Editors' Picks: Our Rolex Predictions For Watches & Wonders 2025

Well it’s almost time for this year’s Watches & Wonders and you all know what that means: predictions for watches that almost certainly won’t pan out. But that hasn’t stopped us from asking the editorial team here at Teddy to brainstorm and select their predictions (or hopes) for the year’s biggest watch trade show. Of course, we have to start with Rolex and there are certainly some interesting predictions —and a little wishcasting— for what the crown will launch this year. So, without further ado let’s get to our Rolex predictions for 2025:

Mark Bernardo: Submariner RLX Titanium

Right off the bat, I must humbly acknowledge that predictions are not my specialty. If I were some sort of savant when it came to reading the watch market and what it wanted, I would be managing watch companies rather than writing about them. And Rolex is anything but easy to pin down. Nevertheless, let’s give it a shot as the clock ticks down to Watches & Wonders ‘25. 

Historically, Rolex has been a setter of trends rather than a follower of them. However, sometimes a trend becomes so prevalent in the industry that even the mighty Crown can’t afford to ignore it, and so it has been with the emergence of titanium as a go-to metal for watch cases and bracelets, particularly for dive watches. Rolex introduced its proprietary “RLX” titanium in 2022 on its most “extreme” divers’ model, the Deepsea Challenge, and turned to the material again a year later for the latest version of the Yacht-Master 42, an acknowledged descendant of Rolex’s flagship diver, the Submariner. It’s only a matter of time before the Sub itself gets the all-titanium treatment, so why not this year? I am envisioning a case and bracelet in the corrosion-resistant, lightweight alloy, with its distinctive, grainy satin texture and little to no polished surfaces — maybe just some facets on the case and bracelet. For the dial and the Cerachrom dive-scale bezel, how about basic black for the former and a sleek charcoal gray for the latter, reminiscent of the monochromatic aesthetic of the aforementioned Yacht-Master model?

Blake Buettner: Platinum GMT-Master II With Green Bezel

When it comes to Rolex, enthusiasts tend to overshoot with their hopes and predictions before a harsh trip back to reality when the brand, time and again, proves that it is a slow-moving, evolutionary machine that makes moves not dependent on the current trend climate, but on order of much longer time scales. This is a brand that hasn’t released a new Oyster model in over 12 years, instead focusing on the refinement of existing collections in subtle ways that tend to add up over time. Take, for instance, Rolex’s introduction of RLX Titanium in the Yacht-Master collection. This is a near-ubiquitous material across the realm of sport watches, but Rolex took the time to do it its own way, and years after the fact, that single Yacht-Master reference remains the only commercially available titanium watch made by the brand. 

So what do I anticipate from Rolex this year? Well, the brand has clearly acknowledged that 2025 is an anniversary year for the GMT-Master — its 70th, to be exact — and I do expect the Crown to acknowledge this in some way, shape, or form. While I don’t think that we’ll see a new case introduced, I do think a new bezel and dial configuration is in the cards for this collection. Perhaps it will involve the color green, or the use of platinum, as each has been used for anniversary models in the past. So let’s call it a platinum GMT-Master II with a green bezel that’s lighter on the top half. In addition to that, what the hell, how about the long-awaited return of a “Coke” bezel (NRRO or RONR?) in steel?

Danny Milton: Air-King 36mm

For my W&W 2025 Rolex pick, I am not going crazy. In fact, I am drawing from the Crown’s playbook where, in recent years, it has taken a fan-favorite watch down a peg in terms of size. I am of course referring to the Explorer here, whereas my pick is far more of a niche watch: the Air-King. On its second iteration of its new form, the Air-King is almost the wildest watch in the brand’s stable (that distinction is reserved for the OP Celebration and the Emoji Day-Date).

What I predict, or rather, would like to see, is for Rolex to embrace the Air-King’s smaller past and bring this watch to a 36mm sizing to live alongside the existing 40mm version. In my design, the only real change I’ve made is to move the Air-King insignia back up to the top of the dial., Otherwise, this is an exercise in proportion. If nothing else, I would love to see this watch in real life. Here’s hoping.

Bilal Khan: A Modernized Milgauss

This one ain’t gonna happen. The previous (and potentially last) generation of the Milgauss was discontinued in 2023 after a sixteen-year run. This idiosyncratic “scientist’s watch” used to be intended for high-magnetism environments but contemporary watch movements have really taken care of that problem.

 I’ve always thought a blend of the white-dial Ref. 116400 and the vintage Ref. 1019 would make for a really handsome package, and so that’s my “prediction,” aka fantasy. The contemporary 41 or 36mm Oyster Perpetual case would work here, with the borrowed red from the 1019 and that irresistible lightning seconds hand from the 116400.

Erin Wilborn: Datejust Pearlmaster Revival In Steel (sans diamonds)

Of course, Rolex has the Lady Datejust as its staple women’s model, and seemingly endless combinations of color and material construction available for its smaller-sized Datejust, Day-Date, Oyster Perpetual, and even Yacht-Master models, but I would like to see the brand get a little more experimental in the watches it makes for women, aside from just shrinking down classic models into smaller proportions. Introduced in 1992, the Pearlmaster was ushered into the larger Datejust family, which was available in 29mm and 34mm sizing and leaned on precious-metal construction. As it developed, it only became more opulent – though the label of Pearlmaster was never actually featured on the dials. 

Many of the references that have been spotted recently among celebrities are the most blinged-out takes on the line, but some of my favorite options that I’ve stumbled across have been its all-white gold models without an excess precious gem-setting, complete with a funky, bubbly bezel adorned with a single trapezoidal diamond. It’s not revolutionary by any means, but I would like to see the Pearmaster reimagined for today and go for a sportier angle with just stainless steel construction. Something about that rounded bezel feels fun to me, and I strangely like it paired with Roman numerals. I think Rolex could go both simple and playful with the range of dials and color variations, too. 

Jonathan McWhorter: GMT-Master II "Coke"

I’ll start by saying that I mean it when I say that, when it comes to predictions from Rolex, your guess is as good as mine. Aside from the usual Datejust updates and new Day-Date dial offerings, I wanted to consider what the brand might be doing in the sports line since that’s where the bulk of consumer interest lies.

I don’t expect anything to happen with the Submariner, and the Daytona is in the precious-metal phase of its product cycle. Given carefully considered and highly accurate assessments: I think it’s high time the red-and-black-bezel “Coke” GMT-Master II comes back. The Crown has shown signs of expanding the current GMT-Master line further with more colors and even crown orientations, albeit slowly, and this would be the next logical step, in my mind.

D.C. Hannay: Explorer I Polar Dial

My predictions usually end up being more akin to a somewhat sad wish list than demonstrate any sort of heightened acuity for reading the tea leaves. I’ve longed many years for a second size option in the modern Submariner, only to be greeted by puzzle-dial Day-Dates. But still, we go through the motions, and sometimes, just sometimes, we hit the winning numbers. So here we go again.

For Rolex, this year we’re marking the 70th anniversary of the GMT-Master, so I think the modern GMT-Master II has to be in play. But although I initially thought a white-gold and green version would be a no-brainer (considering the anniversary and Rolex’s propensity for anniversary pieces in its signature color), I decided (okay, was coerced) not to pick the GMT Master II as my platform, and instead went for a real longshot: a Polar-dialed version of the Explorer I. There’s really not a lot to say about a white-dialed version of this watch, and it isn’t a new prediction, but this rumor hasn’t exactly been on fire lately. The timing would be perfect, with everyone else looking in the direction of the GMT-Master II, making the Explorer I a real pale horse in this race. Rolex certainly has the capability: given the release of a white-dialed OP from a few years back, the brand probably has a pile of leftover dial blanks in a cabinet. And there is a historical precedent: the Reference 6610 from the late ‘50s, one of the rarest Explorers there is. Rolex would be wise to drop something this sneaky, and naturally, the box office would be more boffo than ever for this latest bit of unobtanium collector catnip.