(Data compiled from the brands)
At $30,900, Rolex has decided to price the ice-blue Perpetual 1908 in platinum below market, in a sign it is serious about competing in the dress-watch segment. Watches in platinum often represent the most exclusive material within a collection — a metal that is more expensive and more difficult to work with than gold.
Moreover, the 1908 presented at Watches and Wonders this year features a guilloché dial, a technique that uses a graver to sculpt a pattern into a surface. Until now, the ice-blue color was reserved for the platinum Day-Date and Daytona, both priced more than double the 1908. The movement of the 1908 uses the Syloxi, Rolex's latest innovation in hairspring.
A representative at Rolex in Geneva seemed to agree the brand’s latest dress watch was being priced competitively though she stopped short of saying so.
“For a watch in platinum with a movement that is visible, displayed… honestly… compared to what other brands are doing and what we've seen at the fair, voilà…” the Rolex representative said.