When the first Rolex Sky-Dweller was introduced in 2012, it aimed to silence all the brand’s haters, who constantly mock the “new models” – saying there is no difference from the previous ones, that they introduce practically no technological innovations, that they use 50-year-old movements, and so on. The mouths of all such “commentators” and “experts” have once again been shut, because the product is truly impressive. The size is different, the functionality is genuinely impressive, the dial design is different from everything known so far, and the movement… in fact, this is where the big surprise lies.
The main reason for pride is precisely Calibre 9001, which was developed exclusively for the Sky-Dweller. Like all Perpetual calibres from Rolex, it uses the general architecture for bidirectional self-winding through the perpetual rotor, Paraflex anti-shock protection and a Parachrom hairspring. Here, however, the automatic winding system has been seriously improved, with the rotor now mounted on a bearing and its efficiency increased by 15%. As for lubrication, the reversing wheels, one of the problematic areas from the point of view of friction, have a Teflon coating – as a result of all this, the power reserve has been increased to an impressive 72 hours! To this day, this remains the most complicated calibre ever created by Rolex. All of this gave Rolex reason to initially release the model only in precious-metal cases, and only 5 years later, in 2017, to launch the steel and bi-metal versions of the model. Today, we have the pleasure of presenting precisely such an example to your attention.
The detail of this watch, as indeed of all modern Rolex watches we have had the opportunity to examine, is truly impressive. A closer look reveals jewellery-level craftsmanship, while the overall impression is very aristocratic. Starting with the incredible dial – in the watch presented here, this is the clean snow-white dial. Moving on to the incredible sapphire with “cyclops” – in this case, the highest class of the brand’s sapphire has been used, which has allowed the overall height of the watch to be reduced compared with its predecessors. Of course, separate attention must be paid to the case and bezel – an incredible combination of polished 904L steel of the highest class with faceted polished edges and details in certain places; as you know, Rolex pay special attention to the steel they use and, for this purpose, have their own foundries for the production of all their alloys, combined here with a Rolesor bezel. The brand’s characteristic “fluted” style gives the watch an incredible presence, while the fact that the bezel is made of 18-carat gold further reinforces the overall impression. Unlike all other models of the brand in which this bezel is used, in this case it is functional.
The Sky-Dweller displays two time zones simultaneously – local time and the date are shown in the standard Rolex format, while a separate subdial contains a 24-hour disc, with the hour indicated by a fixed inverted triangle. The 24-hour scale makes it easier to distinguish between day and night, while the month is displayed through one of the 12 apertures positioned around the hour markers.
Adjusting so many indicators usually requires you to remember several crown settings, or several additional pushers, or those hidden little correctors for which you have to use the special tool the dealer gave you separately, with the explicit warning “under no circumstances lose it, because…”. That is not the case here, however – yes, here too you use the crown for quick adjustment of all functions, but it does not work in the usual way. Instead, you first select the function you want the crown to perform.
The Sky-Dweller uses intelligent bezel technology known as “Ring Command” – similar to that used in the Yacht-Master II. Rotating the bezel interacts with the movement and thus selects which function is activated by turning the crown. This complex mechanical module includes more than 60 components, and it can be operated in both directions of the bezel.
Before the Sky-Dweller, Rolex offered only the so-called “complete calendar”. Although similar, it does not take into account the different lengths of the months – Rolex solved this problem by introducing four additional gear wheels. In this way, the simple but ingenious annual calendar system called SAROS was created.
“Saros” is a Greek term and refers to the astronomical cycle governing the repetition of eclipses. The design is inspired by the cyclical alignment of the Sun, the Earth and the Moon – hence the name.
A satellite (earth) wheel engages a fixed planetary (sun) gear wheel over the course of one month, driven by the date disc. The “Earth”, in turn, has its own satellite (moon) wheel, equipped with four fingers for each of the four 30-day months. At the end of these months, one of the fingers causes the date disc to “jump” two days in a few milliseconds. Therefore, the date 31 is “eclipsed”. As a result, manual intervention is required only on 1 March.
