It’s time for Watches & Wonders 2024 and Rolex has taken centre stage. Announcing their fleet of exquisite new watches for 2024, Rolex materializes the intersections of functionality and aesthetics, performance and preciousness, and tradition and innovation. Ten-plus new watches spanning icons such as the GMT-Master II, Day-Date, Daytona, and more, get a refresh for this year, each bearing their own surprises – heavily contrasting industry predictions.
Last year at Watches & Wonders, The Crown truly explored the hues of the kaleidoscope with their offerings – this year, they return to timeless chromatics, embracing heritage with a contemporary twist.
Here’s every new Rolex watch you’ll be seeing in 2024.
GMT-Master II
The rumour mills were rampant with whispers of Rolex strutting a new ‘experimental’ bezel hue with their dual-timezoner. Well, turns out Rolex simply went back to black (and grey), surprising us all. Two fresh Oystersteel versions of the GMT-Master II slate in with options of classic Oyster or Jubilee bracelets. With a sparkling 24-hour graduated Cerachrom bezel in grey and black, both models receive a Rolex green 24-hour hand with a triangle-tipped end that ‘points to an alternative timezone that emotionally resonates with the wearer’. This is complemented by the ‘GMT-Master II’ inscription on its black lacquer dial. With a date window at three o’clock, this new watch is driven by the self-wound Calibre 3285 which carries a Superlative Chronometer certification and boasts a 70-hour power reserve.
Rolex Deepsea
The Rolex Deepsea has been a trusted wrist companion for dark, undersea exploration for decades, shining through with its accuracy and reliability under extreme pressures. Presented in 2024 in an 18-carat Yellow Gold case for the first time, it boasts a blue ceramic, 60-minute graduated Cerachrom bezel with a matching blue lacquer dial badged boldly with ‘DEEPSEA’. Scratch-proof and tough, its ceramic form is immune to corrosion with an RLX titanium caseback. What’s new is a pioneering, high-performance compression ceramic ring within the Ringlock system, cable of waterproofing at depths of 3,900 metres. Bringing light to dark, the dial boasts a pared-back design with a Chromalight display. Inside, the Superlative Chronometer-certified, self-wound Calibre 3235 boasts a patented Chronergy escapement, delivering precision and dependability with a 70-hour power reserve.
Cosmograph Daytona
Exotic, immortal, and precise – the gem-set Daytona lives again. Rolex presents the perfect balance of precision and preciousness with two Cosmograph Daytonas with inversely contrasting mother-of-pearl dials and 36 brilliant-cut diamond-set bezels. The first variant boasts a sporty Oysterflex bracelet with a white mother-of-pearl dial with its chronograph sub-dials contrasted in black mother-of-pearl. This dial-tone combination is simply inversed with the second variant, switching the Oysterflex bracelet for an Oyster. The tachymetric scale is swapped out and bedazzled by a diamond-set bezel, shining through Rolex’s entire 2024 catalogue. The dial is set with three Chromalight hour markers and eight diamonds. The Cosmograph Daytona is powered by a self-wound, COSC-certified calibre 4131, embellished with Rolex Côtes de Genève bridges – offering a 72-hour power reserve.
Sky-Dweller
The Crown may be just under a century and a quarter old but their Sky-Dweller, at just 12, is a mere fraction of that. Revered as a trifecta of form, function, and finesse, the Sky-Dweller for 2024 is more evolution than revolution. Two variants – 18-carat Everose Gold with a slate dial and 18-carat Yellow Gold with a clear white dial, with the latter sporting a Jubilee bracelet for the first time. Designed for the geographically capricious, it features an off-centre, 24-hour rotating disk and a cyclops-lensed ‘Saros’ date window at three o’clock. Inside, rests the COSC-certified calibre 9002 which is automatically wound, offering a 72-hour power reserve. Cased in 42-mm and strapped on with five-piece Jubilee bracelets which boast a folding Oysterclasp and Easylink comfort extension link.
Day-Date
What’s better than one Day-Date? – Four.
‘Harmonious variations’ as Rolex calls it, my favourite from the bunch is the Day-Date 40 in 18-carat Everose Gold, which, for the first time, embraces a slate ombré dial – regally complimented by Roman numerals and 18-carat Pink Gold faceted index hour markers. The catalogue also features a new 18-carat White Gold variant with a white mother-of-pearl dial, taking after the cotton clouds of the sky featuring ten baguette-cut diamonds as hour markers.
On the other hand, the Day-Date 36 gets an 18-carat Yellow Gold update, exuding 80s Miami nightlife elegance featuring deconstructed Roman numeral and faceted index hour markers against a white lacquer dial. Another stunner is its 18-carat Everose Gold sister variant which boasts a blue-green dial and 60 trapeze-cut diamonds adorning its bezel. In signature Day-Date fashion, the day window rests at twelve while the date window sits at three. All four variants are powered by the Calibre 3255 which is self-wound and delivers up to 70 hours of power reserve.
1908
The Perpetual 1908 doesn’t look like an average dress watch – that’s because it isn’t, it’s better.
What was a ‘classic art of watchmaking’ replacement for the Cellini, is now venturing into bolder territories for 2024. With an icy blue, ‘rice-grain’ guilloché dial, Rolex gives this once-reserved icon, a stunning retouch. This new guilloché dial is delicately crafted using an engraver, which was once a blank dial. In form, the 1908 uses last year’s numerals, small seconds, and hour markers. Cased in 39-mm platinum, it’s about 9.5-mm thick. With an open caseback, it puts its gorgeous Rolex Calibre 7140 with a gold rotor on display. Running automatic, its silicon Syloxi hairspring delivers a 66-hour power reserve.
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