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.