When it comes to timepieces, we generally talk about precision, movement, design… But forgetting the dial would be a mistake: it is this which sets the mood, the personality of a watch.
Change it just a little, and she changes her face.
A Rolex watch, change its face?
The legendary brand with the crown has accustomed us to a permanent evolution of its watches, touch by touch, movement after movement, but remaining faithful to the DNA of each of its models.
But this year, she also dares to go even further, with new creations with unique designs, which literally open the field of possibilities to infinity for the years to come.
How? 'Or' What?
By using cutting-edge technology: laser engraving.
A technique increasingly used in the watchmaking world to decorate the backs of cases, but brilliantly used here on the dial side.
Rolex
The Oyster Perpetual Datejust 36 therefore takes the opportunity to change its face, with a palm tree decoration, inspired by tropical forests, or a fluted decoration, taking up one of the aesthetic signatures of Rolex.
Olive green, silvery or golden, they are obtained from materials from the deepest ages - such as copper, zinc, nickel, chromium, titanium and silicon - and thanks to cutting-edge techniques that give them stunning metallic hues.
Rolex
The palm tree decor evokes tropical forests, lush and colorful, in a style that surprises and clashes with a Rolex watch.
This palm tree decoration adorns three of the new Datejust 36s.
It is visible on the olive green dial of the first, crafted in Oystersteel steel and fitted with an Oyster bracelet, on the golden dial of the second, made in the yellow Rolesor version (combination of Oystersteel steel and 18 ct yellow gold ) and also fitted with an Oyster bracelet, just like on the silver dial of the third, made in the Rolesor Everose version (combination of Oystersteel steel and 18 ct Everose gold) and fitted with a Jubilee bracelet.
Rolex
The fluted decoration is displayed on the golden dial of the last variation, also produced in a yellow Rolesor version and fitted with a Jubilee bracelet.
These new versions of the Datejust 36 are all equipped with caliber 3235, certified Superlative Chronometer, with a power reserve of approximately 70 hours.
Rolex
Born in 1945, the Rolex Datejust is the first chronometer wristwatch, automatic and waterproof to have displayed the date in a window at 3 o'clock on the dial, bringing together all the innovations brought to date by the brand to the wristwatch. modern.
Rolex
For its part, the Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona is also available in yellow, white and Everose gold, with a meteorite dial that has crossed time and space. The patterns of these star stones formed over a process spanning millions of years, during which the molten core of an asteroid cooled in the void of the cosmos. For these dials, the craftsmen of Rolex have chosen the metallic meteorite according to very strict aesthetic criteria. Each meteorite dial thus makes the watch which integrates it into an absolutely unique piece.
This metallic meteorite adorning the dial of the new versions of the Cosmograph Daytona, comes from an asteroid that exploded millions of years ago.
The fragments of this natural material of extraterrestrial origin and composed mainly of iron and nickel cool down to a few degrees Celsius per million years, which generates a unique and so particular crystallization, impossible to reproduce on Earth.
Rolex
To transform itself into a watch face, the metallic meteorite is cut into thin strips before revealing, thanks to a chemical treatment, all the beauty of its internal structure evoking interlaced shards. These patterns are called "Widmanstätten figures". For its meteorite dials, Rolex collaborates with the most renowned experts and only uses meteorite lamellae, the surface of which is particularly rich in shapes and reflections.
The three new versions of the Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona therefore feature a dial made of metallic meteorite on which the chronograph counters at 3, 6 and 9 o'clock are black.
The variation, made in 18-carat white gold, is fitted with a monobloc Cerachrom bezel in black ceramic with tachymeter scale and is matched with an Oysterflex bracelet, while the other two (one in 18 kt yellow gold, the other in 18 ct Everose gold) feature a metallic bezel with tachymeter scale and an Oyster bracelet.
Rolex
These new versions of the most famous of sports chronographs are equipped with caliber 4130, at the cutting edge of watchmaking technology, certified as Superlative Chronometer. First introduced in 1963, the Cosmograph Daytona was designed to meet the needs of racing professionals. Equipped with a bezel with tachymeter scale and equipped with a high-performance mechanical movement entirely developed and manufactured by Rolex, this legendary chronograph makes it possible to measure an interval of time or determine an average speed. Cosmograph Daytona obliges, the emblematic tachymeter scale of the model is molded on the Cerachrom bezel of the first variation and engraved on the metal bezel of the other two.
The Oyster case of the new Daytona, with a diameter of 40 mm, is guaranteed waterproof to a depth of 100 meters. Its caseband is crafted from a solid block of 18 ct white, yellow or Everose gold. Its caseback lined with fine grooves is hermetically screwed down using a special tool, only watchmakers authorized by Rolex being able to access the movement. The Triplock winding crown, fitted with a triple waterproofing system and protected by a shoulder cut into the caseband, is screwed firmly onto the case, as are the chronograph pushers. As for the crystal, it is practically scratch-resistant sapphire.
The new versions of the Cosmograph Daytona are equipped with caliber 4130, a self-winding mechanical chronograph movement entirely developed and manufactured by Rolex, with a power reserve of approximately 72 hours.
Unveiled in 2000, its chronograph function is based on a reduced number of components, which further improves its reliability.
It is engaged by a column-wheel mechanism with vertical clutch, allowing instant start-up and
extremely precise.