One for the old timers??? 2012

[Meg007]

Good morning team.

Can the older forum members cast their minds back to 2012 and the launch of the new skydweller? Did it blow up the watch world with it being a brand new piece from Rolex? I would guess it will be another 50 years until we may get a brand new watch birth coming from Rolex….!!!! Interested to read what it was like back then

Many thanks

[Old Expat Beast]

I just had a glance at this thread but seems the TRF 2012 response was kind of lukewarm. Tudor Black Bay debut got a better reception.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=221464

[Cru Jones]

Well, at its announcement, it was PM only, so expensive and exclusive. I think the teaser had people expecting a new professional model of some sort. So a bit of a letdown.

The move to SS a bit later opened up the model to a wider audience and, IMHO, brought more interest.

[MYK]

Originally Posted by Cru Jones

Well, at its announcement, it was PM only, so expensive and exclusive. I think the teaser had people expecting a new professional model of some sort. So a bit of a letdown.

The move to SS a bit later opened up the model to a wider audience and, IMHO, brought more interest.

I always wondered (hoped) if Rolex would bring in the Sky Dweller movement into professional models. I can totally see an Explorer II/GMT Master II style watch with the inner dial, in dual-colors two. Pepsi on the inside, black/silver on the bezel with small markers highlighting each position and what it does. In writing doesn’t sound very interesting but I am sure Rolex would do an outstanding job in execution.

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by Cru Jones

Well, at its announcement, it was PM only, so expensive and exclusive. I think the teaser had people expecting a new professional model of some sort. So a bit of a letdown.

The move to SS a bit later opened up the model to a wider audience and, IMHO, brought more interest.

...and upset quite a few PM owners as I recall

[Driver8]

If I recall, (and I wasn't a TRF member back then, but I've been active on watch forums since the mid 2000's) there was initial excitement about the name as people I knew were assuming it'd be a kind of flight equivalent of the Sea Dweller - i.e. a hardcore professional model.

Then it arrived in PM only, with Romans and a fluted bezel, in what was considered a pretty large and thick case, and I think there was a fair bit of disappointment TBH.

Over time, and especially with the introduction of the baton dials and SS models, it's become a far more desirable piece.

[tifosi]

I really don't remember anything about the release. But the fact that it was PM and had complications I had no use for meant it really wasn't for me anyway. Either way I surely don't remember the forum blowing up over it.

[beshannon]

I remember seeing them at an AD and being curious until I saw the size

[watchwatcher]

It was a startling introduction, to be sure, but...it was only available in PM and priced, shall we say, accordingly lol. So...I wouldn't say "blew up the watch world."

I would almost say the introduction of the model in steel, whatever year that was, was a bigger stir. Just my thoughts.

[PenDelicate]

Originally Posted by Meg007

I would guess it will be another 50 years until we may get a brand new watch birth coming from Rolex

That's an interesting one. What is the average time between releases?

Taking a really cursory look, there's this site listing everything till 2019:
https://millenarywatches.com/rolex-m...duction-years/

They're listed below.

That's 34 models in 88 years. So they release a new model on average every 2.5 years.

Hmm ... doesn't really seem like that, does it.




1931: Oyster Perpetual
1938: Bubble Back
1945: Datejust
1953: Submariner 100m
1953: Turn-O-Graph
1953: Explorer
1954: GMT-Master
1954: Lady Oyster Perpetual
1956: Day-Date
1956: Milgauss
1957: Lady Datejust
1961: Oyster Cosmograph
1963: Cosmograph Daytona
1967: Sea-Dweller
1969: Submariner Date
1971: Explorer II
1976: Oysterquartz
1979: Submariner 300m
1983: GMT-Master II
1988: Cosmograph Daytona (Zenith Movement)
1992: Yacht-Master
1992: Pearlmaster
1994: Yacht-Master Lady
2000: Cosmograph Daytona With In-house Movement
2007: Yacht-Master II
2008: Deepsea Sea-Dweller
2008: Day-Date II
2008: Oyster Perpetual 36mm
2009: Datejust II
2012: Sky-Dweller
2015: Day-Date 40 mm
2015: Oyster Perpetual 39 mm
2016: Datejust 41
2019: Yacht-Master 42 on Oysterflex Bracelet

[Dezorra]

Originally Posted by PenDelicate

That's an interesting one. What is the average time between releases?

Taking a really cursory look, there's this site listing everything till 2019:
https://millenarywatches.com/rolex-m...duction-years/

They're listed below.

That's 34 models in 88 years. So they release a new model on average every 2.5 years.

Hmm ... doesn't really seem like that, does it.




1931: Oyster Perpetual
1938: Bubble Back
1945: Datejust
1953: Submariner 100m
1953: Turn-O-Graph
1953: Explorer
1954: GMT-Master
1954: Lady Oyster Perpetual
1956: Day-Date
1956: Milgauss
1957: Lady Datejust
1961: Oyster Cosmograph
1963: Cosmograph Daytona
1967: Sea-Dweller
1969: Submariner Date
1971: Explorer II
1976: Oysterquartz
1979: Submariner 300m
1983: GMT-Master II
1988: Cosmograph Daytona (Zenith Movement)
1992: Yacht-Master
1992: Pearlmaster
1994: Yacht-Master Lady
2000: Cosmograph Daytona With In-house Movement
2007: Yacht-Master II
2008: Deepsea Sea-Dweller
2008: Day-Date II
2008: Oyster Perpetual 36mm
2009: Datejust II
2012: Sky-Dweller
2015: Day-Date 40 mm
2015: Oyster Perpetual 39 mm
2016: Datejust 41
2019: Yacht-Master 42 on Oysterflex Bracelet

This is great information, thanks for finding that info and posting it up. And no, it definitely doesn’t seem like it.

[Etschell]

If a watch is released in PM by Rolex all the people who can't afford it complain.

The same people buy it when it is released in SS 3 to 4 years later.

Gold Sub
White gold BLRO
Sky Dweller

This is the trf I know. The old trf. The true trf.

[horseco]

if it was 39 mm I would own one. I love the watch its just too big for me

[the dark knight]

Hate sounding old like this, but nothing blew up the world then. 2012 may as well be 1992 in terms of how this hobby has blown up and grown in the last 10 (and actually last 5) years.

Your average new release from bands like Longines or Oris get more hype, attention, and watch media coverage than Rolex releases from 10 years ago.

Also remember that the watch industry was really in the doldrums for most of the 2010s. Aftereffects of the GFC , pre social media hype, less developing world money. This was a time when ADs were begging people to buy BLNRs and Hulks.