Rolex Deepsea D-Blue. Highly Commended. Sport Watches of the Year 2014.
Rolex is a watch company that rarely serves up surprises, so a post-Basel launch event in New York really set tongues wagging.
The watch unveiled, the Deepsea D-Blue dial, marked film director James Cameron’s historic 2012 solo dive to the deepest point of the ocean, the Mariana Trench.
The latest Deepsea features an unprecedented two-tone dial which graduates from blue to black, reflecting the changing light conditions experienced on a dive.
Hour markers are treated to Chromalight luminescent dial material that glows not green but blue, the last colour visible to the human eye at depth. The Deepsea D-Blue is also water resistant to a staggering 3,900m (12,800ft), making the Rolex divers watch royalty.
While initial reaction to the dial was mixed, collectors will no doubt be eyeing it as a potentially lucrative future back catalogue oddity.