Rolex watches certainly have snob appeal. Those...
Rolex watches certainly have snob appeal. Those chunks of gold and crystal embedded with jewels and engravings are among the trappings that alert the world that one has arrived.
Bruce Blackman, owner of Blackman Ltd. Jewelers in Newport Beach is a factory-authorized dealer. “People who buy Rolexes are intelligent buyers,” Blackman said. “You can get around in a Volkswagen, but why do it if you can drive a Rolls-Royce? It’s the machinery. You can get around with a Seiko, but again, it’s the machinery.
“There’s a pride of ownership with a Rolex. It is an excellent watch. They had to be good to get to be known as a status symbol.”
Blackman says the most popular Rolex in Orange County, and probably internationally, is the Oyster Perpetual Datejust with a stainless-steel-and-gold Jubilee band. The suggested retail on the Swiss-made chronometer is $4,300 for the men’s and $3,500 for the women’s.
But what does all that business about “Oyster” and “Datejust” and “Jubilee band” actually mean?
According to Blackman, there are a multiple combinations of dials, bands and bezels from which to choose, as well as selections from Rolex’s special collections. Prices can range from $550 for a watch not made by Rolex but for it, to more than $110,000 for a watch with all the whistles and bells.
Aside from the distinctive styling, a genuine Rolex can always be recognized by the appearance of the company’s name and crown logo on both the dial and the watchband. Understanding that, here are the basics of choosing a Rolex.
The case:
The case is the housing for the mechanics. The most common, the Oyster, is a case hewn of a solid ingot of stainless steel, platinum or 18-karat gold. It is hermetically sealed, and is pressure-proof to a depth of 330 feet. (Special diving models are pressure-proofed for depths of either 1,000 or 4,000 feet.)
The bands:
The styles of the bracelets are distinguished by the type of links. There is leather, stainless steel, 18-karat gold, or a combination of stainless steel and gold. The basic styles include the President, Super President, Jubilee, Mesh, Oyster and Leather.
The dials:
The dial, or face, offers several options, colors, finishes or degrees of ornateness. Options include faces with diamonds, rubies, sapphires or emeralds or some combination of these; colors such as lapis lazuli, coral, onyx, tiger eye, malachite, slate, champagne, platinum, birch, ivory, mahogany and pearl; numbers can be Roman, Arabic or in a design with no numbers at all.
The styles:
There are three basic styles: Datejust, which has just the date; Day-Date, which has both, and Perpetual, which is plain.
The collections:
Cellini, a high-grade line of men’s and women’s dress watches.
The Crown collection has the most ornate watches Rolex designs.
Tudor, a lower-priced collection of watches made for Rolex. Prices for these begin at $550.
