Rolex is iconic in itself, but there are a few models that any watch lover will instantly recognize – and some most people can place but can’t name. Either way, these iconic Rolex models are the who’s who of the watch world.
The Submariner
The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner – commonly known simply as the Submariner – was first introduced in 1953 at Basel, and then at the 1954 Swiss Watch Fair. Submariners are specifically designed for diving and are known for their water resistance.
Modern Submariners have 3 distinctions:
- Water Resistance: Water resistance of up to 1,000 feet- thanks to its Triplock gasket system and steel Oyster casing.
- Unidirectional Rotatable Bezel; The graduations on the Submariner’s ceramic bezel allow divers to track submersion time, moving only clockwise to prevent overestimating the amount of air in a tank.
- A perpetual winding mechanism. Basically, any minute movement of the wrist winds the Submariner’s movement and can maintain time based on stored energy for up to three days.
The Daytona
The Cosmograph Daytona was pioneered to suit professional racing needs. First introduced in 1963, the Daytona has a patented chronograph mechanism and bezel with tachometric scale designed to precisely measure elapsed circuit time.
Modern Daytona’s feature:
- Tachometric Bezel: A bezel engraved to function as a tachymeter – it can measure elapsed time over a set distance up to 400 miles – or kilometers, per hour.
- Three hands – the central hand records units of time in 1/8th of a second, while the counters in the 9 and 3 position measure hour and minute units.
- The Paul Newman Daytona: Because Daytona’s are still manufactured today, the first series have become highly valuable acquisitons for watch collecters. The rarest of these series are Daytona’s with the Paul Newman dial, so named for the actor who wore the watch from the time his wife gave it to him when he started racing, until his death in 2008.
The GMT Master II
The GMT-Master ,introduced in 1955, was developed in collaboration with Pan Am to meet the needs of their international pilots. When the first commercial transcontinental flight took off, its pilots wore the GMT (short for Greenwhich Mean Time) to tell time in multiple time zones. GMT was the basis for all flight planning, schedules and navigation before the advent of modern flight technology, so an accurate GMT time source was imperative for a safe flight.
The GMT Master II features:
- Dual Hands: Dual hands tell time with a 24 hour hand as well as the adjustable 12 hour hand for effortless and precise transitions between time zones.
- The 24 hour bezel. The bezel on a GMT allows its wearer to tell time in a 3rd time zone, and has only 24 possible positions in its rotations for flawless time telling.
- Multiple Time Zones: Historically, the second time zone helped the crew of Pan Am flights adapt to jetlag, as well as the difference in time zone from their families. This feature popularized the GMT Master with international business travelers, astronauts and soldiers who also had to content with various time zones in their profession.
