new yacht master rolex 2023

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New Rolex Watches for 2023: Everything You Need to Know

Major releases and bold moves take the watch world by surprise.

By Zen Love

If you thought Rolex was conservative, think again. With this year’s releases, unveiled at Watches & Wonders Geneva , the brand resoundingly rebuffed its reserved reputation. It introduced major new products that broke with the codes we’ve come to expect from the brand — thrusting into 2023 with new materials, movements and colorways. Catch up on the most important announcements below.

This story covers watches that Rolex either launched or discontinued in 2023. For a full breakdown of the all the Rolex watches still in production, read our other guide , updated for 2023.

The Yacht-Master 42 is the titanium Rolex we were waiting for

The new Yacht-Master 42 is a big deal: it’s not the first serially produced Rolex watch in full titanium but it’s the first one meant for the masses — that is, that’s sized to be wearable as an everyday watch rather than affordable or necessarily easy to actually buy.

Monochromatic like a Submariner and on a full titanium bracelet, it also makes the Yacht-Master collection feel more like the true, purpose-built sport watches for which Rolex is most loved. Now that the brand has broken the seal on titanium, other favorites could be in the pipeline, too.

The Perpetual 1908 is a completely new line (replacing the Cellini)

The Cellini is dead; long live the Cellini. Seemingly in its place is a new, much simpler collection called Perpetual 1908. That’s right, an entirely new Rolex collection — and yet, it’s clearly replacing the Cellini with a very similar case and bezel.

Its dial is simple with a seconds subdial at 9 o’clock recalling some the brand’s earliest models, and its movement is completely new — and visible through a display caseback, another departure for the brand. It has an observatory or Breguet-style hour hand, a 39mm case and only comes in precious metals with a couple different dial options. This is now easily Rolex’s dressiest watch.

The Daytona got redesigned details and a new movement

The Daytona is one of the most hyped watches in the world, and it turns 60 this year. Something special to mark the occasion was expected, and that turned out to be some subtle but substantive tweaks. The new generation has a completely new movement, the first time the brand has updated the Daytona’s movement since it went in-house in 2000.

At first glance, it looks the same as the outgoing generation, but on closer inspection you’ll see some differences. The case is still 40mm but has updated details, and the dial has a “new graphic balance.” Like the new 1908 watch, the platinum version features a display caseback. And, yes, there are also new steel versions with black and white dials.

The Explorer now also comes in a 40mm version

First it was 36mm, then it was 39mm, then it was 36mm again — and now it’s 40mm. The 36mm version introduced only two years ago isn’t going away, but the new watch is simply adding more options.

Based on Rolex’s teaser video , we thought we might be getting an entirely new case design or might even come in titanium, but this really is the familiar Explorer in Oystersteel in a slightly bigger case. We’re okay with that.

The new GMT Master II introduces a completely new bezel color combo

The GMT Master II now comes with a new bezel combo of black and gray. This kind of thing might be Rolex’s big release in a typical year, but the brand has really gone all out for 2023.

The new GMT Master II references only come in two-tone (“Rolesor,” or a steel-and-gold combo) and full yellow gold. Many GMT Master II watches get nicknames based on their bicolor bezels; for this one, we humbly suggest “Dark Knight.”

The Sky-Dweller got a movement upgrade

The Sky-Dweller got some new variants and a movement upgrade with the Calibre 9002 (featuring minor updates from the 9001). That’s it; nothing major for this line, but we do like the way it looks with a green dial in Rolesor Oystersteel and white gold, as shown above.

Wild Dials on Day-Dates and Oyster Perpetuals

Rolex often includes a few exotic dials in the mix of its releases. This time the brand got a bit artistic with some of very colorful executions in the Oyster Perpetual and Day-Date families with dials executed in lacquer. The colorful circles on the dial, which Rolex calls “bubbles,” can be found on versions of the Oyster Perpetual in 31mm, 36mm and 41mm models. The Day-Date got a similar treatment but with puzzle pieces instead of bubbles and goes a step further in playfulness incorporating emojis into the date display (like hearts) and positive words (“Happy,” “Eternity,” “Gratitude,” “Peace,” “Faith,” “Love” and “Hope”) instead of the day of the week.

Cellini, Yacht-Master II and Milgauss are discontinued

Rolex giveth and Rolex taketh away. You don’t need to shed a tear for these long neglected and somewhat overshadowed collections. They’re gone for now, but that just leaves room for the possibility that they’ll return in the future with the likes of new generations. Well, that seems like a possibility for the Milgauss, anyway; the Cellini seems to have its replacement in the 1908, as mentioned above. As for the Yacht-Master II… who knows? A watch being discontinued can even lead to a boost in interest for it, after all.

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Hands-On: Rolex Yacht-Master 42 Watch Reference 226627 In RLX Titanium

The visceral experience of wearing the Yacht-Master 42 titanium is very odd for any long-time Rolex fan. Rolex more or less helped create the 20th-century notion that you can often measure the value of a watch by feeling how solid and weighty it is. Rolex watches have never been designed for lightness, so most of them are quite hefty, and beloved for that reason. It is common for someone to admire a precious metal Rolex simply by feeling its mass in the open palm of your hand.

The Rolex Yacht-Master 42 was introduced in 2019 with tones very similar to this titanium model, but rather in 18k white gold and on a black Rolex Oysterflex strap. A yellow gold version was eventually added, and it seemed as though Rolex’s largest Yacht-Master was destined to be a precious-metal-only product. The 2023 226627 Yacht-Master 42 changes that paradigm by adding in a full grade 5 titanium case and matching bracelet to the product family. This is what people should consider the first “wearable” Rolex watch produced from titanium.

Even though Rolex uses the same grade 5 titanium as other brands, it focuses a lot on surface finishing and polishing for this timepiece. Rolex uses a sort of deep-grain engraving, which is somewhat different from the same effect on steel. Titanium as a color is also a bit darker than the comparatively bright 904L steel that most other (non-precious metal) Rolex sport watches are made out of. Titanium does scratch, and I asked Rolex about the service plan for the Yacht-Master 42 in RLX titanium. To make a long story short, Rolex will offer the same “case refresh” service for its titanium watches as it does for its steel and gold watches, though in reality, Rolex will have to use some special processes to polish titanium so that it looks fresh and new again. “RLX titanium” is really just Rolex’s way of indicating that it polishes and finishes titanium metal differently from other brands (according to Rolex).

Other than being in titanium with the matching bracelet, there isn’t too much new here. The Yacht-Master 42 case is 42mm-wide and has similar proportions as other watches in the larger Oyster Perpetual watch. The case is water resistant to 100 meters, and around the dial is a uni-directional rotating bezel with a matte-black ceramic insert that matches the matte-dark-gray tone of the Yacht-Master 42 dial.

Inside the watch is the Rolex in-house-made caliber 3235 automatic movement that operates at 4Hz with about 70 hours of power reserve. The movement offers the time with date and on the sapphire crystal is a Rolex “cyclops” magnifier lens. Titanium is considered by many engineers to be the perfect material for wristwatch cases. While I don’t think it is possible to ever determine “bests” in regard to an emotional product, it is true that you can easily enjoy the Yacht-Master 42 in titanium from purely a tool watch perspective. The lighter weight and large size give this 42mm-wide Rolex an interesting and desirable personality. It also makes us wonder whether or not there will be more titanium Rolex watches in the future. Possibly some, but I don’t think that Rolex, primarily a maker of conspicuous jewelry-style watches, will heavily focus on a material that will not hold a high polish as nicely as steel, gold, or platinum watches.

For watch lovers and Rolex collectors, there really is a lot of novelty to wearing a Rolex watch in titanium simply because most people haven’t ever done so before. The sister brand Tudor has had the Pelagos, which, for a while, was really the more sober equivalent of this Rolex Yacht-Master 42 226627. It is also much less expensive, but it doesn’t have the iconic Oyster Perpetual case shape and the famous Submariner-style dial that this Yacht-Master does.

While the Yacht-Master 42 in RLX titanium raises a lot of interesting philosophical questions about what Rolex should and shouldn’t be doing, the product will be a commercial success given the current latent demand for high-end titanium sport watches and anything even remotely interesting from Rolex. Rolex has made it clear that production of the titanium Yacht-Master 42 is going to be limited in scope, in large part because there are so many pieces of titanium in the case, and especially the bracelet, that all need to bear precisely matching polishes and finishes. I don’t imagine that this watch is easy for Rolex to make, but we do know that Rolex could increase production of titanium watches if it ever wanted to. Price for the very interesting and comfortable reference 226627 Rolex Yacht-Master 42 in RLX titanium is $14,050 USD . Learn more at the Rolex watches website here .

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Rolex’s Biggest Releases of 2023 Are… 

By Cam Wolf

Find coverage of all the best new releases from Watches & Wonders here .  

It’s Christmas morning for watch collectors. Rolex just announced its calendar of new releases for 2023 on the first day of the industry’s biggest trade show, Watches & Wonders. The Crown’s new releases are always the most anticipated by collectors. Every year people try and predict what Rolex will do, and every year they are wrong. My early impression of the brand’s new pieces: Rolex is having  fun this year. Here are the new releases from Rolex. 

Rolex typically isn’t the type of brand who blows things out for a watch’s birthday, but the Daytona isn’t just a drinks-and-dinner type of timepiece. For the watch’s 60th anniversary, the brand has completely revisited the line. And, for Rolex, which prefers to make changes incrementally, that means there are “subtle refinements” to the dial and case, according to a press release, and a new movement. Those subtle refinements include smaller hour markers and a lil’ crown at 6 o’ clock. The new movement, the Daytona’s first since 2000, adds new functionality, like the ability to “measure intervals of time.” 

Only the most desirable color combinations are part of the revamped Daytona line. The showstopper is the platinum model with an ice-blue dial and irresistible chocolate bezel. Other color combinations include the black-and-white “Panda” dial and  a lot of gold: gold dial with a black bezel, gold bezel with a white dial, and rose-gold-everything with a black dial. 

The revamped Daytona will steal headlines but the watches I’m gravitating towards initially are these golden versions of the GMT-Master II. The leader in the clubhouse of Watch I’d Sell My Soul For is the full-gold GMT. While the GMT usually sports a bright two-tone bezel in famous configurations like the red-and-blue Pepsi or blue-and-black Batman, this new model takes a subtler approach. The bezel is still two toned but pairs black with… less black. One new version comes on a “Rolesor” bracelet—meaning a combination of gold and steel—and the other is made entirely out of gold. 

The GMT was invented as a sporty watch for Pan-Am crews in the ‘50s but this a very upgraded take on that original model. While that watch was built for commercial flying, this is a GMT designed for the PJ. 

Judging by the standards of most watch brands, the new lineup of Day-Dates is pretty out there. By Rolex’s standards, they are completely off the wall. We’ve rarely ever seen anything from the Crown like its new jigsaw Day-Date. The watch’s dial, which comes in light blue and mandarin orange, features an image of a jigsaw puzzle and the hour markers are made out of a Haribo-pack of baguette diamonds. 

This is a watch that completely embraces our current new-age wellness era. The Day-Date typically uses the window at top to display the day of the week and the aperture at 3 o’clock to show the date but who needs to be on time for appointments when you have this watch? The new Day-Date coasts entirely on  vibes . Really good ones: the day window now rotates between affirmative words like “Happy,” “Eternity,” “Gratitude,” “Peace,” “Faith,” “Love,” and “Hope.” The date window also shows a new emoji, like a heart, every day. Isn’t that sweet? 

By Emily Abbate

By The Editors of GQ

The other trio of new Day-Dates each have dials made out of stone. There’s an emerald-colored dial in aventurine, a real sparkler, and another with a veined turquoise face. The winner for me is the full-on orange dial cut out of  carnelian.  It’s a watch so orange you want to eat it over the sink.

The big development here is mostly invisible to the eye. The Yacht-Master now comes in titanium, a material that is getting increasingly more love in the Rolex catalog.  In November, the Crown released the Oyster Perpetual Deepsea Challenge , a mammoth 50-millimeter watch made out of the super-light material. The product was the result of long-tested concept watches. Eagle-eyed collectors spotted a version of this very watch—the titanium YM—on British sailor Ben Ainslie all the way back in 2021. Now, the watch finally gets a full production run.

The Oyster Perpetual is always where Rolex seems to let loose with color and design—think of the colorful OPs from a few years ago or the  frond-laden dials of 2021 . That’s no different in 2023. The new version of the OP comes with multi-colored bubbles bouncing at the bottom of the dial. If you liked the turquoise, coral, mustard yellow, and forest green Rolex used for those fan-favorite OPs from a few years ago, you’re in luck. Rolex just put them all those bright shades on the same dial. 

Most of Rolex’s releases are riffs on pre-existing classics. Rolex has so many perpetually sold-out and iconic models—the Submariner, GMT, Daytona, etc.—there’s typically no need to reinvent the wheel. Yet that’s just what the brand’s done this year with the new 1908. The watch is Cellini-esque in that it reads much more formal and elevated than many of Rolex’s beloved sport models. It’s interesting to see Rolex, the king of the sport watch, put another foot into the world of dressy pieces. That black-dial version of the 1908 is sure to show up on plenty of red carpets this year. 

Rolex did not hold back on color this year. There is a new movement baked inside here, which, Rolex promises, is even more technically proficient than the one that came before it but I’m mostly excited by the Sky-Dwellers’ new exteriors. The newcomers to the line come with a teal or mint-green dial. I love learning about Rolex’s different codes, like only platinum watches can have that ice-blue dial. Rolex is constantly reworking those rules, though. Previously that shade of mint green was reserved only for the Datejust but it loaned it out for this new Sky Dweller. 

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A NEW PROGRAMME BY ROLEX

Rolex Certified Pre-Owned Watches

The Rolex Certification

Because they are built to last, Rolex watches often live several lives. Rolex offers the opportunity to purchase previously worn timepieces that are certified as authentic and guaranteed by the brand.

Authenticity Guaranteed

The Rolex Certified Pre-Owned programme vouches for the authenticity of second-hand Rolex watches at their time of resale by an Official Jeweler displaying the special Rolex Certified Pre-Owned plaque. It guarantees that these watches benefit from the quality criteria inherent to all Rolex products and from the full know-how and professionalism of the brand’s worldwide network of experts.

A symbol of excellence

The Rolex Certified Pre-Owned seal that comes with your watch symbolizes its status as a certified second-hand Rolex watch. This exclusive title attests to its authenticity on the date of purchase and proper functioning, and is accompanied by an international two-year guarantee.

The Two-Year International Rolex guarantee

Delivered at the time of sale, the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned guarantee card officially confirms that the watch is genuine on the date of purchase and guarantees its proper functioning for a period of two years from this date in accordance with the guarantee manual.

Buying a Rolex Certified Pre-Owned watch

Each Rolex Certified Pre-Owned watch is presented in a distinctive pouch. The timepiece comes with the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned seal, a two-year international guarantee card, a service booklet and a guarantee booklet.

Because they are built to last, Rolex watches often live several lives.