(Photo credit: Reddit/@Automatic_Week_1848)
A Reddit post on Friday by a user named Automatic_Week_1848 shows a Rolex Oyster Perpetual with a lavender dial displayed in the window of an official Rolex retailer (pictured).
The image, taken at the Oriental Watch Company in Hong Kong’s Hysan Place mall, according to the poster, shows the lavender watch set on a Rolex stand. The intrigue? The watch appears to be 41mm in diameter, a size in which Rolex does not currently offer the lavender dial. At least, officially.
This magazine has speculated Rolex may expand the Oyster Perpetual line this fall, as the 41mm currently offers only six colors, compared with nine for the 31mm and 36mm versions. The lavender dial is currently offered in all four sizes except the 41mm.
So, is the watch in the photo a 41mm? The double-baton indices at 9 and 3 o’clock and the more pronounced winding crown suggest a larger case, while the hour markers at 11 and 1 extend noticeably beyond the Rolex coronet, a tell-tale sign of the 41mm case.
What’s puzzling is Rolex’s official website does not list the lavender dial among the 41mm options. So, the photo taken in Hong Kong could be a simple optical illusion — or a glimpse of what’s to come.
Side by side: the 36mm (left) and 41mm (right) Rolex Oyster Perpetual. On the 41mm, the hour markers at 11 and 1 o’clock extend past the Rolex coronet. (Rolex)