Goodbye Cellini, welcome Perpetual 1908 to represent the most classic and elegant segment of modelling Rolex. The new model seems to ideally pick up the baton of the watch, made exclusively in gold, which was relaunched in 2014 as an alternative to the Datejust and Day-Date, which went out of the catalogue last year.
The new collection is represented by a solotempo model with small seconds, in yellow or white gold, inspired by one of the first Perpetual rotor watches made by the brand in 1931. The name, 1908, refers to the year in which Hans Wilsdorf registered the Rolex brand name.
The identity is defined first and foremost by a slim case with a diameter of 39 mm and a thickness of 9.5. A compact and refined dress watch, essential to the utmost in the best Perpetual tradition, the watch indicating the hours, minutes, seconds and nothing else.
The case is water-resistant to 50 metres, below the standards of the Oyster collection, which starts at a minimum of 100 metres. But then again, the Perpetual 1908 is an elegant watch, available exclusively with a leather strap, which is not required to have a high water resistance rating. And then there is the presence of the sapphire crystal case back: something rare, indeed very rare, for Rolex, which allows one to admire a brand new calibre: the automatic 7140.
Calibre 7140 is the brand's first movement to combine the Chronergy escapement with the Syloxi balance spring, offering the same level of performance as the Parachrom balance spring in small and medium-sized watches. The sapphire crystal reveals the bridges with the new Rolex côtes de Genève decoration, which differs from the traditional côtes de Genève by the presence of a thin polished groove between each striation.
The power reserve is approximately 66 hours. A modern yet very classic interpretation of an elegant watch in Rolex's DNA, the Perpetual 1908 manages to express, with a certain vintage allure, what was the essence of the brand's watches in the first half of the last century.
Pricesfrom 22,150 to 23,450 euro.
