Rolex’s Bold New Watches Surprise And Delight
From fresh Daytonas to an Emoji Date Wheel, the Crown is shedding its inhibitions.
When it comes to the fevered speculation in the run-up to Watches & Wonders each year, Rolex takes the lion’s share of attention. This year was no exception, with even more points of intrigue in the mix than usual. Would the most lauded haute horology outfit on the planet pitch a curveball to match that of last year’s “Southpaw” GMT-Master II with green and black bezel, or the titanium Deepsea Challenge that raised eyebrows in the watch-loving community a few months after it?
Would calls be answered for a little more gaiety when it comes to dial hues with the Oyster Perpetual, perhaps, as hinted at in a recent Insta post from the manufacture? What might be kicked from the catalogue? Well, to say that a maker often thought of as conservative when it comes to reimagining their repertoire have certainly shed their inhibitions and really had some fun this time around—see below.
No discussion of Rolex’s latest creative output is complete, of course, without tackling the knotty question of actually acquiring the new novelties. Rolex launched its certified pre-owned business this year, giving it control over some of its secondary market from here on. What impact this has on how likely those without an authorised dealer on speed-dial are to get hold of a piece remains to be seen.
Our sense, though, is that Rolexes are a little easier to purchase these days, in part due to economic slumps in various parts of the world. Given what attendees beheld for the first time in Geneva today, we’d implore readers to take advantage.
Cosmograph Daytona
With the Submariner turning 70 this year and the Cosmograph Daytona 60, much of the Rolex-related conjecture in the last few weeks has surrounded anniversaries. Would any new releases prove as singular as the platinum iteration of the latter, introduced when it turned 50?
As it turns out, the next-gen versions of this iconic motorsport chronograph have been subject to a number of subtle aesthetic twists. The case and lugs have been tweaked so that light reflections better emphasize the contours of a design which the piece has had since its launch six decades ago, whilst new material/colour combinations bring out the contrast between the dials and the counters/rings.
There are several iterations—including platinum with ice blue dial; an 18 ct Everose gold version with black dial and Sundust counters; and 18 ct yellow gold with a golden dial and bright black counters and Oysterflex bracelet. All house the new calibre 4131 movement, an evolutionary step up from calibre 4130, which features bridges decorated with Rolex Côtes de Genève finishing.
Case Size: 40 mm
Case and Bracelet Material: Oystersteel, Yellow Gold, Everose Gold, Platinum
Caliber: 4131
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Perpetual 1908
Perhaps the piece in the Rolex canon most conducive to formal dressing, the Perpetual 1908—named as a nod to the year that Hans Wilsdorf came up with the name Rolex—has a slim, 18 ct yellow or white gold case and a part domed, part finely fluted bezel. Subtle chamfering on lugs completes the piece’s aesthetic.
A transparent case back reveals the exquisite piece of horological theater that is calibre 7140—a self-winding mechanical movement Rolex unveiled this year. It includes a Chronergy escapement, Syloxi hairspring and Paraflex shock absorbers, not to mention bridges finished with Rolex Côtes de Genève (keen-eyed observers will note the polished groove between each band).
Dials—which come in a white or black—have Arabic numerals at 3, 9 and 12 (there’s a seconds subdial at 6) and faceted index markers, whilst the hour hand, with a ring approaching its tip, contrasts playfully with the minute hand’s sword shape.
Case Size: 40 mm
Materials: Yellow and White Gold
Caliber: 7140
Power Reserve: 66 hours
Yacht‑Master 42—in Titanium
What the fruits might be of Rolex R&D boffins’ recent dabbling with titanium has been another major topic of conjecture over the last few weeks. Many predicted the arrival of a Daytona (or perhaps a Submariner) rendered from an alloy known for its strength and lightness.
As it turns out, they’ve applied their newly found nous with this material to a model that has been at the heart of the intersection between horology and sailing since the 1950s—and we’re predicting a warmer response to this release than those received by the titanium Sea Dweller model, which many deemed too bulky, its dial too busy.
The attractiveness of this piece lies in the contrasting finishes: satin, with a visible grain, on the middle case sides, the edges of the bracelet links and the sides of the clasp cover; chamfered, with a high sheen, when it comes to the top edges of the middle case lugs; polished in the case of the crown guard. The bidirectional rotatable bezel, meanwhile, is in matte black ceramic with raised numerals, complementing a black dial with a fine satin finish.
Case Size: 40 mm
Materials: Titanium
Caliber: 3235
Power Reserve: 70 hours
Sky-Dweller
Independent watch dealer turned vlogger Paul Thorpe was among those calling for a more flamboyant approach to bezel and dial colours (as well, in Thorpe’s case, as the trademarked rubber Oysterflex bracelets) from Rolex in recent weeks.
Aficionados of the Sky-Dweller, a piece aimed at global travellers, who share Thorpe’s views are now afforded versions in white Rolesor (two-tone gold and steel) with a mint green dial (formerly seen only on the Datejust) and an 18 ct Everose gold piece whose dial comes in an entirely new blue hue (there’s also, for the first time ever, a 18 ct white gold version on an Oysterflex bracelet).
As for technical enhancements to a model already equipped with two time zones and annual Saros calendar, its beating heart is now calibre 9002, whose repertoire—unlike its predecessor—includes a Chronergy escapement.
As for more flamboyant approaches to dials, the new Sky-Dweller models are just the start of it…
Case Size: 42 mm
Materials: White Gold, Oystersteel, Everose Gold
Caliber: 9002
Power Reserve: 72 hours
New GMT‑Master IIs
A line launched in 1955 in response to the explosion of intercontinental travel—a piece instantly recognizable thanks to its bidirectional rotatable bezel and a 24-hour graduated insert—this morning welcomed two newcomers: one entirely in 18 ct yellow gold, the other another Rolesor piece.
Both have a bezel enhanced, aesthetically, by a two-tone Cerachrom (a portmanteau of ceramic and chrome) insert in grey and black ceramic plus Jubilee bracelet. These juxtapose elegantly with the name “GMT‑Master II,” rendered on the dial in powdered yellow.
Both versions feature a Jubilee bracelet with Oysterlock clasp and the Easylink comfort extension link.
Case Size: 40 mm
Materials: Yellow Rolesor, Yellow Gold, Cerachrom (Ceramic and Chrome)
Caliber: 9002
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Explorer 40
Rolex have made just a single new addition to a line, launched in 1953 shortly after the first successful conquering of Mount Everest, whose black lacquer dial, numerals at 3, 6 and 9 and Professional hands embody—in Rolex’s own words—“the spirit of adventure and perseverance.”
The altogether more imperious 40 mm model offers better legibility than the 36 mm version, and is crafted from Oystersteel, an alloy which is corrosion-resistant and takes on an incredible sheen when polished diligently. Also enhancing that legibility is a Chromalight display which gives off a pleasing blue glow in poor light dark conditions but during daylight hours offers up a strikingly bright white hue.
A worthy addition to a line of pieces which make even those of us who won’t be leaving base camp any time soon feel on top of the world.
Case Size: 40 mm
Materials: Oystersteel
Caliber: 3230
Power Reserve: 70 hours
Oyster Perpetual 31, 36 and 41—With Coloured Bubbles
And here’s the first curveball: the lacquered dials of the new Oyster Perpetuals in 31 mm, 36 mm and 41 mm, which are dotted with bubbles in those five vivid colours (candy pink, turquoise blue, yellow, coral red and green) first introduced to the line back in 2020.
All of the fundamental features of the Oyster Perpetual collection—chronometric precision, waterproof Oyster case, self-winding movement with Perpetual rotor—are present in these zany additions to a line which became the first waterproof watch back in 1926.
But it’s the pieces’ dials, and where they sit with Rolex’s reputation for cautious nips and tucks over brassy aesthetic statements, that has got tongues wagging. (Think elegantly understated auntie letting rip on a wedding reception dance floor.)
Rolex’s newfound flamboyance is all the more elegant, here, for how it contrasts with refined aesthetic touches such as the fine fluting on the caseback.
Case Size: 31 mm, 36 mm, 41 mm
Materials: Oystersteel
Caliber: 2232 (the 31 mm version) and 3230 (the 36 mm and 41 mm versions)
Power Reserve: 55/70 hours
Day-Date 36 With Decorative Stone Dials
The Mediterranean coast provided the inspiration for three new additions to the Day-Date line whose radiant dials come in finely crystalized green aventurine, orange-ish carnelian and turquoise (made, respectively, from 18 ct Everose gold, 18 ct yellow gold and 18 ct white gold). All are studded with diamond-set hour markers and Roman numerals at VI and IX.
Faithful to what wowed watch-lovers on the Day-Date’s launch in 1956 (it was the first calendar wristwatch to show not only date but the day of the week, spelt out in an arc-shaped window at 12 o’clock), the new pieces are—natch—fitted on a President bracelet, in keeping with the “Rolex President” nickname that arose from the piece being favored by Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy, who received a Day-Date as a birthday gift from Marilyn Monroe.
Case Size: 36 mm
Materials: Everose Gold, Yellow Gold, White Gold
Caliber: 3255
Power Reserve: 70 hours
Day-Date 36 With Jigsaw Puzzle Dials—and an Emoji Date Wheel
Rolex—we’re loving the new you. Created using champlevé enameling, the striking dials on these three new variants of the Oyster Perpetual line—crafted from 18 ct yellow, white or Everose gold—feature a chromatically dizzying jigsaw puzzle motif and hour markers fashioned from baguette-cut sapphires in six different hues.
As mentioned above, the Day-Date was the first calendar wristwatch to indicate the day of the week spelt out at 12 o’clock—a huge technical feat back in 1956. Here, Rolex has instead used this window, in the aperture at 12 o’clock, to project inspirational keywords (Happy, Eternity, Gratitude, Peace, Faith, Love, Hope). Oh, and instead of anything as dry as numerical digits, 31 different emojis take their turn at the 3 o’clock window.
Case Size: 36 mm
Materials: Everose Gold, Yellow Gold, White Gold
Caliber: 3255
Power Reserve: 70 hours
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Omega Just Unveiled 9 Watches in Its New Constellation Observatory Collection
The line-up shows up a bevy of metals and colours, too, as well as two new calibres.
Omega’s latest watch is in a universe of its own.
The Swiss watchmaker just unveiled its new Constellation Observatory Collection today, the next step in its Constellation lineage and the first two-hand hour and minute timepieces to ever earn Master Chronometer certification. And if you were paying attention to any of the dazzling watches spotted at the Oscars this year, you would’ve caught a glimpse of the new line already: Sinners star Delroy Lindo rocked one of the models on the Academy Awards red carpet, giving us a pre-release preview of the collection.
Developed at Omega’s new Laboratoire de Précision (its chronometer testing lab open to all brands), the collection houses a set of nine 39.4 mm watches. The watches underwent 25 days of scrutiny there, analysed via a new acoustic testing method that recorded every sound emitted from the timepiece to track irregularities, temperature sensitivities, and more in the name of all things precision. (Details such as water resistance and power reserve are also thoroughly examined.) This meticulous process is all in the name of snagging that Master Chronometer label, meaning that the timepiece is highly accurate and surpasses the threshold for ultra-high performance. The Constellation Observatory Collection has now changed the game, though, thanks to its lack of a seconds hand.
“Until now, precision certification has required a seconds hand,” Raynald Aeschlimann, president and CEO of OMEGA, said in a press statement. “The development of a new acoustic testing methodology has made that requirement obsolete. It is this breakthrough that has enabled us to present the Constellation Observatory, the first two-hand watch to achieve Master Chronometer certification.”
In addition to notching its place in history, the collection also debuted a new pair of movements: the Calibre 8915 and the Calibre 8914, each perched on a skeletonised rotor base. The former’s Grand Luxe iteration will appear on the 950 Platinum-Gold model in the collection, which offers up that base in 18-karat Sedna Gold alongside a Constellation medallion in 18-karat white gold with an Observatory dome done in white opal enamel surrounded by stars. The second Calibre 8915, the Luxe, will find its home on the other precious-metal models in the line, either made with the brand’s 18-karat Sedna, Moonshine, or Canopus gold seen across the case, the hand-guilloché dial, and, of course, the movement itself. (Lindo chose to rock the Moonshine Gold on Moonshine Gold iteration, priced at approximately $86,000, for Sinners‘s big night at the Oscars.) As for the Calibre 8914, it can be found in the collection’s four steel models.
Each model is a callback to myriad design features on past Omega models. That two-hand dial, for one, comes from the 1948 Centenary (the brand’s first chronometer-certified automatic wristwatch), while the pie-pan dial (seen in various blue, green, and golden hues throughout the line) and that Constellation medallion caseback both appear on watches from 1952. The star adorning the space above 6 o’clock also harks back to 1950s timepieces from Omega. And to finish off the look, you can opt for alligator straps in a variety of colours, or perhaps a gold iteration to match the precious-metal models; the brick-like pattern on the 18-karat Moonshine bracelet was also inspired by Omega watches from the ’50s.
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Inside Loro Piana’s First Sydney Boutique
A first Australian address brings the Italian house’s textile-led approach to retail full circle.
On the fourth floor of Westfield Sydney, near the Castlereagh and Market Street entrance—in the space formerly occupied by Chanel—Loro Piana has opened its first Australian boutique. It is a significant address change for that corner of the mall, and a meaningful one for the Italian house, which has sourced Australian merino wool for decades but until now had no retail presence here.
The facade is understated—creamy, tactile, more about texture than theatre. Inside, the store unfolds across a single, expansive level divided into distinct men’s and women’s wings. The separation is clear without being heavy-handed: womenswear leads from soft accessories and leather goods into ready-to-wear, while menswear occupies its own assured territory, with tailoring and outerwear given proper breathing room. Footwear (supple loafers, luxurious slides, pared-back sneakers) is particularly strong, and the sunglasses are a quiet standout: mineral-toned frames with a disciplined elegance that feels entirely of the house.
That same restraint carries into the interiors, where the surfaces do much of the talking. Walls are wrapped in the company’s own linen and cashmere; carpets are custom, dense underfoot, softening the acoustics and the pace. Oak and carabottino wood add warmth without fuss; marble accents introduce a cool counterpoint. The effect is a composed space calibrated around material, proportion and restraint.
The Spring 2026 collection now in store underscores that sensibility. Silhouettes are elongated and fluid; cashmere, silk and featherweight merino move in sandy neutrals, creams and muddied earth tones, with flashes of marigold and pale turquoise breaking the calm. Tailoring is softly structured and projects confidence without aggression. Leather goods arrive in buttery skins that feel almost pre-lived, as though time has already worked its magic.
What distinguishes Loro Piana, particularly in a market that has grown noisier by the season, is its refusal to perform luxury in an obvious register. There are no oversized insignias telegraphing allegiance. Instead, the status is encoded in fibre count, in hand-feel, in how a coat hangs from the shoulder. It assumes the wearer knows and, crucially, does not need to announce it.
Sydney’s luxury landscape has matured in recent years; global houses no longer test the waters but commit to them. Yet Loro Piana’s arrival feels different. It is not trend-driven expansion but material logic. For a country whose sheep stations have long contributed to the house’s fabric story, this boutique reads almost as a thank-you note written in cashmere.
Photography: Courtesy of Loro Piana.
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This Stylish, Water-Resistant Dopp Kit Might Be the Last One You Ever Buy
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If all you’re going to do is look at it, a leather Dopp kit from a fashion house is a fine choice. But if you take travelling seriously—and do it often, for business, pleasure, or both—such a bag will inevitably end up blemished with droplets of water or stained by errant flecks of toothpaste. Get stuck with a cavalier team of baggage handlers, and it can even get soaked in your favourite fragrance or anti-ageing serum.
But Patricks, the high-performance Australian grooming brand stocked in Harrods and Bergdorf Goodman, has a solution. Its limited-edition bathroom bag, called BB1, is purpose-built to protect everything inside and out. Conceived by industrial designer George Cunningham with brand founder Patrick Kidd, the cuboid design is executed in a water-resistant recycled nylon you can rinse clean. It’s lined with a thin layer of shock-absorbing foam to safeguard your products, but if a bottle somehow gets cracked in transit, the two-way water-resistant zippers and sealed seams (which keep liquids from seeping in or out) ensure that whatever leaks won’t ruin your cashmere. Inside, two dual-sided zippered compartments are ideally sized to fit toothbrushes, razors, and other small essentials.
And though its clean lines and rugged construction make it undeniably masculine, its greatest feature is borrowed from women’s makeup bags. Like the best of these, BB1 unzips to lie flat, giving you unobstructed access to everything inside. Well, you and the 999 other gentlemen who move fast enough to snag one. $289
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The closures are water-resistant in both directions, meaning liquids won’t get in or out.
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BB1 opens to 180 degrees, letting you scan its 4.2-litre capacity at a quick glance.
4. Technical-Fabric Shell
The durable recycled-nylon is easy to maintain and woven to survive splashes and leaks from your go-to products.
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Mauve on Up
Brisbane boutique stay Miss Midgley’s offers a viscerally human experience—especially if you dig pink.
On a sun-bleached corner of Brisbane’s New Farm, where the scent of frangipani mingles with the clink of coffee cups, stands a building that has lived more lives than most people. Once a premier’s residence, an orphanage, a hospital and a private school, the 160-year-old stone structure now finds itself reborn as Miss Midgley’s—a boutique stay that teaches a masterclass in how to make heritage feel modern.
Designed and run by architect-mother-daughter duo Lisa and Isabella White, Miss Midgley’s captures the cultural confidence of a city in bloom. Nowhere is that new confidence more visible than along James Street—the leafy, slow-burn heart of the city’s fashion and dining scene—where Miss Midgley’s sits quietly at the edge, its shell-pink façade glowing in the subtropical light.
Built of Brisbane’s rare volcanic tuff, the building’s soft mauves and pinks are more than aesthetic; they are its identity. Locals still remember its 1950s incarnation as the Pink Flats, and the Whites have honoured that legacy with a contemporary blush-toned exterior, chosen to harmonise with the stone’s peachy undertones. Inside, those hues continue in dusty terracottas, russets and the faint shimmer of brass tapware. “Design can’t afford to be for the sake of fashion,” Isabella White has said. “It has to respond to what’s in front of you.”
That sentiment is tangible in every corner. Five apartments, each with their own idiosyncratic floor plan, occupy the building. Ceilings bloom with heritage plasterwork, 19th-century wallpaper fragments have been preserved in the kitchens, and tiny hand-painted notes left by the architects point out original quirks: a misaligned beam here, a hidden archway there. It’s a kind of adult treasure hunt for design lovers, where discovery feels personal and unforced.
Even the picket fence, a heritage requirement, has been reimagined in corten steel—a sly nod to regulation turned into sculpture. It’s this blend of reverence and rebellion that gives Miss Midgley’s its edge: heritage without starch, nostalgia without sentimentality.
True to Brisbane’s easy elegance, luxury here is measured not in marble or minibar but in proportion, privacy, and personality. Each apartment—from the Drawing Room and the Assembly Hall to the Principal’s Office—is a self-contained sanctuary with its own kitchen, large bathroom and outdoor space. The ground-floor units open onto leafy courtyards and welcome small dogs; upstairs, the larger suites spill onto verandahs shaded by jacarandas.
At the heart of the property lies a solar-heated pool hemmed with tropical greenery and fringed umbrellas—more mid-century Palm Springs than colonial Brisbane. Around it, guests share a petite laundry, a communal library and that rarest of urban luxuries: a car park per apartment. The atmosphere is quietly collegiate—a handful of travellers who might nod to each other on the stairs but otherwise inhabit their own creative bubbles.
The hotel’s namesake, Annie Midgley, lends the project both its name and its spirit. An ambidextrous artist and teacher, she famously instructed two students at once, writing with both hands simultaneously—a fitting metaphor for the dual vision the Whites bring to the building: one hand rooted in history, the other sketching toward the future. “Not famous, yet known,” goes the property’s understated tagline—and indeed, Miss Midgley’s has quietly become that most desirable of addresses: the one whispered about by people who know.
Sustainability isn’t an accessory here; it’s structural. The adaptive reuse of the heritage building is its boldest environmental act. Solar panels power the property; an electric heat pump warms the pool; recycled decking and tiles frame the courtyard. The metre-thick tuff walls regulate temperature naturally, and the amenities follow suit—refillable bath products, biodegradable pods, Seljak blankets spun from textile off-cuts, and compendiums wrapped in Australian-made kangaroo leather. It’s slow luxury in the truest sense.
In a world of carbon-copy hotels, Miss Midgley’s feels deeply human—a place where history isn’t curated behind glass but lives in the warmth of stone and the flicker of afternoon light. The lesson it offers is simple and resonant: that the most elegant modernity often comes not from reinvention, but from listening to what’s already there.
