Much more than earlier years, the early buzz surrounding Watches and Wonders 2023 novelties has been centered round a single model – Rolex. Whereas Rolex dominating the fanatic dialog is nothing new, the Swiss big’s choices are extra adventurous and various than we’ve come to count on from the famously conservative marque. There are many the same old minor tweaks and line extensions that we see from the model yearly (that is nonetheless Rolex, in any case), however interspersed with these incremental shifts are a handful of fashions that showcase a extra playful, vibrant aspect of the model. The clear standout amongst these wilder visible experiments is the brand new “jigsaw dial” Rolex Day-Date 36, which mixes a rainbow of champlevé enamel dial colours with vibrant utilized sapphire indices, advanced gold inlays, and a cool, offbeat date wheel that replaces the normal date numerals with a set of 31 distinctive emojis. Our staff had the chance to take a while with the brand new Rolex Day-Date 36 “Jigsaw Dial” in white gold, and this design well mixes acquainted Rolex parts with a youthful, funky character that isn’t sometimes related to the Crown.
At 36mm-wide, the 18K white-gold case of the Rolex Day-Date 36 “Jigsaw Dial” could be very a lot the identical dressy tackle the Oyster case design that lovers are used to seeing. Every little thing from the trademark fluted bezel to the slab case sides and easy tapering lugs is pure conventional Rolex. In white gold, nevertheless, this ultra-familiar type takes on a brightness and charismatic heft that immediately units it aside from a stainless-steel Rolex case on the similar dimension. In fact, that is nonetheless a far stealthier possibility than the accessible yellow gold or Everose fashions, however that could be the one component of this watch that may rightly be known as “refined.” Like the remainder of the Day-Date collection, Rolex charges this look ahead to a strong 100 meters of water resistance.
In fact, the actual centerpiece of this new Rolex Day-Date 36 is its dial. Whereas the case is normal Rolex fare, there’s no mistaking this dial show for some other Day-Date, even throughout a room. The bottom dial colour is a shiny turquoise blue enamel, complemented by a vibrant and cheerful puzzle-piece motif with segments in orange, yellow, inexperienced, purple, and a surprisingly muted purple. In between every of those puzzle piece segments is a slim white gold inlay, which catches the sunshine dramatically at various angles and acts to emphasise the raised, shiny texture of the encircling enamel. It’s not a structure that instantly speaks to visible depth, however with a better look, there’s a refined sense of verticality at play right here. The baguette-cut sapphire hour markers add much more brightness and colour to the structure right here, whereas the faceted baton handset retains the traditional Day-Date look immediately recognizable on the wrist.
Much more than the rainbow-hued dial, nevertheless, the day and date shows are what actually take this mannequin out of the model’s staid, conventional consolation zone. For the 12 o’clock day show, Rolex abandons the times of the week in favor of an array of seven optimistic, uplifting phrases printed in numerous colours, together with “Completely happy,” Eternity,” “Gratitude,” Peace,” “Religion,” “Love,” and “Hope.” The three o’clock date window is even wilder, changing every day of the month with a corresponding emoji. That is actually out of the normal Rolex consolation zone, particularly contemplating the blended fanatic response when much more adventurous Richard Mille created an emoji-themed design in 2022. With that mentioned, if you happen to can look previous the necessity to study every corresponding phrase and emoji for every day and date, that is as daring and as playful an announcement piece as we’re prone to see from Rolex for fairly a while. Having fun with this piece is all about detaching oneself from the pomp and circumstance surrounding a model like Rolex — it doesn’t all must be lethal critical tool-watch horology right here, and within the phrases of Gene Wilder, “slightly nonsense from time to time is relished by the wisest males.”
Rolex powers the Day-Date 36 “Jigsaw Dial” with its in-house 3255 automated motion. This powerplant conforms to the model’s stringent Superlative Chronometer normal for accuracy, whereas additionally providing a hefty 72-hour energy reserve at a 28,800 bph beat fee. The 3255 is chock full of recent improvements as effectively, together with a blue Parachrom hairspring, the Paraflex shock absorption system, and the model’s super-efficient Chronergy escapement design. Naturally, no flashy Day-Date design is full with no matching three-link President bracelet, and Rolex obliges right here with its acquainted shiny, half-rounded hyperlinks and hidden clasp design.
Amid an ocean of buzz for the model’s Watches and Wonders 2023 novelties, the brand new Rolex Day-Date 36 “Jigsaw Dial” in white gold stands out as one of many brightest and most vital departures for the commonly hyper-conservative Swiss model. The brand new Rolex Day-Date 36 “Jigsaw Dial” additionally stands as probably the model’s most enigmatic launch of the present, as an off-catalog mannequin with no confirmed reference quantity to its identify. Likewise, the model was unable to offer pricing info as of press time. For extra particulars, please go to the brand’s website.
