The now-written purpose of the Rolex Sky-Dweller

When I read the Rolex Sky-Dweller article published today at Hodinkee (http://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-rolex-sky-dweller-the-most-complicated-modern-rolex), it had me thinking about the origin of the name "Sky-Dweller" and what it would mean to an owner of the watch and who should own the watch.  It's really simple when you think about it, but of course this is just my opinion....


The name Sky-Dweller simply means one who dwells in the sky, and since we can assume a bird will not be purchasing this watch anytime soon, then we are left with a human being who flies a lot.  The first and easiest benefit of the Sky-Dweller for the ever-flying individual is the second time zone - it is incredibly helpful to have local time and home time (home time being in 24-hour format) when traveling around the world.  The Sky-Dweller has an independently settable hour hand for local time which works without hacking the movement, so when the wearer arrives at his destination, while he has to unscrew the crown to adjust to local time, he does not have to reset the time.

The second benefit is the annual calendar, and what makes it a "Sky-Dweller" annual calendar is the way the month is displayed.  The month is shown on an aperture outside each hour marker.  Here's the deal - if you spend most of your year travelling, when wearing the Sky-Dweller, with a quick glance down at your watch, you can see how your year is progressing.  When the aperture above the "1" tells you that it's January, and you're a man of leisure heading to Grand Cayman for the winter, you think about all the other trips you are going to take the rest of the year.

Alternatively, if you're a businessman, and the aperture below the "6" tells you that it's June, you may think about what kind of quarter your company is having and whether or not you are beating plan.

The point is, it is a way to monitor your year in the sky - it can help you plan your goals, or relish or attempt to forget a month gone by; it could even help you remember birthdays and anniversaries.

It's a wonderful way to monitor the passage of a year.

For more, please see Rolex.com.


Image courtesy of Rolex.com.

[One of the many] reasons Rolex is so successful

Ever heard of Rolex?  If the answer is no, you have probably been hiding under a rock.  I have heard that Rolex has twenty-five percent of the luxury watch market, which is staggering if you think about the number of luxury watch brands that exist today.  

Rolex is synonymous with many things, including quality and excellent timekeeping.  If you pay attention to mechanical watch media, you will also gain a deeper understanding of the machine (pun intended) that is Rolex, as a company.  Rolex does nearly everything in-house, including creating its own proprietary metals - yes, melting elements into cases and bracelets.  (Source https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/inside-rolex).

Another thing Rolex, as a timeless brand, does is create timeless models, like the Submariner.  Wait, other brands create timeless models too, like the Nautilus, right?  Yes, but, where Rolex differs is that they do not vary, fundamentally, in the complications offered in each of their models, other than date or no-date on a couple models.  Does Patek Philippe offer a Nautilus Chronograph?  Yes.  Does Blancpain offer a Fifty-Fathoms Chronograph?  Yes.  Does Vacheron offer an Overseas model with a simple date or a Chronograph?  Yes, and yes.  Does Rolex offer a Submariner Chronograph?  No.  Actually, the answer is absolutely no.  The chronograph offered by Rolex is the Daytona.  THE DAYTONA, which is arguably the most coveted watch in collecting at the moment.

Rolex offers many of its watches in different metals, but fundamentally they stick to one thing and do it incredibly well, which has led to them being the powerhouse they are.  One last parting opinion, if Rolex had issued a "Submariner Chronograph" instead of the Daytona, I wouldn't be writing this article (that nobody is going to read anyway), because Rolex would be just like every other watch company, releasing version after version trying to increase sales in the short run but harming the brand over the long-term.