Rolex

Sky Dweller Watches

Being a very young member of the family, the Rolex Sky Dweller has already grabbed the hearts of many collectors with its outstanding profile. In 2012, Rolex released the completely new collection Sky Dweller, for the roaming travellers over the globe. Incorporating 11 to 14 patented inventions, it is the most complicated watch of Rolex. 

The 42mm Rolex Sky Dweller watch is composed of over 60 components and houses an exclusively developed movement 9001 Caliber with an annual calendar complication. The features like dual time displays, a date window, and a month indicator are all displayed on the dial. Depending on the direction of the rotational fluted bezel, the wearer can easily adjust the date, local time and reference time by the winding crown. 

As one of the premium Rolex lineups, the Sky Dweller is available in various shimmering metal options, including yellow gold, white gold, everose gold and later stainless steel, pairing with the same metal bracelets or leather bracelets. Featuring elegant design, the Rolex Sky Dweller is considered as an exceptional Rolex dressy watch with high functionality. 

It is very obvious that you do not buy a Rolex watch just to tell the time or only tactical uses. With its rich history, business strategies and achievements on watch innovations, Rolex has become one of the most influential brands in the world. Regardless what reason you purchase it for, you are also enjoying the heritage and the status a Rolex watch represents when wearing it. 

When it comes to its Sky Dweller model, it is a recent representative of Rolex’s technical advancements among the modern Rolex watches. The brand introduced this Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sky Dweller at Baselworld 2012 as the most complicated watch that Rolex has ever created. From its elegant look, it is considered to be a Rolex dress watch which is closer to the Day Date. The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sky Dweller watch collection is categorised as Rolex luxurious lineup instead of its sports collections. 

Despite being an “non-sports” watch, the Rolex Sky Dweller actually housed 14 Rolex’s patents and offered new special technology of the brand. There are three major functions of the Sky Dweller which distinguish it from the other watches: the annual calendar with date and month display, a dual time-zone and a 24-hour display. With its new movement, the Sky Dweller is the first Rolex watch to display both an annual calendar as well as dual time on the dial. 

Seeing the several Sky-Dweller released since its first launch, they were all offered exclusively in 18k gold, including yellow gold, white gold and Everose gold. The Rolex Sky Dweller rose gold model is particularly most discussed among the Rolex lovers.  

However, at Baselworld 2017, Rolex introduced two new two-tuned Sky-Dweller models which were made of steel and gold. The Rolesor Sky Dweller models feature a stainless steel case and a 18k yellow gold or white gold fluted bezel. Because of the limited use of gold, these models are more affordable among the collection and have also become the most sought after ones as well. Of this series, the Rolesor Rolex Sky Dweller blue dial is the most popular one that collectors have to wait for years in order to purchase at its official retail price. 

To further understand the attractiveness of Rolex Sky Dweller, let’s explore more about its remarkable features. 

Case

All the Sky Dweller is equipped with a 42 mm case with Rolex’s standard water resistance up to 100m depth. The early models are only made of 18k gold and later in 2017 a two-tuned stainless steel & gold versions were added to its catalog. It has a high-performance paraflex shock absorber and a large balance wheel with variable inertia. 

Bezel

The fluted bezel of the watch is the brand’s new patented Ring Command Bezel. This feature allows the wearers to understand and control the complicated functions easily. Depending on whether it is rotated counterclockwise by one, two or three positions, the wearer can easily select the three settings respectively, the date, local and reference time, and adjust them by the crown. Unlike the usual regulatory mechanisms in other watches, multiple functions can be adjusted with just only one crown. 

Movement and Complications

The Rolex Sky Dweller is powered by the newly manufactured Rolex in-house movement Caliber 9001. It is both certified as a Superlative Chronometer as well as a COSC chronometer, qualifying for a high precision of +2/-2 second per day. This new  movement is equipped with another Rolex’s invention, the parachrom blue hairspring and an escapement wheel of paramagnetic material. The exceptional movement offers a high power reserve of up to 72 hours.

The Sky Dweller offers an exceptional annual calendar feature. This complication is based on a mechanism called SAROS. The name SAROS was derived from a Greek term referring to the natural cycle of the earth, moon, and the sun. The calendar feature of the Sky Dweller is capable of calculating accurately the right number of dates so it can automatically turn to reveal the new month without any manual adjustment for an entire year. The red marker on the hour markers are used to indicate the months. 

In addition to the noteworthy annual calendar feature, the Rolex Sky Dweller watch can also tell time for dual time zones. The local time is to be read on the main dial while the second time zone is to be indicated by the off-centered rotating disc with numbers ranging from 1 to 24 on the dial above the six o'clock position. The small red arrow hand is placed for reading the second time zone.

Possessing revolutionary design and technical advancements, the Rolex Sky Dweller was an extraordinary watch for the modern jet-setters and global travellers who need to keep track of time and date at a glance. Although the Rolex Sky Dweller is known as the most complicated Rolex watch, the brand had paid extra effort to make it very easy to use. It is definitely worth the investment to be your life-long companion to any place.