No matter how little you know about watches, one thing is universally known and understood: Rolex is king. Culturally, historically, figuratively, hypothetically, literally. It always has been, and it probably always will be. It has the nickname The Crown for a reason, and no one is stealing it from them in a hurry.
Way back in 1905 when ol' mate Hans Wildorf was busy founding Rolex, he said he wanted “to be the first in the field”, and for Rolex to “be seen as the one and only – the best.” Amen to that dogged determination and hindsight. Over the almost-120 years that followed, his vision became a reality. Rolex is perhaps the only watch brand you'd expect everyone to have heard of, and a byword for success.
With that in mind, we figured it worth going through all the best Rolex models and explain what (and who) has helped make each one popular. We asked Brynn Wallner aka Dimepiece, to do the honours. Because, paraphrasing rapper Wiz Khalifa, “Time is money, so it's time to go and buy a Rolex.”
Rolex Oyster Perpetual
The simple, elegant Oyster dates back to 1926 – and might just be the best Rolex ever. It was the first waterproof watch, its name inspired by the tight, sealing properties of an Oyster. A few years later came the term Perpetual, which refers to Rolex’s patented self-winding movement. Conjoined, the term Oyster Perpetual is found across nearly every Rolex dial, indicating that each model is built upon the waterproof Oyster case, fitted with a Perpetual winding automatic movement. But, on its own, the Oyster Perpetual watch is the no-date, steel descendent of the first-ever Oyster.
Got it? OK! With that cleared up, we can discuss the brightly coloured, lacquer dialled OPs that have captivated imaginations and launched a thousand obsessions. Launched in 2020, these trade at least double their retail value and come in flirty hues like candy pink, yellow, coral red… and, of course, Tiffany Blue (not the official name, but we can’t resist). Watch head Kendrick Lamar rocked his (now discontinued, certified grail) 41mm Tiffany Blue OP at the Grammys this year and everyone drooled. To collect each colour is a dream, and capitalising on this, Rolex launched a freshly launched OP “Bubble Dial” dotted with every single colour in the collection. Gotta catch ‘em all!
