It’s not a sports watch, it’s only offered on a leather strap, it has a sapphire case back, it has a guilloché dial… It’s so many things that you don’t usually associate with a modern Rolex, but I believe the platinum 1908 is by far Rolex’s best new watch of 2024, at least when it comes to accessible watches (cough, cough, yellow gold Le Mans Daytona). I will say, as someone who was very disappointed in Rolex’s releases this year, that’s not exactly a high bar to clear, but even if the competition had been more competitive for the 1908, I’d still call this watch a very good release. In a year where we got lots of underwhelming watches at very high price points (most Rolex releases easily cleared $40,000), the two models that come to mind below that price point are the new steel GMT-Master II and the new platinum 1908… and honestly? The only one I’d be interested in at all is the 1908.
Now, we turn to the 1908. Last year’s Watches & Wonders saw the discontinuation of the Cellini dress watch line, but it also saw the introduction of the 1908 line to replace it. The lineup included four watches, two in yellow gold, two in white gold, and each metal option having the choice of either a white or black dial. This year, we see a fifth option added in the form of a platinum case with an ice blue dial with a guilloché rice-grain motif. It’s a nice looking watch and a very solid release, but what I was happily surprised by was the price.
I normally don’t focus on price too much and just include it at the end of an article, but it needs to be talked about with this specific watch. While platinum Rolex models usually easily run north of $60,000, between the platinum case and clasp, I was expecting them to charge somewhere close to $40,000-45,000 for this platinum 1908. I expected it not because the price would be justified, but because Rolex would feel they could charge that much just based on the precedent that was set with platinum models already. For example, if we look at a few years back, a gold Daytona that would go for high 30’s was priced at $75,000 in platinum, basically a $30-40,000 premium for platinum. Same goes for a gold Day Date (~$40,000) versus a platinum Day Date (~$60,000). Using the same logic, I would’ve expected at least close to $40,000 to be the price for a platinum 1908. In my head I was thinking “it would be great if this watch was under 35, but I can’t imagine Rolex would do that”. I went to the website, pulled up the price for the new watch, and I was happily surprised when I saw the actual price was $30,900. It’s weird to say that a $30,000 watch is a good value, but getting a platinum Rolex in 2024 for essentially the same retail price as a gold Daytona on Oysterflex seems like a really intriguing offer.
Turning to the rest of the watch, it has a 950 platinum 39mm polished case with a partially domed and partially fluted bezel. The case is water resistant to 50 meters. Looking underneath the crystal, the ice blue dial has an engine-turned guilloché rice-grain motif “3, 9, 12” dial. Sort of a combination of a dressy look and a modified Explorer dial. The 6 o’clock position has a subsidiary seconds display with the words “superlative chronometer” over it. Rolex states that they are “pursuing the course [they have] set for the Perpetual collection as a tribute to the classic art of watchmaking”. That obviously means we’ll see traditional dial-making techniques like guilloché/engine-turning, but I’m hoping it’s also an allusion to future complications being added to the collection. Adding a moon phase, a perpetual calendar, and maybe even a tourbillon could all help to have the 1908 line compete with other companies’ dress watch collections that feature many complication options.
The watch comes on either a brown or black alligator strap with a double-folding clasp, what Rolex is referring to as a “Dualclasp”, in platinum. Rolex states that due to its design, the clasp will always sit center on the wrist. The strap, like all 1908’s, features a green calfskin lining. Most people will never see it, but I really like the Rolex green lining… especially with the brown alligator outer, it makes the strap feel like something your grandfather would wear while going out on the golf course (and I say that in the best of ways), but with a modern feel to it when incorporating the look of the overall watch.
In addition to the list of things nobody else but the wearer would usually see, the watch is fitted with a sapphire exhibition case back. For forever, you couldn’t find an exhibition case back on any Rolex model. There have been examples though in the past of Rolex exhibition case backs like that of the Rolex Cellini Prince, but that was definitely an outlier. With last year’s Watches & Wonders showing, Rolex introduced two new models with exhibition case backs: the 1908 line and the platinum Daytona. Rolex has since added the white gold Le Mans Daytona to that group too, which has now been discontinued and replaced with a yellow gold version today at W&W 2024. I definitely don’t think a display back is needed on a Daytona, but it’s a good addition to a line like the 1908. Speaking of that new yellow gold Le Mans Daytona though, it deserves an article of its own. It’s a shame though, that watch absolutely is the the best release of the 2024 show, but I just can’t count it among the 2024 releases due to how scarce it will be and therefore unobtainable for the vast majority of collectors. So I’ll say the platinum 1908 is the best Rolex release of 2024, but with an asterisk for the new Le Mans Daytona.
Moving on to the movement, Rolex is using their relatively new Cal. 7140 movement for the 1908, the same one used in all other 1908 models. The automatic movement has COSC-rated accuracy of +/-2 seconds per day and a power reserve of 66 hours. It features Rolex’s Syloxi silicon hairspring for better timekeeping and Paraflex shock protection system to help the watch deal with daily wear. The movement also allows for hacking seconds, so you can set the time to the exact second.
Again, I’m never going to say that $30,000 is inexpensive, but this is a seemingly good deal for a platinum Rolex in 2024. To get a modern platinum Rolex with an ice blue dial at a relatively reasonable price is still something I wasn’t expecting, especially when you take into account where Rolex’s pricing is going generally. Even though I wasn’t expecting it, I’ll take it. I can only hope that next year’s W&W show will focus on offerings below $20,000. Turning back to the watch, while the 1908 does have a good bit of traditional styling, the overall design keeps it looking modern enough that it can be worn with a lot of different outfits, both formal and more casual. Overall though, the dial looks good, the 1908 is a very wearable modern dress watch, and this is something a little different from Rolex than what we usually see. Altogether, these reasons combine to make a very good argument as to why the platinum 1908 should be in contention for a future spot in a watch box, even though it definitely doesn’t fit the typical Rolex mold.
The new Rolex 1908 in platinum is available on either a brown or black alligator strap and is priced at 30,900 USD.