The news was first reported by WatchPro.

Last year, Rolex also opened flagship boutiques in Dublin, Seattle and announced the acquisition of Bucherer, the largest Rolex retailer in the world. It is currently building a 28-story flagship location in Manhattan.

I wrote here about Rolex’s growing investment in real estate whose returns have outstripped the sale of watches, according to a former Rolex executive.

Rolex Exclusive Dial May Reveal New Strategy

In tune with the times. (Photo credit: Rolex)

The release this year of Rolex’s newest timepiece, an “exclusive version” of a Day-Date, “a tribute to generations of musicians,” according to the brand, could be a harbinger of things to come: exclusive models celebrating partnerships. Rolex told me the new Day-Date with the violin dial will not be part of the catalog.

The Day-Date, unveiled for the Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Concert, came just months after the release of a Daytona celebrating 100 years of Le Mans, a special Daytona equipped with an exclusive 24-hour chronograph movement, a nod to the race.

Rolex has sponsored the 24 hours of Le Mans since 2001 and the Vienna Philharmonic since 2008. Future exclusive-edition designs paying tribute to other long-standing partnerships are likely at Rolex, a strategy commonly used by luxury brands to create artificial scarcity.

Rolex Drops Video Touting Online Shopping

From cart to carat. (Photo credit: Rolex)

For the first time in Rolex history, the brand released a video showing the online purchase of a Rolex watch.

The thirty-second clip released Thursday touts the ability to browse pre-owned Rolex watches online, including adding a watch to a virtual shopping cart. The video came two weeks after a French regulatory body fined Rolex over preventing authorized dealers in France from selling new watches online.

Because Rolex wants the online shopping experience to be uniform across retailers, it provides a copy-and-pastable source code while allowing each retailer to personalize content relating to their points of sale, the brand said. Rolex requires retailers’ websites to have certain technical specifications and keep the Rolex section segregated from other certified pre-owned brands. But Rolex says it also helps retailers be more visible on search engines like Google.

In a NY Times Ad, Rolex Explains the New Day-Date

Time to ad-mire. (Source: Rolex via NY Times)

Just don’t call it a cello. The dial on Rolex's newest watch, a Day-Date 36 that pays tribute to classical music, is a violin. That's according to the only piece of communication from Rolex about the watch: a printed ad in The New York Times.

“The brand has chosen the date of this beloved annual concert, which takes place on January 1. 2024 in Vienna, to unveil a refined, musical interpretation of the Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 36,” the ad reads. The ad is not available online.

Rolex describes the dial as a “finely crafted dial representing a violin and its volute, a decoration made using the champlevé method of grand feu enameling. Directly etched into the yellow gold base, the violin design is colored by hand in different shades of green — the brand's emblematic colors — which have been selected for their intensity and depth.”

The ad was first reported by Highsnobiety.

Rolex 1908 Finds Footing on the Secondary Market

The Fab Four. (Photo credit: Rolex)

The Rolex Perpetual 1908, which entered the U.S. market in November, has appeared on the secondary market with prices listed at $10,000 above retail. Only one example is listed on eBay which comes from a Japanese dealer, at $32,241. The U.S. retail price of a yellow-gold 1908 is $22,000; a white-gold, $23,300.

On Chrono24, four examples are in the U.S., six in Europe. The lowest-priced 1908 belongs to a French dealer whose white-gold example is listed at $27,409.

Eric Wind of Wind Vintage recommends taking off 10% of the lowest price listed on Chrono24 to gauge the market value of a modern Rolex, putting the 1908 in the mid-24,000.

New Rolex Day-Date Emerges on Instagram

Striking a chord.

A Rolex Day-Date with the new cello dial was spotted on Instagram. The four-second wrist-roll video from a balcony went viral on Tuesday in an Instagram Story. Instagram Stories disappear after 24 hours. The author is unknown.

The dial features three parts of a cello outlined in gold color. Each part of the cello is in three shades of green. The dial was designed by Vincent de Peyer, the same Rolex designer who created the Palm Motif dial, according to Rolex’s design filing in the IPI Database.

The watch is currently not listed on Rolex.com. Coronet posted a picture of the new dial on Instagram and on Twitter on Dec. 1, 2023.

Rolex to Build New Training Center

Touching the Crown. (Photo credit: Rolex)

Rolex will open a new training center in Bulle, the future location of its fifth manufacture, the brand’s second training center worldwide. The brand opened its first Centre de Formation Rolex in Sept. 2018 in Geneva and trains almost 3,000 people a year, Rolex said.

A new training center bodes well for the industry, which is grappling with a shortage of watchmakers despite record employment in the sector, according to a recent report by the Convention patronale de l'industrie horlogère suisse.

The new training center in Bulle will go beyond watchmaking techniques. Employees will be taught the company’s history, culture and values, as well as its watches, Rolex said. In 1984, Rolex was the first watchmaking company in Geneva to take on apprentices.

Rolex to Ring in the New Year With Vienna Concert

Rolex Testimonee Gustavo Dudamel. (Photo credit: Rolex)

One of the rare news releases Rolex publishes every year is about the Vienna Philharmonic New Year concert slated on Jan. 1st.

“Millions of people in more than 90 countries are able to enjoy the music, which is broadcast live from Vienna’s Musikverein,” Rolex said. Rolex has been Exclusive Partner of this prestigious orchestra since 2008 and, since Jan. 2009, the Exclusive Sponsor of the New Year’s Concert.

Coronet was first to break the news Rolex will be honoring music and the arts with the release of a new Day-Date in 2024. The new Day-Date dial features three parts of a cello outlined in gold color.

Jingle All the Way: NFL Scores Style Points With Rolex at Xmas

Day-date and sign at the bottom. (Photo credit: Philadelphia Eagles)

The love for Rolex watches among NFL players, including Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes, has been well documented. Whether it is their robustness, elegance or symbol of achievement, they remain gift favorites in the NFL during the holiday season.

Jalen Hurts, the 25-year-old Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, who has been spotted in the past with a silver-dial Datejust, a two-tone Daytona and an olive-green-dial Day-Date, decided to show his appreciation to his offensive line, who protect him on the field. The gifted 40mm Day-Dates in Everose gold also happen to be Hurts’ favorite among Rolex models, according to Essentially Sports.

Meanwhile in the South, Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints quarterback — and four-time Pro Bowl quarterback — joined the Rolex-gift giving at Christmas by bestowing his wide receivers with new Datejusts… fully encrusted with diamonds. The two iced-out Datejusts were gifted to Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, according to TMZ Sports.

Rolex Price Increase Likely in 2024

Image: Rolex

Last year, on average, most Rolex watches were up by about 7 to 8% on a year-to-date basis, with a few exceptions, such as the Yacht-Master II collection or Air-King.

No announcement has been made by Rolex in Geneva. But a leaked document in Italy has us wondering whether prices will be higher in 2024, at least in some countries. The new Rolex price list leaked from Italy, with prices in euros, show an average difference of about +4% compared to 2023 prices, a price hike that can be expected in other countries in Europe, including in the U.K. Here’s the leaked document.

The Submariner Date would be up 3.9%; the GMT-Master (BLNR on Jubilee), 4.1%; the Datejust 41 on Jubilee, 3.8%. The price tag of the Perpetual 1908, a watch not even a year old, has been bumped 1,400 euros. The model experiencing the least increase is the Oyster Perpetual at 3.1%.

‘Rocky’ Rocks Rock-Filled Rolex in Vegas

Image courtesy: Fontainebleu Hotel

Sylvester Stallone chose a blue Submariner for the Fontainebleau Hotel Grand Opening in Las Vegas Wednesday.

Las Vegas seemingly sucked up all of Hollywood — folks like Kim Kardashian, Cher, Tom Brady, Kendall Jenner, and many more flocked to the desert to schmooze, entertain and, of course, gamble at the grand opening of the city's new resort. The Fontainebleau Hotel, a longtime Miami landmark, just expanded to Sin City with a brand new $3.7 billion luxury casino.

Stallone's Rolex — reference 116659SABR — was therefore needed to fit in with the meaning of the celebration. The blue ‘Rocky’ Sub’s bezel is made of 27 dark-blue sapphires, 9 light-blue sapphires and 11 diamonds, all baguette-cut. Fun fact: Rolex watches with pavé dials are the only models not baring “Oyster Perpetual” on the dial, except for the 1908.

Rolex Gears Up for 2024 Tennis Season With Blue OP

Credit: Rolex

Rolex is getting ready for the start of the 2024 tennis season with the Australian Open slated to begin on Jan. 14. The brand uploaded a video earlier this month — still unlisted on YouTube — showing its choice for the Oyster Perpetual with blue dial and smooth bezel to represent the tournament, as the brand did in the past two years. In 2020, Rolex picked the Datejust with a blue dial and fluted bezel for the Australian Open.

While the Oyster Perpetual is the cheapest Rolex in the collection, the watch’s color and sporty look match the hard surface of the AO tournament, likely a reason for the pick.

Caroline Wozniacki has been a Rolex Testimonee for more than a decade and the last Testimonee to have won the AO, in 2018. The Danish tennis player said she is looking forward to taking her family back to Australia, a place that means so much to her. “Lifting the trophy in 2018 is something I will never forget, and the Rolex Daytona I wore that day is a constant reminder of this incredible moment. Returning as a mother is going to be a very emotional and unforgettable experience.”

A Perpetual Calendar Might Be in the Works at Rolex

Source: Rolex

It's one of the most fascinating and intricate complications the watch world has to offer because the date doesn't have to be adjusted until year 2100. Already in the collection of dozens of brands today, the perpetual calendar was never offered by Rolex, a brand famous, ironically, for its "Perpetual" marketing.

But a patent filed by Rolex late last year and made public this year has us hoping for 2024. One of the challenges in a perpetual calendar is the loss of energy at the oscillator when the movement has to instantaneous-jump three days, resulting in a drop of amplitude, the brand asserts in its filing introduction. In a breakthrough in amplitude conservation using a flexible component, Rolex said it has also built on innovations from previous patents — including the 9002 annual calendar movement equipping the 2023 Sky-Dweller — to build a semi-perpetual or perpetual calendar that minimizes energy loss while still being compact.

Rolex Auction Results Point to Split Market Trends

Image: Sotheby’s

Last week, a 14kt gold Daytona “John Player Special” sold for triple the estimate set by Sotheby's and reached seven figures. The watch belonged to a gentleman who had passed away in 1974, a few years after its purchase. The family had just recently discovered the Daytona 6241 in a pouch that had been kept in a safe, untouched for nearly 50 years.

At that same auction, a 1999 Submariner 16610 with a “Panama Canal” dial had a top estimate of $70,000; it sold for $215,900. Over at Phillips the same week-end, a Space-Dweller 1016 sold for nearly double the high-end estimate. A gold GMT 16758 sold for six figures after the estimates pegged it at around $60,000. Both auction houses had 36mm vintage Day-Dates whose sales shattered the auction houses’ top estimates.

While recent headlines have highlighted Rolex market’s two-year slump, auction results for discontinued watches in top condition have told a different story, exceeding all expectations, the latest sign of a split secondary market whose trend disparity is widening more than ever.