The Top 5 Rolex Watches To Wear This Christmas

As the great Scottish poet Alexander Smith once said, ‘Christmas is the day that holds all time together.’ What better gift for your most loveable of loved ones this holiday season then, than the gift of time?   

If you are the poor soul who has to try and find presents for one of those people who are impossible to buy for this year (my wife certainly is) then I am willing to put my reputation on the line (such as it is) and declare that the gift of a Rolex watch has never once gone down badly. 

With a Rolex, not only are you giving one of the most objectively accomplished watches on the market, you are also bestowing your chosen someone with a sense of luxury, prestige and class no other present can match. 

Here at Beckertime, we have an incredible selection of preowned Rolex for you to choose from, all certified authentic and 100% genuine.

And to help you get started, below we have picked out five of our very best Christmas crackers. 

The Rolex Submariner ref. 16618

That bit we said earlier about nobody ever being disappointed with the gift of Rolex goes double for a Submariner. 

The blueprint for, and most famous example of, the modern dive watch, the venerable Sub has been the industry standard since it was launched all the way back in 1953. 

It has gone through an exhaustive round of revisions over the last 70-years or so, but has still kept all of the most important underpinnings; the high contrast, no-nonsense dial furniture, the clearly demarcated rotating bezel, the class-leading water resistance, the general vibe of indestructibility. 

But that is not to say it hasn’t changed its mission over the decades. What was once the tool watch to beat all tool watches became less dive buddy and more status symbol sometime around the late ‘60s. That was when the first exotic material Submariners started to pop up, and because Rolex has yet to make any watches out of frankincense or myrrh, we’ve gone with the ultimate gold one.

The ref. 16618 was part of the Submariner series considered the last of the best. Launched in 1989, it consolidated everything the brand had learned up until that point into one superb whole, but was also the final time we got to see the classic case shape or the traditional aluminum bezel. 

The model was available with either a black or blue dial and bezel or, for an even greater feeling of opulence, there were the Serti dials. The name taken from the French word for ‘to set’, the Serti dials came in either champagne or silver and featured hour markers made from precious stones; sapphires at the 12, 6 and 9, round-cut diamonds for the rest. 

Next to the glow of the 18k yellow gold case, the Serti dials sparkle like no other and guarantee to catch the eye—perfect for the office Christmas party. 

The example in our store is priced under $40,000, and would make the gift of a lifetime.

The Rolex Explorer II ref. 216570

What better Christmas gift than a watch with a Polar dial?

Rolex’s Explorer II has become one of the brand’s breakthrough models in recent times, following years spent dwelling in the shadows.

The reasons for this newfound popularity are pretty simple. Its once-challenging looks have finally come into fashion; it has increased to a more contemporary tool watch size of 42mm; and in these more down-to-earth times, it has resisted any attempts to gentrify it with gold or even Rolesor versions. The Explorer II is now as it has always been; an exclusively brushed stainless steel model. 

The excellent ref. 216570 was the first reference to come in the new larger size, released in 2011 on the model’s 40^th anniversary. As well as the extra millimeters, it also saw the very welcome reinstatement of the bright orange Freccione GMT hand which had been missing since the debut reference. On top of that, the other hands as well as the indexes were made bigger too for added legibility. Inside, the Cal. 3187 provided faultless timekeeping, and the watch as a whole reinvigorated demand for this one-time second tier piece. 

So the fact you can pick up examples of perhaps Rolex’s most robust model for well under $13,000 makes it something of an unsung bargain. And if you fancied the black dial version, with its cool phantom hands, it will cost you even less.

The perfect Christmas gift for the yuletide adventurer.

The Rolex Day-Date ref. 118205

There’s just something about the warmth of red, or in Rolex-speak, Everose gold that is very welcome this time of year. That cozy luminescence was made for nights in round the fire, while you drink marshmallows and roast eggnog. Or whatever.

The ref. 118205 is one such example of the President, Rolex’s most elite offering for the last seven decades.

It was released as part of the ref. 118XXX series in 2000 and, as the Day-Date is one of the crown’s most established models, the differences between this generation and the one which came before it were fairly minimal. The same movement was used, the Cal. 3155 with the convenience of the Double Quickset date adjustment. The case was altered ever so slightly, with thicker lugs and a sturdier all round feel. The main area of improvement came in the bracelet, with the introduction of all solid links, giving the watch the sort of weight comparable to its overall gravitas. 

As always, there was an ocean of options to swim through; different bezels (fluted, gem set, smooth, etc.), different dials by the truckload, different hour markers too. 

But my personal preference with the sophistication of rose gold leans towards the simple. My favorite of the Presidents we have in stock currently is the 36mm, domed bezel model, with the white dial and Roman numeral indexes, on an Oyster bracelet. Such a beautiful meeting of tones adds up to an expertly underplayed success of a watch, the ideal lowkey class act for any occasion. 

Head over to our online store to have a look, and see how much watch you can get for less than $34,000.

The Rolex Yacht-Master ref. 16622

This festive season, why not give a watch that looks like a blizzard?

Rolex’s Rolesium Yacht-Master, a mix of steel case and bracelet topped with a platinum bezel, landed in 1999 and was the first model cast in this new fusion of metals. The result is one of the crown’s most monochrome creations, the epitome of understatement, with the dashes of red on the seconds hand and signature the only relief from that shimmering whiteout.

The Yacht-Master collection as a whole is among Rolex’s more recent models, debuting in 1992 and holding a number of firsts. It was the first tool watch the brand released in three sizes (originally 29mm, 35mm and 40mm; now 37mm, 40mm and 42mm). Also, in addition to the Rolesium (and it is still the only range with a Rolesium option) it was the first to be fitted with the Oysterflex rubber strap too. In many ways, the Yacht-Master is to the Professional Collection what the Datejust is to the Classic Collection; a sort of proving ground where new innovations are tested as they occur before being rolled out across the portfolio. 

The 40mm ref. 16622 is a fabulously discreet watch, one of those if-you-know-you-know pieces which serious collectors love as much for the appreciative nods from fellow watch nerds as for their restrained modesty. And best of all, models in excellent condition can be had for around $10,000.

The Rolex GMT-Master ref. 116710LN

If you’re one of the lucky ones going away this Christmas, then Rolex’s luxury travel companion is just about the best thing you could find in your stocking. 

A legend pretty much since its inception in the 1950s, the GMT-Master (and now the GMT-Master II), has been the watch for the jetsetter class for a very long time.

Like all of Rolex’s icons, the GMT nailed most of its distinguishing features from the get go and the intervening years have been a case of relentlessly but gently evolving that foundational design. 

However, the ref. 116710LN is a particularly noteworthy chapter in the watch’s story and there are a number of aspects to it which make it a potentially valuable future investment. 

Firstly, it’s a Rolex GMT-Master, a watch that will always be in demand no matter what. Secondly, it is no longer in production, leading to an ever-dwindling supply on the market. But, much of the interest in the model revolves around its bezel. The reference was the first steel Rolex fitted with a Cerachrom surround, an inhouse material the brand devised to combat the sort of fading and scratches common to their older aluminum inserts. As impressive as this new material was, however, there was a problem when it came to the GMT-Master. The watch has always been defined by its twin-color surrounds—with names like the Pepsi, the Coke, the Root Beer, et al as familiar to Rolex fans as the model names themselves. But, when the ref. 116710LN was released in 2007, Rolex had yet to devise a way to add a second color to their Cerachrom. They would not, in fact, crack it until 2013 with the release of the blue and black Batman. Since then, there has not been another single color bezel GMT, making the ref. 116710LN the final one for the time being. 

If that wasn’t enough, this was also the reference which brought the Super case to the fore, with its more muscular lugs and crown guards, and also the one to present the Maxi dial to the range, with its thicker markers and handset. And to top it all off, this generation adopted the Triplock crown instead of the Twinlock. While still waterproof to ‘only’ 100m, the Triplock does add an extra level of day-to-day protection.

In all, the ref. 116710LN has a full deck of plus points; an unusual outlier of an all-time classic, the forerunner of several elements we now see across the board and a handsome piece in its own right. And for only $14,000, you can pick one up for your favorite person this Christmas.