Paul Altieri loves Rolex so much he built a business around his passion for collecting the company’s watches.
Bob’s Watches, with operations on both coasts of the United States, has become one of the most respected dealers of pre-owned watches — mainly Rolex — so his opinion is widely sought on where the market is heading.
Here, Mr Altieri gives his first impressions of the 2022 novelties from Rolex.
GMT Master II
The GMT is the Show Stopper.
A GMT-Master II for lefties? No one saw this coming.
It is known that Rolex produced left-handed watches in very small numbers as early as the 1950’s, but more than likely by special request.
“Availability: Immediately.”
I would expect the Company would make a limited quantity so getting your hands on one will be difficult.
This is truly what revolutionary design looks like…a masterclass creation from the crown. Years in the making no doubt. Bravo! The Crown at its finest combining skill and craftsmanship with design and engineering – they flipped the case and movement 180 degrees with a cool new color scheme for the bezel. Date is now at 9 o’clock.
Seems like all the brands are jumping on the green trend this year – Omega, Rolex, AP, PP.
Exciting and reasonably priced at retail – not that the price tag would mean anything. No doubt this will be a tough piece to acquire either way.
It might encourage double wristers – I WANT ONE!
Air King
The new Air-King 126900 of course now comes equipped with the new caliber 3230 movement, but the most notable change is the case design. Unlike the predecessor, this model is now made with crown guards, giving it a much sportier look like the GMT and Sub.
Platinum Day Date
Lots of new dial color variations but most notably here is the Day Date with a fluted bezel – something that Rolex has never done before.
Love it.
Yacht Master
New dial, new size, and new metal. Kudos. Rolex has been offering the 42mm Yacht Master in only white gold, which has been a terrific seller for us.
It doesn’t come as a huge surprise that Rolex expanded the 42mm Yacht-Master family by adding another metal type – yellow gold. The Yacht-Master 42 gold reference 226658.
Color Dials
Gone in large sizes now. Wow. These fancy color models have been huge sellers for us here at BW the past couple of years. and prices have risen dramatically.
Rolex will now only be offering the Tiffany Blue and green dial in 31mm and 36mm sizes. This will further enflame an already over heated market for these models.
The secondary market
It usually takes a few months for these new models to settle in but generally the market sees a 10-20% bump in market prices on the older existing models.
The market this year is red hot and prices on the secondary market are all at record levels but i expect to see the same value increases the next few years barring any major recession.
It’s hard this year to predict which new models will be “must haves” because none of these watches will be available in any serious quantities to satisfy demand.
I do especially like the new left handed GMT and the new Yacht Master.
Additionally, Tudor just released a new interesting Black Bay GMT Root Beer that should be a huge hit.
