Businessweek
The Quiet Rolex: How the Perpetual 1908 Is Starting a Tradition
By creating a watch unlike any in recent years, Rolex has made a rare departure from its model—to create a totally new one.
The Rolex Perpetual 1908 in platinum.
Photographer: JVA Studios/Rolex
Collectors have long coveted Rolex’s tool watches—rugged Cosmograph Daytona chronographs for keeping time on the racetrack and Submariners you can read deep underwater. So it was a curious move last year when the brand introduced the Perpetual 1908, a simple 39-millimeter dress watch.
Offered in 18-karat white or yellow gold with a black or white face, it merely told the time. The case rim was delicately fluted, not like the glittery crenellated bezel on some Oyster Perpetuals. And instead of a brawny link bracelet? An alligator strap. It was so subdued.