Ah, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Watches & Wonders is in fully swing and the Crown has dropped its new releases for 2024. Last year saw the manufacture drop a slew of funky references, with stone dials, puzzle dials, and emoji date windows in full force. This year, Rolex’s novelties are a little less…well, novel. Shedding the colour and the quirk of the previous year, Rolex’s 2024 releases are more iterations than they are fresh designs. That said, whether it’s a colourful bubble dial or simply a bezel change, the Crown never fails to produce a plethora of covetable timepieces.
Without further ado, these are all the Rolex new releases from Watches & Wonders 2024 to know about.
GMT-Master II
Coke was on the mind for many—hey, we’re talking colours here!—with speculation that Rolex would drop a GMT-Master II with a black and red bezel. Instead, the manufacture has released an Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II with a black and grey bezel. If it looks familiar, it’s because the Crown introduced a two-tone steel and yellow gold variant with the same bezel colour layout last year. This year, the style is available on both an oyster or jubilee bracelet. Oh, and the GMT hand is not just any green, but Rolex green, matching the ‘GMT-Master II’ inscription on dial.
Model: Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II (126710GRNR)
Case size: 40mm
Water resistance: 10ATM
Movement: 3285 (automatic)
Price: $17,150AUD
Deepsea
Aw, we kind of love him. While the rest of Geneva is swapping stainless steel for the lightweight durability of titanium, Rolex has given this chunky devil the Midas touch. The Rolex Deepsea is a timepiece engineered for—spoiler alert!—the deep sea. Designed for professional divers, the ‘standard’ Deepsea is water resistant to 3900 metres while the Deepsea Challenge boasts a whopping 11,000 metres water resistance (not to mention the accolade of heading to the bottom of the Mariana Trench).
If you thought the Crown had lost its sense of humour this year, this release proves otherwise. While the hedge fund manager whose wrist this is destined for is unlikely to venture into the deep sea wearing this, should one topple off a yacht, this hefty number will certainly help you reach the ocean floor faster. Should an underwater flex be in your future, the newcomer’s blue lacquer dial is adorned with luminescent hour markers and hands, letting everyone know who the real shark is.
Model: Oyster Perpetual Deepsea (136668LB)
Water resistance: 390ATM
Case size: 44mm
Movement: 3235 (automatic)
Price: $83,500AUD
Cosmograph Daytona
First things first: last year’s black and white panda dial Le Mans Daytona is no more. While it makes sense, given it was a 100th anniversary model, its discontinuation is sure to leave a hole in many a watch fan’s heart. The two new additions to the Cosmograph Daytona lineup are unlikely to fill that void, but they’re funky nonetheless. Both are crafted from white gold and pair white mother-of-pearl with natural mother-of-pearl, along with a generous helping of diamonds to boot.
Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona (white mother-of-pearl dial)
Model: Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona (126589RBR)
Water resistance: 10ATM
Case size: 40mm
Movement: 4131 (automatic)
Price: $98,500AUD
Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona (natural mother-of-pearl dial)
Model: Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona (126579RBR)
Water resistance: 10ATM
Case size: 40mm
Movement: 4131 (automatic)
Price: $112,400AUD
Sky-Dweller
The Sky-Dweller has always been a solid force on the wrist. Featuring a Saros annual calendar, it indicated two time zones as well as the day and month, in a slightly atypical form. The new releases see the travel watch outfitted in rose gold and yellow gold; each sporting a jubilee bracelet for the first time.
Oyster Perpetual Sky-Dweller (Everose gold)
Model: Oyster Perpetual Sky-Dweller (336395)
Water resistance: 10ATM
Case size: 42mm
Movement: 9002 (automatic)
Price: $81,600AUD
Oyster Perpetual Sky-Dweller (yellow gold)
Model: Oyster Perpetual Sky-Dweller (336938)
Water resistance: 10ATM
Case size: 42mm
Movement: 9002 (automatic)
Price: $78,600AUD
Day-Date
Four new Day-Date models join the positively presidential lineup this year. As is standard for the line, each reference is executed in precious metals and comes on the president bracelet.
Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 40 (Everose gold with slate ombré dial)
This marks the first time the Crown has used an ombré dial on a Day-Date 40, with the style previously reserved for the smaller 36mm models. It’s also the first slate grey ombré dial, as well as the first ombré dial to use faceted, deconstructed Roman numerals and faceted index hour markers. Until now, ombré dials exclusively used diamond hour markers. Many firsts.
Model: Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 40 (228235)
Water resistance: 10ATM
Case size: 40mm
Movement: 3255 (automatic)
Price: $66,500AUD
Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 40 (white gold with pearlized white mother-of-pearl)
White mother-of-pearl makes its Day-Date 40 debut, with the natural material evoking the effect of miniature overlapping clouds. The dial is adorned with baguette-cut diamond hour markers.
Model: Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 40 (228239)
Water resistance: 10ATM
Case size: 40mm
Movement: 3255 (automatic)
Price: $75,250AUD
Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 36 (Everose gold with blue-green dial)
This lush reference borrows its dial hue from the Sky-Dweller and is embellished with ten baguette-cut diamond hour markers and features a diamond-set bezel.
Model: Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 36 (128395TBR)
Water resistance: 10ATM
Case size: 36mm
Movement: 3255 (automatic)
Price: $128,000AUD
Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 36 (yellow gold with white dial)
This crisp new reference features a white lacquer dial with faceted, deconstructed Roman numerals and hour markers. Fresh.
Model: Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 36
Water resistance: 10ATM
Case size: 36mm
Movement: 3255 (automatic)
Price: $56,100 AUD
Perpetual 1908
Arriving in the wake of the oft-overlooked Cellini, the Perpetual 1908 was introduced last year. This year, Rolex ups the ante in the style stakes, with the timepiece bestowed with an ice blue dial with a guilloché rice grain motif. As watch nerds will know, this particular shade of ice blue is solely reserved for platinum models, with the metal used for the 39mm case. The Perpetual 1908 is presented on a brown alligator leather strap.
Model: Oyster Perpetual 1908 (52506)
Water resistance: 5ATM
Case size: 39mm
Movement: 7140 (automatic)
Price: $48,600AUD
Albert Review will be covering Watches & Wonders 2024 as it unfolds. For more novelties, horological news, and new releases, check out our Watches & Wonders coverage here.
Words by T. Angel
