16622 vs 116622 in Photographs

[SLRdude]

The YM was almost never on my radar.
Not only due to its price but also because I never warmed up to polished center links and to be honest, like many others, I felt it was a bit too monochromatic and a bit... well... boring.

About 6 weeks ago, a very kind forum member (different forum) shipped me his 16622 to try.

I fell in love with it almost instantly and I knew I had to have one. (don't you hate it when that happens?)

Anyway, since I currently have both the 16622 and 116622 in my possession, I thought it would be a good idea to do a side by side photo comparison.

While the YM was the model to introduce many new features to the Rolex Professional line up, it seemed to have been largely forgotten over the years and continue to soldier on largely unchanged.

The 116622 introduced some minor changes, with the most important one of all being (of course) the updated clasp with Easy Link.

This will just focus on external differences as I am not anywhere near knowledgeable enough to comment on what might have been changed under the hood. Or back case.

The photos below are largely unedited as I was trying to preserve the way they look. I also decided to photograph them outside and not in a light box as most of us spend our time out and about and not with an arm inside an opaque container with 5000 kelvin lights aimed at our wrist.

Right off the bat one can see that the new model has a slightly different look to the dial. The bead blasted look of the old Platinum dial has been toned down quite a bit and it seems to have an almost creamy texture to it instead of the rougher appearance of the old one. It is also just a tiny bit darker but that can be a result of less sparkle.
This will be 100 percent a matter of taste but I for one prefer the old dial and its blasted look. It sparkles in the sun in a way the new one can't match.

Besides that, there are a few other things that are immediately visible.
The Yacht-Master writing on the dial is using a much thinner font on the new model. Again, this is matter of taste, but I (again) prefer the old style dial. The combination of the red against the sparkly dial was one the top reasons why I liked this watch.

Is the new one bad? Absolutely not and if they were not side by side most would be hard pressed to tell that anything has changed.

The bezel is almost ever so slightly different on the new one. In line with the thinner Yacht-Master font and the creamier, smoother dial, the numbers and graduation on the new bezel are just a little thinner as well. I actually prefer the look of the new bezel, it looks a bit more elegant and built with more finesse.

A couple of other minor changes would be the Swiss Made writing, spaced on the old, nearly non spaced on the new. The date font on the new also has a more pronounced serif. Hard to see that unless you are looking at a date with just one digit, where the serif would be more pronounced.

All in all, the new dial and bezel, with their thinner fonts and smoother dial, give a more elegant and dare I say "grown" up appearance to the 116622. Is it better? That's 100% subjective. I for one want the new bezel with the old dial.

16622 at left, 116622 at right.



16622



116622



On to the clasp.

Possible the biggest complain on the 16622 was the folded steel clasp. It might have been okay a decade ago but many felt it was out of place on a flagship model. Jocke (and others) sourced a Daytona clasp and put it on the watch to improve the over all look and feel.

The 116622 has addressed that and it now comes with the new clasp, complete with the Easy Link.









Finally, something that has always bugged me with the YM was the lack of continuity between the lugs and the bracelet. It just did not sit well with me and I always thought it looked like Rolex did not care and could not be bothered to do a better job. In all honesty, it is mostly visible if you know to look for it and most people couldn't care less. I am of the "what has been seen cannot be unseen" variety so that always bugged me.

The 116622 has addressed that issue as well.

16622, with old style bracelet.






116622, new style. Much improved, IMHO.





A comparison between the two, 16622 in the first pic, 116622 in the second.





One last thing, and we cannot leave this out, the lume.

The 116622 has the blue Chromalight in house lume, vs the green lume on the 16622.
This again a matter of taste. I actually prefer the look of the blue on this watch but IMHO the green on the 16622 glows stronger and longer. (at least on this particular watch)



To wrap this up, I want the new model 116622 but with the dial from the 16622. (why not throw in Jocke's red date wheel for some icing on the cake)
That, for me, would be the ultimate Platinum YM.

I hope this helped some and please excuse the less than stellar quality of my writing.

Thanks guys for taking the time to read this, I will leave you with one final shot of the 116622.