Back To The Essence
CROWN Singapore|December 2017

Could the Rolex Datejust be the most complete watch ever?

Yeo Suan Futt
Back To The Essence

Rolex is one of the top brands in the world, its five-pointed coronet logo recognised everywhere as a symbol of first-rate watchmaking. Ranked 69 on the Forbes list of the 100 most valuable brands in 2017, at a worth of $8.7 billion, it comes in fifth among the just seven brands in the ‘Luxury’ category (Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Gucci, Cartier, Chanel, Coach) to make this top 100 list. As far as this category is concerned, Rolex is quite the anomaly. With the exception of Chanel, the others on the shortlist are all public-listed luxury conglomerates with a finger in every pie of the luxury goods matrix, from apparel and jewellery, to fragrances and timepieces.

Rolex, on the other hand, is an independent, one-product company: it has only ever made, and has declared that it will only make, watches. Everything in-house, from movements, cases, dials and bracelets, down to casting its own gold and drawing its own hairsprings. Yet unlike its cousins at the Académie des Horlogers Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI) producing limited samples in the tens or hundreds, Rolex is an industrial behemoth that rolls out an estimated 800,000 watches a year, yet successfully maintaining the paradoxical harmony of mass production, luxury and prestige, to an extent not equalled by any of the other marques at the ‘haute horlogerie’ table.

How does Rolex do it? In a word, Datejust. Rolex describes it as “the modern archetype of the classic watch”. Translated, the Datejust isn’t just a very well-engineered watch – it is that the Datejust best exemplifies what Rolex is, both in the metal and in spirit, for being a most exceptional timepiece in a most unexceptional segment of watchmaking. Meaning, the everyday wear three-hand with date.

BUILT BY HISTORY

This story is from the December 2017 edition of CROWN Singapore.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the December 2017 edition of CROWN Singapore.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM CROWN SINGAPOREView All
Luminox Introduces The Pacific Diver Adventure
CROWN Singapore

Luminox Introduces The Pacific Diver Adventure

Luminox introduces the Pacific Diver Adventure that combines the brand’s penchant for robustness with a bit of shine

time-read
1 min  |
Issue 4 - 2021
Irresistible Chimes From Jaeger-LeCoultre's Reversible Icon
CROWN Singapore

Irresistible Chimes From Jaeger-LeCoultre's Reversible Icon

Irresistible chimes from Jaeger-LeCoultre’s reversible icon

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 4 - 2021
Chopard L.U.C's First Automatic Flying Tourbillon
CROWN Singapore

Chopard L.U.C's First Automatic Flying Tourbillon

A gorgeous rendition of Chopard L.U.C’s first automatic flying tourbillon on the occasion of the Manufacture’s 25th anniversary

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 4 - 2021
TAG Heuer Updates The Iconic Carrera Collection With Time-And-Date-Only Models
CROWN Singapore

TAG Heuer Updates The Iconic Carrera Collection With Time-And-Date-Only Models

TAG Heuer updates the iconic Carrera collection with time-and-date-only models

time-read
2 mins  |
Issue 4 - 2021
Three Of A. Lange & Söhne's Most Unique Innovations Come Together
CROWN Singapore

Three Of A. Lange & Söhne's Most Unique Innovations Come Together

Three of A. Lange & Söhne’s most unique innovations come together in the Zeitwerk Honeygold ‘Lumen’

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 4 - 2021
Throwback-Inspired Watch That You Need This Year
CROWN Singapore

Throwback-Inspired Watch That You Need This Year

Bvlgari’s Gerald Genta Arena Retrograde 'Mickey Mouse' is the only throwback-inspired watch you need this year

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 4 - 2021
Desire A Tourbillon For Your Collection?
CROWN Singapore

Desire A Tourbillon For Your Collection?

Desire a tourbillon for your collection? Best go to the source.

time-read
2 mins  |
Issue 4 - 2021
Vacheron Constantin Brings Collectors To Time And Again
CROWN Singapore

Vacheron Constantin Brings Collectors To Time And Again

Excellence in astronomical and calendar complications isn’t so much a pursuit, but a promised land that Vacheron Constantin brings collectors to time and again

time-read
5 mins  |
Issue 4 - 2021
Hue The World
CROWN Singapore

Hue The World

Blancpain’s new vibrantly coloured collection with mechanical sass

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 4 - 2021
Vacheron Constantin Miniature Enamel Painting
CROWN Singapore

Vacheron Constantin Miniature Enamel Painting

How does one start to appreciate Vacheron Constantin’s piece-unique Les Cabinotiers Westminster Sonnerie – Tribute to Johannes Vermeer pocket watch?

time-read
1 min  |
Issue 4 - 2021