Close-Up: New Rolex Watches at Watches & Wonders Geneva 2024

Watches & Wonders Geneva, the world's biggest watch fair in the world's most cosmopolitan watch city, is in full swing this week, and our team is on the ground covering the highlights from some of your favorite watchmakers. Below, we've collected all the major new releases from Rolex, with a bit of background on each model, details on the newest pieces, and our own on-site photography.

Rolex GMT-Master II

The Background: The original Rolex GMT-Master debuted in 1955, developed with the design input of the era’s commercial airline pilots. Now known as the GMT-Master II after a revamp in 1982, the watch is one of the most coveted luxury travel watches on the planet, and basically established the motif that has inspired other dual-time zone timepieces for more than half a century. The original Ref. 6542, was the first watch capable of displaying the time in two separate time zones thanks to its fourth, central 24-hour hand and bidirectional rotating 24-hour GMT bezel. The modern versions of the watch are equipped with Rolex’s in-house Caliber 3285, whose “Superlative Chronometer” certification speaks to the movement’s astounding -2/+2 seconds per day of precision, even stricter than those for COSC chronometer certification.The GMT-Master has become famous for its colorful nicknames, which come from the color combo on the bicolor bezels, including the original red-and-blue “Pepsi,” the black-and-blue “Batman,” and black-and-brown “root beer.” Last year’s new GMT-Master models featured yellow-gold and bimetal “Rolesor” 40mm cases and a new gray-black ceramic bezel.

What’s New: Two new GMT-Master II models make their debut in Oystersteel cases, both featuring the same gray-and-black high-tech ceramic bezel introduced on last year’s version. The graduation of the bezel is made even more visible thanks to the use of a PVD treatment on the molded, recessed numbers used for the 24-hour scale. Also displaying Rolex’s traditional level of technical prowess and attention to functional detail, the ceramic used for the bezel is inert and thus will not corrode over time, and its knurled edge makes it easy to grip when switching time zones. The black lacquer dial has the name “GMT-Master” printed in green, echoing the color of the arrow-tipped central GMT hand, which (since the 1982 upgrade) can be adjusted independently of the main hour hand. One model is mounted on Rolex’s classic three-link Oyster bracelet, the other on the five-link Jubilee bracelet, both in Oystersteel (a particularly tough surgical-grade alloy) and equipped with the Oysterlock folding safety clasp and the Easylink extension that allows for 5 mm worth of adjustment. 

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona

The Background: In 1962, Rolex became official timekeeper of the Daytona 500, and one year later it released the Ref. 6239 Cosmograph, nicknamed the “Daytona” after the famous Florida racetrack, its now-famous racing-inspired chronograph watch. The watch was notable for its three-register dial and engraved tachymeter bezel. The Daytona, which rose to unprecedented heights of fame and desirability after it became associated with actor and racing driver Paul Newman, has been produced in various versions year after year ever since, forever linked to the high-performance world of motorsport and consistently one of the most coveted watch models in the world. Throughout its history, the Daytona has housed an ever-advancing series of calibers, including, most recently, the in-house Rolex Caliber 4130, with a column-wheel chronograph mechanism and a host of Rolex-patented technical details including a hairspring made of blue Parachrom, an antimagnetic alloy. Last year, for the model’s 60th anniversary, Rolex introduced two new models in “Oystersteel” and platinum, with a host of subtle but significant refinements to their case and dial as well as an all-new automatic movement, Caliber 4131.

What’s New: For 2024’s latest iterations of the Daytona, Rolex veers away from technical refinement of the engine and leans into lavish adornment of the chassis. Two new models make their debut in 18K white gold, with natural mother-of-pearl dials and 36 brilliant cut diamonds taking the place of the motorsport-inspired tachymeter scale on the bezel. Both 40mm watches model contain the recently introduced Caliber 4131, with a host of Rolex patented features to achieve optimum chronometric performance and industry-leading magnetic resistance; a chronograph feature with a column wheel and vertical clutch system; and a long-weekend-proof 72-hour power reserve. One, with a black mother-of-pearl dial, is model is mounted on an Oyster bracelet in white gold; the other, with a white MOP dial, is on Rolex’s flexible Oysterflex bracelet.

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date

The Background: The Rolex Day-Date, introduced in 1956 with Ref. 6510 and 6511, was the first wristwatch that displayed both the date (in the now-familiar 3 o’clock position under the Cyclops lens) and the day of the week (in a curved window above the Rolex logo at 12 o’clock). The Day-Date’s 36mm gold Oyster case had the fluted bezel emblematic of its stylistic predecessor, the Datejust, and housed the automatic Caliber 1055. The Day-Date has been famously nicknamed the “President” since at least the 1960s when President Lyndon B. Johnson wore one regularly in office, and last year, the model provided the canvas for several elegant high-jewelry executions with dials made of precious materials like aventurine, carnelian, and turquoise.

What’s New: The Day-Date 40, the larger, more contemporary version of the classic, unisex Day-Date 36, adopts a “slate ombré” dial, used on this model for the first time by Rolex, whose gradient treatment ranges from gray tones in the center to black at the edge. Also for the first time, the ombre dial features the Daytona’s classical Roman numeral hour markers rather than diamonds as its hour markers. The 40mm case is made of the proprietary Everose gold, the same precious metal used for the bracelet. As traditional for the Day-Date, the dial features a magnifying Cyclops lens over the 3 o’clock date window, and the emblematic fluted bezel. Inside beats the Rolex “perpetual” (i.e. self-winding) Caliber 3255.

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sky-Dweller

The Background: The Sky-Dweller is Rolex’s newest product family, introduced in 2012. It is an annual calendar watch with a cleverly designed in-house movement, Caliber 9001, which employs an off-center, rotating 24-hour disk to indicate a second time zone. The local time, indicated by the central hands, can be adjusted quickly when you change time zones by setting the hour hand forward or backward in one-hour increments without affecting the other indicators. Like other annual calendars (Rolex calls its version a Saros calendar), it’s designed to require adjustment only once per year, at the end of February. In 2023, after several quiet years for the collection, Rolex introduced new Sky-Dwellers in white-gold cases, with upgraded Superlative Chronometer movements, at Watches & Wonders.

What's New: Rolex has launched the Sky-Dweller in two new iterations for 2024, both in 42mm Oyster cases made of 18k gold and both mounted on Jubilee bracelets — a first for the Sky-Dweller model. One of the new Sky-Dwellers combines a case made of Rolex's own Everose gold alloy with a compelling slate-colored dial. the other marries an intense white dial to a case made of yellow gold. Both cases are made from a monobloc of the precious metal, with fine fluting on the bezel edge and caseback, and waterproof to 100 meters. Inside, as in last year's white-gold model, is the recently introduced Rolex in-house Caliber 9002, with automatic winding, a 70-hour power reserve, and the expected host of Rolex-exclusive and patented technical features, including an anti-magnetic nickel phosphorus escapement, a blue Parachrom hairspring, and high-performance Paraflex shock absorbers. 

Rolex Perpetual 1908

The Background: It was in the year 1908 that Hans Wilsdorf renamed Wilsdorf & Davis, the watchmaking firm he’d founded with his partner, as Rolex Watch Company Ltd., a name that came to the founder on a carriage ride through London. In that same year, the formerly London-based company was registered in Geneva, Switzerland, where it has been based ever since. That milestone date provides the inspiration and the name for the elegant new family of dress watches unveiled just last year, which adopt many elements of Rolex’s fondly remembered Cellini watches. The first generation featured 39mm gold cases, alligator straps, and a new movement, Caliber 7140, displayed behind a sapphire exhibition caseback.

What’s New: For 2024, Rolex has unveiled a new Perpetual 1908 model in a platinum case and an elegantly executed ice-blue dial with a guilloché rice-grain motif. The delicate, eye-catching geometrical pattern blossoms in the manner of a rosette on the surface of the dial, which also employs another type of hand-applied guilloché, a crimped, filet sauté pattern, for the minute track. Like the gold version that preceded it in the "new-old" 1908 collection last year, the dial hosts distinctly stylish Arabic applied numerals at 3, 6, and 9 o'clock and faceted hands. The 39mm platinum case measures 39mm in diameter, with a coin-edge bezel and fluted lugs, and contains the self-winding Perpetual Caliber 1704, with a 66-hour power reserve. Also like its predecessor, it comes mounted on a dressy leather strap, here in matte brown with Rolex's double-folding "Dualclasp" in the same platinum as the case.

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Deepsea

The Background: Rolex tripled down on the remarkable water-resistance of the its Sea-Dweller dive watch (itself a more robust extension of the original, iconic Submariner) with the launch of the Sea-Dweller Deepsea in 2008, resurrecting the “Deepsea” moniker of its legendary expedition prototype from 1960, which set a record for underwater watches in the Bathyscaphe Trieste. The original, titanium-cased Deepsea (Ref. 116660) measured a hefty 44mm in diameter and boasted an unheard-of depth rating of 3,990 meters, or 12,800 feet. Rolex achieved the watch’s relatively modest thickness of 18mm, which included a 5mm-thick sapphire crystal, by incorporating some of the technological advances the brand had introduced into its production in the 21st century, especially the patented Ringlock case construction, which uses a hardened, nitrogen-alloy central compression ring to surround the movement while supporting the crystal and the caseback, and a rotating bezel made of Cerachrom, Rolex’s sturdy ceramic material. Deepsea models have since become a third branch of Rolex’s dive-watch family tree, bringing to the table an even higher depth rating than either of their predecessors.

What’s New: Rolex embraces luxury in its most defiantly utilitarian tool watch with this year’s version of the Deepsea in full 18k yellow gold, with both the 44mm Oyster case and the three-link Oyster bracelet constructed of the precious metal. Technically, the case combines a middle section from a monobloc of gold, a rotating Cerachrom bezel in blue ceramic with yellow-gold PVD numerals, and a hermetically sealed caseback made of titanium. The case features an automatic helium release valve for saturation diving and an extra-thick crystal (5.5mm) to withstand the crushing depths at which the watch is built to function. The blue lacquered dial has the familiar luminous Mercedes handset and shaped hour markers established way back in the 1950s by the Submariner, here with the inscription “Deepsea” in a contrasting gold powder. The Ringlock system, executed here for the first time in ceramic, securely protects the movement, Rolex’s automatic Caliber 3235, first used in the Sea-Dweller in 2018.