It’s a Rolex
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Those words would be enough for many people to assume one of two things (sometimes both)
These days it’s a very significant investment to buy a Rolex watch and in fact, you can’t just go into a Rolex store and point at a watch and say ‘I want that one’. The waiting list on all the most popular ones can run up to several years and even the starter watches usually involves some sort of begging. So even if you have the cash, you’ll still have to wait. Lucky watch fans are so patient...right. |
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This is certainly a very enviable place to be a for a large luxury brand. Take something like the classic Submariner. A fairly humble looking watch with a design that’s been imitated countless times, even today. When it was released in the 50’s, it was $150. When you ad a 0 to account for inflation, is still reasonably affordable at $1500. Today, you’ll find yourself on a long waitlist to even hope to buy a new one.
The secondhand market is likely to set you back anywhere between $10,000 to $15,000. Enzo Ferrari famously said, ‘Ferrari will always deliver one car less than the market demand’. |
This has clearly worked for Ferrari and the Rolex approach is very similar.
So if you’re not buying one to show off your wealth, but you happen to be genuinely interested in a Rolex watch due to their long history of reliable, well made and beautifully finished watches? You may drive a Kia and not a Mercedes? There is an option that is far more accessible, and a little easier to find available. Say hello to the Rolex Oyster Perpetual. |
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Let’s start with the box. It’s truly something and you’ll find these boxes for sale just on their own for very healthy amounts. Closely inspecting the box can also be one of the first steps that you take to ensure that what you’re about to buy is the genuine product. Many replicas these days are so good that you have to open the case and inspect the movement in some detail to be able to tell, but interestingly, the boxes are very challenging to replicate.
Obviously not an issue here since this was purchased new from Rolex. So, a thick and deep green box with quality internals is what awaits. Also, a cool detail is the fold down pocket inside the lid that contains the official documents, again high quality print and warranty cards with serial numbers. A fantastic first impression. |
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This very model is a bit small for me at 36mm but it’s my first ever experience of handling a Rolex for any length of time. What struck me first of all is the overall feel of the watch. The steel is so soft and velvety to touch and this goes for both the watch and bracelet. The entire case of the watch, whilst certainly having plenty of angles, feels soft.
There are no sharp to the touch edges anywhere. With the vast majority of watches, you come across the ‘316L’ stainless steel reference. This is the accepted standard with steel watches. Rolex have their own secret alloy called Oystersteel and you can definitely tell that it’s something special. |
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The Oyster Perpetual is available in a number of colour combinations, this particular one is a lovely light grey with a sunburst dial.
What of course sticks out the most is the large Rolex Crown on the dial. It’s very prominent and both you and people around you will notice it almost immediately. Obviously the large prominent brand name is very visible also. Other than that, this is a restrained and beautiful design. There are applied indices with a similar thickness to the minute and hour hands. Legibility is very good although this particular grey colour does blend in a little bit with the silver details. If I was buying a new one, I’d be quite keen on the black or blue one. |
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Flipping the watch over, and you might be in for a surprise if this is your first Rolex. What you’ll see is a completely plain watch back. Really great if you want to engrave your watch (say, if you happen to be Paul Newman’s wife) but a bit plain compared to almost all other watches in this and any price range.
Is this an issue? It’s a bit of a Rolex trade mark now so as long as you’re aware of why, I don’t think so. |
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Rolex is well known for being absolute pioneers in this area. Might sound silly but it really is impressive to see the Rolex approach to some common problems. Take the ingenious dive buckle designs, unrivalled in its simple but supremely effective approach to micro adjustments. This OP is obviously not a dive watch, so what’s special here?
There is something special here! Think about the standard buckle design. It’s typically a snap close and a little fold over safety mechanism to prevent accidental opening. This design requires you to stick a nail into this small fold over lock to dis-engage it and then you have access to open the main buckle. It’s fine, but it puts pressure on your nails which could be annoying if you have long nails or short nails. This Rolex buckle snaps shut securely. On the edge of the buckle there’s a little hinge that follows the upwards movement of your finger to dis-engage the lock and the buckle and clasp opens very smoothly. A very elegant, mechanical approach.
The entire design is beautiful with a deeply recessed Rolex logo and various small details on the clasp itself. It’s the nicest buckle I have ever seen. Elegant, pretty, yet still slim and understated. The bracelet itself is exactly as pretty as you’d imagine. It feels solid with the same oystersteel and it’s also soft and comfortable to wear. I don’t love bracelets myself but I honestly couldn’t imagine removing this from the watch, although I'm sure it'd look very pretty on leather. |
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Finally another word on the lume. Again, Rolex uses their own proprietary solution and it’s great. This is a very dressy watch and you don’t always get lume on dress watches, however here again it’s applied in a subtle but effective fashion.
Waking up in the small hours of the night, I had no issues at all seeing the lume and it was plenty bright enough despite the areas of lume being quite slim. |
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So what’s it like to live with
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Ok, so partially I’m coming at this from the perspective of having borrowed a small watch worth more than all my other watches together. It was stored in a super secret spot in my house (ok, under my side of the bed) during its couple of weeks with me. I didn’t wear it out in public for fear of damaging it in any way.
I would not hesitate buying one with a few battle scars just so I wasn’t the first to scratch it. I respect Rolex as a brand that make beautiful watches, I absolutely do not relate to extreme inflated values of some of their models.
AUD8000 is a lot of money for a starter watch. I’m not sure that even if money was not an issue, that I wouldn’t get something from Germany or even from Rolex sister brand, Tudor, and buy two of those at the same price. That said, I would absolutely buy a Porsche 911. I’d not care about the middle fingers directed to me, being hated in traffic and being a constant target for theft. But, I’d get a subtle grey one. I would not get the GT with an enormous wing, chicken yellow, no air conditioning etc since that’s just silly. So on that logic, I’d actually say that the Rolex Oyster Perpetual is an excellent buy since you’re wearing an absolute legend, for the right reasons. It’s subtle, beautiful and an icon. Any watch fan should probably own a Rolex at some point in their life, and this is an excellent first or only option. Particularly if you happen to want a Porsche 911 but drive a Toyota 86. Cheers, Esbjorn |
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