Crystal ball sold separately. (Photo credit: Rolex)
In the media, anniversaries are often overused to justify Rolex predictions. Based on Coronet’s interviews with the brand, Rolex appears to resist using anniversaries as a reason to introduce new watches. The brand even eschews any mention on its official site that the green-bezel Submariner began as an anniversary model.
The 80th anniversary of one of its most important collections, the Datejust, passed in 2025 without any anniversary release. The GMT-Master’s 70th anniversary did as well. When the Submariner turned 70 in 2023, Rolex made a minor hue adjustment to the green bezel, without a press release. The most recent anniversary marked by Rolex with a new model was not even its own, but the 100 years of the Le Mans race.
A more reliable way to make a Rolex prediction is to look at Tudor, as the two brands often move in parallel. Both introduced steel GMT models with Pepsi bezels in 2018. The opaline-dial Black Bay Pro with its orange hand is clearly inspired by the Explorer II. Tudor’s 1970s-style, integrated-bracelet Royal surfaced ahead of the Land-Dweller. Amazingly, this year, both brands released chronographs with pink and turquoise dials within months of each other. (The “Barbie Daytona” is an ultra-rare, off-catalog piece.)
Following Tudor’s release of the Ranger with a light dial just two months ago, a white-dial Explorer would be an easy addition for Rolex while renewing excitement for one of its entry-level watches. Similarly, offering the Daytona on a Jubilee bracelet, as Tudor already does with the Black Bay Chrono, would require minimal industrial change at a time when Rolex’s manufactures operate at full capacity. Finally, Tudor’s release of its first-ever moonphase watch last September also raises questions about the near-term plans for one of Rolex's newest collections, the 1908.