(Rolex image, modified)
For the launch of the Land-Dweller project several years ago, Rolex’s office of general management tasked its design teams with creating a model that would share nomenclature with the Sea-Dweller and the Sky-Dweller.
If Coronet had been stuck in an elevator with Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour for any length of time, his pitch would have been for the Sun-Dweller: Rolex’s first solar-powered watch, a natural complement to the Sky- and Sea-Dweller.
The name may sound bold, even harmful to your health, but so are the seas and skies Rolex already chooses to dwell in. (At least, the name starts with an “S.”)
(Rolex image, modified)
After all, Rolex already loves the sun. The brand has installed over 10,000 square meters of solar panels across all its manufacturing sites. Tied to the Perpetual Planet Initiative, a solar-powered Rolex watch would speak to sustainability and remind us we live under the most powerful energy source in our system: the sun.
The timing couldn’t have been better. Leonardo DiCaprio, who joined the Rolex family just weeks before Watches and Wonders, would have been the perfect figure to introduce the Sun-Dweller.
Coronet has long argued DiCaprio—the most prominent actor to represent Rolex since Paul Newman—shouldn't be treated as just another brand ambassador. Instead, Rolex should mirror the Newman playbook, associating him with a single timepiece, one he wears consistently on red carpets, at environmental summits and on film sets, turning the model into an icon.
A fictitious ad for the Rolex Sun-Dweller. (Sony Pictures)
DiCaprio, a vocal advocate for renewable energy and an investor in several solar-focused companies, has called solar power “key to a future without fossil fuels.” Imagine if Rolex had tied that vision to a timepiece. (And if Mr. Dufour were looking for a technical challenge, why not launch the first solar-powered watch with a smooth-sweeping seconds hand?)
By linking the Sun-Dweller to DiCaprio, Rolex could have turned a new product into a symbol of environmental responsibility, putting the spotlight—literally—on the power of the sun.