The Mythic Rolex King Midas

As many have claimed before, Rolex’s King Midas is a watch that’s quite literally worth its weight in gold. It’s a watch that has ascended from the context of the myth of its namesake, and — Rolex being quite an adept myth-maker in and of itself — the watch has become enshrouded in legends of its own, from its Genta-designed origins (which the brand has never, in all technicalities, ever blatantly confirmed or denied) to the legend that each model was crafted from a bar of 18K gold, and subsequently, its status being somewhat lost to the changing whims of time. In past years, collectors and the enthusiast community have thrust the King Midas out from its tomb, revitalizing the myth of Rolex’s most opulent makes with renewed intrigue. 

Image credit: Bob's Watches

Many great watch designs of the 20th century are bolstered and maintain relevance through their origin story. We often admire vintage watches and judge the strength of a contemporary revival by the piece’s ability to keep that story alive or to revitalize it for a new audience. It strikes me as significant (and somewhat ironic) for Rolex to name a piece not only after a Greek myth but a tragic one, a cautionary tale about the evils of greed. But the mythmaking Rolex, in its introduction of its King Midas, largely ignored the tragic fate of the mythical King that inspired it in favor of leaning on his ability to turn everything he touched into gold. Rolex’s King Midas was opulence for opulence's sake – a bold reversal of the sporty, utility-driven model that dominated the brand's catalog in the mid-1960s. 

The Making Of A King

The Rolex King Midas debuted in 1964, and in addition to its uncharacteristically Rolex design, it was released in yellow gold as a limited edition of 1,000 (Ref. 9630), which was also largely unheard of from the Crown, and measured 27.5mm at the case’s maximum point, and just 5mm thick. Solid gold construction of the King Midas aside, the asymmetrical design itself and the integrated bracelet were an aesthetic anomaly in the watch world at the time. The left-leaning trapezoidal case of this watch is said to draw inspiration from the Parthenon – a Greek temple for the goddess Athena – with its pointed edge adorned with the crown said to symbolize the roof of the temple. The unique leftward placing of these details is also said to tie into the myth itself, as King Midas’ left hand was responsible for turning everything to gold. The flat links of the bracelet, all of which are crafted in solid gold, are connected to the case seamlessly, and the hinges between the column-like links and bracelet hinges were intended to be completely hidden from the naked eye. 

Image credit: HQmilton.com

In contrast to the solid gold grandeur of the watch, the dial was exceedingly sparse and simplistic, adorned with only a pair of golden hands, the Rolex crown and logo at the top, and the Greek spelling of Midas as “ΜΙΔAΣ” above a small printed “Swiss” at 6 o’clock. Models following the first original references featured an engraving of the King Midas title on the side of the case. As far as the movement is concerned, Rolex equipped its King Midas with an outsourced Piaget Caliber 650 in the first two production runs, followed by the Caliber 651 before transitioning to Caliber 1601 in the early 1980s.  As another tie-in with the piece’s Greco-inspired design, the King Midas was presented in a case that was made to resemble an urn unearthed from ancient Greece. 

Ties To Gérald Genta 

The daring architecture of it all is now credited to the legendary Gérald Genta, designer of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Patek Philippe Nautilus, though Rolex is intentionally hush-hush about what takes place among its inner workings behind its symbolic golden gates. While Genta himself was likely sworn to secrecy, he has admitted that he has “only designed one Rolex watch,” which became part of the Cellini collection, which was the fate of the Rolex King Midas, after all. But it’s important to note just how unusual this must have been for people at the time; remember, this is six years before Genta unleashed the Royal Oak and the integrated-bracelet madness into the watch world. Though now sleuths in the enthusiast community have deducted that the King Midas must have been Genta-designed, it was launched into the watch world to stand as an ultimate statement of luxury in and of itself. This watch’s eccentric take on luxury is one that you can not only see but feel: the King Midas is intentionally hefty and is crafted in nearly 200 grams of solid gold. At the time of its introduction, this watch was the heaviest gold watch on the market and the most expensive in Rolex’s repertoire.  

The Rolex King Midas And Pop Culture

Before we dive into the fate of Rolex’s King Midas (which was ultimately to be absorbed into the Cellini collection), we might take a turn to look at this watch’s impact on pop culture and the celebrity world. Before Rihanna and A$AP Rocky set the watch world on fire with their customized Rolex King Midas, the watch was worn by two other monarchs of the celebrity world: John Wayne and the King of Rock 'n' Roll himself, Elvis Presley.

The King of Rock & Roll was gifted with his own Rolex King Midas as a token of thanks after performing six back-to-back, sold-out shows at Houston’s Astrodome Livestock Show & Rodeo. The model was watch number 343 (that’s out of the initial 1,000 limited edition units) and engraved with a special note from the officers of the show on the caseback. Elvis was said to have worn this watch even in the bath and hottub, and you can see some degradation on the dial that reflects the legitimacy of this myth. If you ever find yourself in Graceland, you can see the actual watch on display for yourself. 

The Fate Of King Midas

Though the original King Midas was made to be a rare experiment in limited editions for Rolex, the watch’s life was extended and iterated upon for a time, exceeding the 1,000 first models, and was ushered in the early 1970s into the brand’s newly formed, dressy Cellini line. Though the first successors largely stuck to the same formula in the case architecture. Later, Rolex experimented with different case shapes under the King Midas name within the Cellini family, from squares and hexagons to ribbed and hobnail style cases. In the early 1970s, the King got his Queen, and Rolex introduced the smaller 24mm Queen Midas, also within the Cellini line. 

In the Greek myth, Midas’s golden touch was his downfall, and, after turning his beloved daughter to gold, he ultimately starved to death, unable to touch food or drink. Rolex’s King Midas ultimately succumbed to its own sort of death after being discontinued from production, with the name disappearing entirely from the brand’s catalog in the early 21st century. Now, I think we can say that the King of gold watches has been resurrected in the hearts of enthusiasts and lives on in the secondary market. Though I will tearfully admit that the days of finding shocking deals on vintage Rolex King Midas watches out there are largely over, like many good things.