Blog posts from Andy Callan

If you were looking for the foundation stone of Rolex as a brand, the Oyster Perpetual could well be it. The name is made up of the two most important developments in the history of the wristwatch, a duo of innovations by Rolex themselves which not only revolutionized their functionality, but also thoroughly transformed how […]

Rolex’s reputation has been forged on their relationship with the sea. It has been their obsession from the beginning and led first to the creation of the Oyster case, the innovation that changed the direction of the wristwatch as we know it. From that day in the 1920s, the company continued to make huge strides, […]

Rolex’s begrudging dalliance with the world of quartz, while not exactly brief, was certainly unproductive. In the quarter century between the first and last battery-powered models rolling off their production lines, they made just 25,000 pieces. This for a manufacturer that famously builds around 1,000,000 mechanical watches per year. It is fair to say they […]

If the Submariner and GMT-Master are Rolex’s Lennon and McCartney, then the Milgauss is most definitely the George Harrison. All released around the same time, the world’s favorite diver and the world’s favorite traveler have been overshadowing their dark horse band mate for the last 60-plus years. A watch created especially for scientists was never […]

The 1950s and 60s were by far the busiest times to be a Rolex designer. Those were the decades that brought us names which have since gone on to become legend and redefine the watch industry as we know it today. The Submariner. The GMT-Master. The Day-Date. The Milgauss—all had arrived by the mid-fifties. Then, […]

It may have had to wait a long time for its turn in the spotlight, but Rolex’s legendary Cosmograph Daytona is now arguably their most successful creation. The particular irony is, a watch designed for a life in motorsport remained an abject failure for the first quarter century of its production run due, in the […]

Rolex as a brand is now so well known throughout the world that is has very few secrets left. Everybody, and I mean literally everybody, knows the name and can probably list at least one or two of the more famous models off the top of their heads, even if they have zero interest in […]

Its position may change from time to time, but no list of the top five most popular Rolex watches can be complete without including the GMT-Master. Like all of the brand’s most iconic models it was created for a definite purpose, and in the GMT’s case it was to help solve a problem no one […]

The Rolex Explorer II is one of those watches from the brand that has never strayed far from its original intended purpose. Unlike the more recognizable names in the catalog, such as the Submariner or the Daytona, the majority of which have never been worn underwater or stood within sight of a racetrack, the allure of […]

As watch collectors, there are no shortage of options available to you when it comes to choosing places to both buy and sell your Rolex. From a brand’s official boutique store to classified ads in a newspaper, each has its good and bad points. Obviously, the internet provides the widest range of options. However, taking […]

If you take a stroll west through downtown Geneva, cross the River Arve (by the ornate Pont Hans-Wilsdorf), dead ahead you will not be able to miss the colossal expanse of green glass that is Rolex’s Les Acacias World Headquarters. Built in 1965 and updated twice in the early 2000s, when CEO Patrick Heiniger condensed […]

One of the defining characteristics of many of the watch series’ in the Rolex collection is the vast range of options in which each one is offered. Models such as the Day-Date and Datejust have scores of different configurations of bezel design, dial color and bracelet type. There are so many, in fact, that it […]