Rolex Unveiled a New Collection at Watches & Wonders '25

It’s not often that Rolex introduces an entirely fresh model family, making this year’s Watches & Wonders a particularly notable edition.

Then again, upon closer examination, this new family has hallmarks of models that have long been out of production, offering something for both the modern connoisseur as well as the vintage collector, to boot: Meet the new Rolex Land-Dweller, a model reminiscent of the brand’s Oysterquartz references from the 1970s. Featuring an integrated bracelet, you may think to yourself that it gives Gérald Genta vibes — which is no coincidence, given that lore says the Beta 21-equipped Rolex ref. 5100 from 1969 was actually designed (or heavily influenced by) Genta himself. (To my knowledge, this has never been confirmed.)

Whatever the true design inspiration of the first Rolex with an integrated bracelet, there’s no doubt that the new Land-Dweller comes at a significant time. Because while luxury sports watches such as the Royal Oak, Nautilus and others have certainly lost some ground to smaller precious-metal dress watches over the past few years — we’re looking at you, vintage Cartier and stone-dial Piaget — these designs, with their integrated bracelets, still remain wildly popular. The Land-Dweller bracelet, which Rolex simply refers to as a “Flat Jubilee,” features flat, polished center links unique to this model family, technical satin finishing on the top of the outer links and polished sides. A hidden Crownclasp topped by the Rolex coronet keeps the design smooth and free-flowing, making for an elegant look that nevertheless retains the brand’s overall sporty character.

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The Land-Dweller, for its part, features another exciting development: A new hi-beat movement, the automatic Calibre 7135, with an escapement that Rolex calls Dynapulse. Unlike a typical lever escapement — the industry standard — Dynapulse makes use of a lightweight, highly efficient energy distribution system with silicon components based upon rolling instead of sliding motion. Largely impervious to magnetic interference, it also has a patented balance staff made from a proprietary material exclusive to Rolex that is shaped by laser. Beating at 5 Hz, this is a hi-beat movement that can track time down to 1/10th of a second in the mode of, say, a Zenith El Primero chronograph caliber. As with all Rolex movements, it’s COSC-certified.

The Land-Dweller comes in several variations at launch: The first, the ref. 127334 in stainless steel, measures 40mm and features a white gold fluted bezel much like many Datejust models. The dial, a satin-finished honeycomb motif, will no doubt remind vintage Rolex lovers of models from the 1950s that once featured similar textures: Executed with a femtosecond laser, it features a Chromalight display with open numerals and indices as well as a special luminescent handset unique to the model family; a date window at 3 o’clock is magnified via a Cyclops magnifier on the watch’s sapphire crystal. Upon flipping the watch over, the fluting of the bezel is mirrored on the caseback edge, which features a sapphire window allowing one to admire the Calibre 7135 and its gold automatic-winding rotor.

Other 40mm variations include the ref. 127336 in platinum with an ice-blue honeycomb dial; the ref. 127335 in Everose gold with a white honeycomb dial; the ref. 127386TBR in platinum with a diamond-set bezel and baguette-cut diamond indices set into an ice-blue dial; and the ref. 127385TBR, an Everose version of the aforementioned diamond-set model with a white dial.

In 36mm, the ref. 127234 echoes the feature set of the 40mm ref.127334 in steel with a white gold bezel and white dial, while the ref. 127235 is Everose with a white dial; the ref. 127285TBR is Everose with a white dial and diamonds; the ref. 127286TBR is platinum with a diamond-set bezel and ice blue-blue dial; and the ref. 127236 is platinum with an ice-blue dial but without the diamonds. All variants measure just 9.8mm tall and boast 100m of water resistance, giving them a sporty feature set that makes them ideal for work, travel, play, more formal business environments and anything in between.

Pricing, which begins at CHF 13,300 and tops out at CHF 111,500, is wide-ranging and expensive, though by no means out of line with that of other luxury sports watch collections — in fact, certain stainless steel SKUs even offer a relative savings offer models from other brands. Beginning well beyond stainless steel Oyster Perpetual, Datejust, Submariner, Explorer II and Air-King territory, Land-Dweller pricing is, in steel, within striking distance of of the IWC Ingenieur Automatic, the Girard-Perregaux Laureato and the Chopard Alpine Eagle in Lucent Steel. Of course, the new Calibre 7135, whose design necessitated the filing of numerous patents — the Land-Dwller’s development itself saw Rolex file 32 patents, 18 of which are unique to the model — is no doubt partially responsible for this higher pricing (relative to the aforementioned Rolex models). The development of tooling for the new Flat Oyster bracelet generation would likewise have required significant expenditure, as would the specially-produced honeycomb dials.

The Land-Dweller is probably not a watch for the same type of person who wears a Submariner while scuba diving or an Explorer II while climbing — alas, those intrepid types are fewer and farther between as the years, in the immortal words of Don Henley, keep rushin’ on. But for a certain type of diehard Rolex collector, the Land-Dweller will no doubt prove an excellent dressier option, while the more traditional Sport models will remain ideal for, well, sport. And with their 100m of water resistance, tank-like build quality and brand-new movement, the Land-Dweller seems — ironically, given its name — like the perfect watch to wear, White Lotus-like, on a beach vacation. By the time summer rolls around, we should know whether we’ve got the right idea or not.