The lead-up to Watches & Wonders is always filled with anticipation. And nothing is more anticipated than the lineup of new watches to be released at the trade show by the king of the hill, the big kahuna, the envy of the industry: a little brand called Rolex.
This morning, Rolex dropped a teaser video hinting at what’s to come (see below). It shows just enough to justify damn near any speculation, which of course is part of the fun. And since we’re less than a week away from March 27, when all will be revealed, we choose to speculate as follows.
That’s right. It’s time for us to release our hopes and dreams (we’ll call them predictions) for what’s to come…mere days before those hopes and dreams get shattered.
We put a call out to the entire orologi replica rolex Hodinkee editorial team to send in their wish for a 2023 Rolex novelty and then did our absolute best Photoshop work to turn those wishes into digital reality. There were no rules, no boundaries the choices were only limited by our graphic design capability.
Without further ado, here are our 2023 predictions for Rolex ahead of Watches & Wonders. Come right back here on Monday morning when the real watches are set to break the internet. See you then.
Look at the Rolex Oyster Perpetual lineup. No seriously, just look at it. It’s kind of boring, right? Sure, it had a moment a couple years ago when Rolex released all those colorful Stella-inspired dials, but the fun only lasted a year, and unless your name was LeBron or Marky Mark, you probably didn’t get one. Now, the OP lineup is down to the green,orologi replica rolex don’t-call-it-Tiffany blue, and classic colors like blue and black. Yawn. Compare that with the Datejust line. Dials laser-etched with palms, pyramids, and flowers the Datejust is a veritable cornucopia next to the staid OP lineup.
When Rolex updated the OP line back in 2020, it axed the OP 39, much to the chagrin of many enthusiasts. It wasn’t just because of the increased size the effective size of the current OP 41 and OP 39 is actually pretty close (the lug-to-lug on both is about 47mm) but the 39 had marvelous color options. The most loved might be the white dial OP 39, but the grape, rhodium, and even blue (with its bright-green accents), all had just the right amount of color for a watch that hit the Goldilocks zone for a time-only proposition.
This year, Rolex should put some different dials in the Oyster Perpetual lineup. Let’s bring some colors like those previous OP 39 models, with sunburst dials and bright complementary accents; more than that, I’d love to see Rolex treat the OP a bit more like the Datejust, trying laser-etched dials and all kinds of different dial treatments.
My suggestion draws on one of my favorite dials from modern-ish Rolex: the salmon 3-6-9 that came in the Air-King of the ’90s. Let’s bring that salmon dial back in the OP 36 and 41. Sure, I’d prefer if the 41 were 39, but now I’m asking for too much. Tony Traina, Editor
Alright, so I picked the most obvious model, but replica ray-ban what better time than the 60th Anniversary of the Daytona for Rolex to dig into their archive of phenomenal vintage watches for inspiration? Sure, “vintage-inspired” might be more Tudor’s bag lately. And sure, Rolex took the 50th Anniversary to release a singular platinum Daytona. But I’m hoping against all hope this year for something to really thank the fans: a 6263-inspired gold Daytona with ceramic bezel. Wouldn’t that be incredible?
I’ve got a personal tier list of my favorite Rolex Daytonas, and the top two are gold. Now, I don’t think Rolex would remake the pump-pusher John Player Special, but number two is the reference 6263 and Rolex has a perfect platform for it right now. In fact, it’s been on my mind since seeing Ben Clymer’s 18k ref. 6263. The current Daytonas have screw-down pushers like the 6263 and the steel Cosmographs (and some of the gold Oysterflex models) have ceramic bezels that would look amazing on a yellow-gold watch with a bracelet.
But that’s not enough, I’d want to have two dial options: black with yellow gold subdials and gold with black subdials, neither of which should have circular inner accents or any other colors. Just straight-up, pure, classic Daytona.
Okay, hear me out. Given that the reference 116600 Sea-Dweller was discontinued in 2017,replica orologi it has been a while since we had a “standard-sized” Sea-Dweller the preceding reference 126600 clocked in at a burley 43mm. And look, I’m not saying that the Sea-Dweller vibe doesn’t suit a larger watch (even a MUCH larger watch), I’m just saying that, for me, the SD’s historical appeal was tied to how well Rolex could wrap up the increased capabilities of a pro-spec model without forcing a considerable increase to the footprint of the Submariner.
So, my Rolex wish/prediction is essentially an everyday (read: much smaller) Deepsea Challenge. Sure, it wouldn’t go anywhere near as deep, but in 40mm and titanium sorry, RLX it could easily become a sweet spot diver for Rolex in terms of the balance of specs and wearability.