It’s been reported by The Robb Report that Rolex will release new watches this year. The Robb Report stated that Rolex confirmed to them that new watches will debut on September 1st via the Rolex website. After everything that’s happened this year, it was up for debate whether Rolex would even release new watches after they pulled out of Baselworld and let the scheduled release date for new watches come and go. Whether you’re a fan of Rolex or not, everyone in the watch industry recognizes that the yearly reveal of new models from the industry’s most prominent single brand is an occasion worthy of significant note. When Rolex releases new models, the mixture of excitement and debate skyrockets, and that’s exactly what our community needs right now. On that note, WatchMeWatchBlog will now feature a “Some Better News” category, essentially a quick way to keep track of some positive news coming out of the watch industry.
Getting back to discussing Rolex, the big question that everyone has on their minds is what will be released. I, like almost everyone else, have absolutely no certain knowledge… but as in previous years, that won’t stop me from guessing. To keep things interesting, I’m not going to address anything related to Datejust, Day-Date, Cellini, or Pearlmaster models. Here we go with the guesses:
- FINALLY, Rolex may release a ceramic bezel version of the steel and yellow gold Daytona. I’ve been waiting for this updates for a few years. The last time I wrote one of these predictions lists was in 2018, and obviously I thought the ceramic bezel would’ve come long before 2020, but here we are. The current steel and yellow gold Daytonas look dated and scare potential buyers away out of fear of badly scratching up the all yellow gold bezels. I’m definitely not saying that it’s a horrible thing to have scratches on your watches, scratches just show you’ve enjoyed the watch, but on a watch that’s got a lot of steel and a very prominent yellow gold bezel, any scratches show up even more than would be the case with a full yellow gold Daytona where the bezel is the same material as the rest of the case and bracelet. The move to a ceramic bezel is inevitable for the steel and gold Daytona, but we’ll see if it actually comes this year.
- As they release ceramic bezels for the steel and gold versions, Rolex will also make the Daytona available for the first time in steel and Everose gold. As rose gold becomes more and more popular, we’ve already seen Rolex try and take advantage of the trend. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen Rolex release a full Everose GMT-Master II, release a steel and Everose gold GMT-Master II, and reach back into the seemingly retired rainbow Daytona series to release a new one in Everose to complete the trio of yellow, white, and rose gold rainbow Daytonas.
- On the note of rose gold, Rolex could add a full Everose Submariner and a steel and Everose Submariner just like they did when they added both GMT-Master II models a few years back. Again, Rolex is trying to capitalize on the rose gold trend, and this move would make complete sense when trying to gain rose gold sports watch market share. There’s also a chance that Rolex could update their entire Submariner Date line by using the new 3235 movement.
- There has to be some solution for the issue of an updated Explorer II as well as why the steel and two-tone GMT-Master II’s were discontinued. Rolex may have discontinued the GMT-Master II models to eventually release white and black dial Explorer II’s with ceramic bezels. Having them in the lineup with the steel GMT-Master II 116710LN would have two redundant watches in a lineup. I’d hope for new GMT-Master II’s as I like the rotatable bezel, but I doubt we’d get that with an updated Explorer II. There may also be a two-tone Explorer II released with a ceramic bezel to take the place of the previous 116713LN. If not, look for a new steel and yellow gold GMT-Master II with a dial other than black.
- There’s the possibility that Rolex might introduce an Explorer with dials other than just black. White is an obvious pick, but they could decide to draw some more attention to the line by adding a more colourful dial.
- Discontinuations: Rolex might discontinue the 116610LV. Furthermore, if Rolex decides to revamp the majority of their Submariner collection by adding the new 3235, I think there’s a good chance that my favorite watch, the 116619LB will be discontinued as well. There’s a real chance that the Rolex Air-King might be discontinued, especially if there’s an expansion of the Explorer line.
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