In the past half-century, since it launched its GMT Master, Rolex has brought out just one new complication: the Yacht-Master II, in 2007, which has a countdown yacht timer. This year it’s launching another, the Sky-Dweller, equipped with both a second time zone and an annual calendar (a calendar that automatically differentiates between months of 30 days and 31 days, and need be adjusted just once per year, at the end of February). Thanks to its innovative movement, and the fact that Rolex launches so few complications, the Sky-Dweller was one of the most talked-about watches at Baselworld.
It contains an entirely new caliber, 9001, which Rolex makes in house. The second time zone is indicated by an off-center, rotating 24-hour disk. Local time, indicated by the center- mounted hands, can be adjusted quickly when you change time zones by setting the hour hand forward or backward in one-hour increments. The minutes, seconds, and second-time-zone indicators are not affected during this operation.
The calendar mechanism, which changes instantaneously, is relatively simple, Rolex says: the company has added just two gear ratios and four gear wheels to its existing instantaneous date calendar. As Rolex explains it, “The mechanism is designed around a fixed planetary gear wheel at the center of the movement. A satellite wheel engages with the planetary wheel and rotates, orbiting the planetary wheel in one month, driven by the date disk. The satellite wheel is fitted with four fingers for the four 30-day months (April, June, September and November). Click on watch photos for larger images.
Click here to watch the Rolex Sky-Dweller video…
“The gear ratio between the satellite wheel and the planetary wheel is calculated in such a way that at the end of each 30-day month – and only in these months – one of the satellite’s fingers receives an additional impulse from the date-change mechanism. This makes the calendar disk jump two days (from the 30th to the first) within a few milliseconds to display the correct date.” Rolex has dubbed the mechanism “Saros,” a Greek word that refers to the approximately 18-year cycle that can be used to predict when eclipses will occur. Rolex chose the name because it brings to mind the revolutions of the Earth and moon, which are like the motion of the satellite wheel (the Earth) with its four fingers (the moon).
The calendar has an unusual month display. The hour numerals correspond to the 12 months of the year. Next to each numeral is a window. The window for the current month (e.g., “IIII” for April,) is black; the other 11 windows are white. (On the brown-dial model, the correct month is indicated by a white window for better contrast.)
The month is shown by a window next to the corresponding numeral (here, “IIII” for April).
Setting the watch requires the use of both the crown and the rotating “Ring Command” bezel.
To set the watch, you use both the bezel and the crown. First you rotate the bezel to one of three positions to select which of three functions — date, local time or home (24-hour) time – you want to set. Then, using the crown, you set the function, going either forward or backward. Rolex says, “The heart of the mechanism is a double cam and levers that engage various gear trains inside the movement according to the function selected. One of these cams is activated by pulling out the winding crown; the other is driven by rotating the bezel [Rolex calls it a “Ring Command Bezel”] to activate setting wheels located in the middle case of the watch.”
Caliber 9001, which has bi-directional winding is, like all Rolex calibers, certified by COSC. It has a stop seconds function and a power reserve of 72 hours. The movement has 380 components and is protected by seven patents, four of them new.
The case is 42 mm in diameter and water resistant to 100 meters. It comes in white, yellow or rose gold. The white- and yellow-gold models have Oyster-style bracelets; the rose-gold version has a leather strap. U.S. prices are not yet available.
The yellow-gold version, like the white-gold one, has an Oyster-style bracelet.
The rose-gold version has an alligator strap.
Click below for a video of the Rolex Sky Dweller…
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The case is 42 mm in diameter and water resistant to 100 meters.
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WRONG! water PROOF....***
We agree that the Rolex Sky Dweller is the most intricate and amazingly innovative automatic winding watch in the marketplace today!
WOW
I love my yellow gold model. It has become one of my favorite time pieces.
If only rolex had not overlaped the lower numerals with the 24hr disc this watch would have been perfect.
I agree with Anand.
After the Explorer II, this is probably the best looking Rolex out there. Love the white gold version. If only I had enough time (read: money).