Rolex Sky-Dweller
Sky-Dweller has always had a somewhat controversial character. On the one hand, these are the most complex watches Rolex makes (in terms of mechanical complexity, only the Yacht-Master II can rival them). When the Sky-Dweller was introduced in 2012, it was only available entirely in gold on a gold bracelet. The price, respectively, turned out to be one of the highest in the entire Rolex line. At the same time, they were clearly conceived as a very practical watch - reliable and easy to use for travelers and for people who need to have 2 time zones on their wrist.
However, in 2017, Rolex unveiled a version of the Rolesor Sky-Dweller (Rolesor is the company's term for a combination of steel and gold) that immediately made the most practical of sophisticated watches more affordable.
The new steel version with a white gold bezel is now the most affordable retail model at three times the price of the gold version. But due to the high demand for this model, especially with a blue dial, the price difference on the market is not so significant.
Sky-Dweller Reference 326934 - version of the watch in stainless steel and bezel in white gold.
Sky-Dweller is a combination of two complications: the time of the second time zone (or GMT complication) and the annual calendar. The first is easy to understand: the watch shows the time simultaneously in two time zones and has an hour hand that can be independently adjusted forward or backward in one hour increments. This is a feature of "true" GMT clocks, as the hour hand can be reset to a new time zone without correcting the minutes. The time of the second time zone is displayed on an off-center 24-hour disc, which also makes it easy to determine the time of day in another region.
The annual calendar is the second difficulty of Sky-Dweller, which is also relatively simple. The Gregorian calendar has months of different lengths - some months have 31 days, while others have only 30. But February is the most volatile of all. And depending on whether it is a leap year or not, it can have 28 or 29 days (29 in a leap year). If we talk about watches with a perpetual calendar, then they automatically go to the first day on the right day at the end of the month, regardless of the month. For example, on February 28th in a common year and February 29th in a leap year at midnight, the calendar will switch to March 1st. Thus, in a perpetual calendar, you never need to manually adjust the date.
Sky-Dweller has an annual calendar. And he also knows how to translate the date from the 30th or 31st of each standard month. But he doesn't know when to go to March 1 - February 28 or 29. Thus, in the Sky-Dweller annual calendar, the date must be manually reset once a year from February to March. On the other hand, a standard calendar clock requires manual date conversion five times a year — four times in every 30-day month and once at the end of February.
The annual calendar has a number of significant advantages over the perpetual. First, it is cheaper. It is thinner due to less detail. Compared to perpetual calendars, annual calendars are generally less mechanically complex and also less prone to damage due to mishandling on the part of their owners. Often, when setting the time or setting the calendar, people break the mechanism by rotating the arrows backwards or manipulating calendar functions at a prohibited time interval. Repair and maintenance of an annual calendar is cheaper than a perpetual calendar.
Interestingly, the annual calendar is a fairly recent innovation in wristwatches - it was only in 1996 that the first patent for an annual calendar was granted to Patek Philippe, which launched a complication in the model numbered 5035. Ironically, the original design of the Patek movement was actually relatively complicated. But as with the perpetual calendar, the last couple of decades have led to significant design simplifications and significant reductions in parts. For example, Rolex's annual calendar movement required the addition of only four wheels to the existing Rolex movement with a regular date.
Interestingly enough, there are not many clocks with an annual calendar and complicating GMT. This is not surprising given the fact that the annual calendar itself is a rather rare complication. In fact, there are significantly fewer annual calendars on the market than perpetual ones.
The Sky-Dweller has an interesting innovation: the Ring Command bezel. The Ring Command bezel was first introduced by Rolex in the Yachtmaster II, yet another contender for the most sophisticated Rolex. The Yachtmaster II was introduced by Rolex in 2007 and is essentially a programmable countdown timer for regatta participants. You can set the countdown to any interval from one to 10 minutes, and if you need to re-sync the seconds hand with the starting pistol, you can do so by pressing the reset button while the chronograph is running (flyback). The second hand then returns to zero and immediately begins a new countdown, and the minute hand returns to the nearest minute mark.
Bezel Ring Command
The Sky-Dweller Ring Command bezel is connected to the watch movement and, depending on its position, allows the crown to control different watch settings.
Although the Sky-Dweller mechanism is quite complex (more than sixty additional parts) and requires careful study of the instructions, it is easy to use in practice. The function of indication of the current month is very conveniently implemented. Since there are 12 months in a year and 12 o'clock on the dial, you can easily determine which month it is by the position of the red marker on the corresponding hour mark. January at 1, February at 2, etc.
Sky-Dweller is available in steel, yellow and rose gold, and in combination with steel and yellow gold (Rolesor).
Sky-Dweller has always had a somewhat controversial character. On the one hand, these are the most complex watches Rolex makes (in terms of mechanical complexity, only the Yacht-Master II can rival them). When the Sky-Dweller was introduced in 2012, it was only available entirely in gold on a gold bracelet. The price, respectively, turned out to be one of the highest in the entire Rolex line. At the same time, they were clearly conceived as a very practical watch - reliable and easy to use for travelers and for people who need to have 2 time zones on their wrist.
However, in 2017, Rolex unveiled a version of the Rolesor Sky-Dweller (Rolesor is the company's term for a combination of steel and gold) that immediately made the most practical of sophisticated watches more affordable.
The new steel version with a white gold bezel is now the most affordable retail model at three times the price of the gold version. But due to the high demand for this model, especially with a blue dial, the price difference on the market is not so significant.
Sky-Dweller Reference 326934 - version of the watch in stainless steel and bezel in white gold.
Sky-Dweller is a combination of two complications: the time of the second time zone (or GMT complication) and the annual calendar. The first is easy to understand: the watch shows the time simultaneously in two time zones and has an hour hand that can be independently adjusted forward or backward in one hour increments. This is a feature of "true" GMT clocks, as the hour hand can be reset to a new time zone without correcting the minutes. The time of the second time zone is displayed on an off-center 24-hour disc, which also makes it easy to determine the time of day in another region.
The annual calendar is the second difficulty of Sky-Dweller, which is also relatively simple. The Gregorian calendar has months of different lengths - some months have 31 days, while others have only 30. But February is the most volatile of all. And depending on whether it is a leap year or not, it can have 28 or 29 days (29 in a leap year). If we talk about watches with a perpetual calendar, then they automatically go to the first day on the right day at the end of the month, regardless of the month. For example, on February 28th in a common year and February 29th in a leap year at midnight, the calendar will switch to March 1st. Thus, in a perpetual calendar, you never need to manually adjust the date.
Sky-Dweller has an annual calendar. And he also knows how to translate the date from the 30th or 31st of each standard month. But he doesn't know when to go to March 1 - February 28 or 29. Thus, in the Sky-Dweller annual calendar, the date must be manually reset once a year from February to March. On the other hand, a standard calendar clock requires manual date conversion five times a year — four times in every 30-day month and once at the end of February.
The annual calendar has a number of significant advantages over the perpetual. First, it is cheaper. It is thinner due to less detail. Compared to perpetual calendars, annual calendars are generally less mechanically complex and also less prone to damage due to mishandling on the part of their owners. Often, when setting the time or setting the calendar, people break the mechanism by rotating the arrows backwards or manipulating calendar functions at a prohibited time interval. Repair and maintenance of an annual calendar is cheaper than a perpetual calendar.
Interestingly, the annual calendar is a fairly recent innovation in wristwatches - it was only in 1996 that the first patent for an annual calendar was granted to Patek Philippe, which launched a complication in the model numbered 5035. Ironically, the original design of the Patek movement was actually relatively complicated. But as with the perpetual calendar, the last couple of decades have led to significant design simplifications and significant reductions in parts. For example, Rolex's annual calendar movement required the addition of only four wheels to the existing Rolex movement with a regular date.
Interestingly enough, there are not many clocks with an annual calendar and complicating GMT. This is not surprising given the fact that the annual calendar itself is a rather rare complication. In fact, there are significantly fewer annual calendars on the market than perpetual ones.
The Sky-Dweller has an interesting innovation: the Ring Command bezel. The Ring Command bezel was first introduced by Rolex in the Yachtmaster II, yet another contender for the most sophisticated Rolex. The Yachtmaster II was introduced by Rolex in 2007 and is essentially a programmable countdown timer for regatta participants. You can set the countdown to any interval from one to 10 minutes, and if you need to re-sync the seconds hand with the starting pistol, you can do so by pressing the reset button while the chronograph is running (flyback). The second hand then returns to zero and immediately begins a new countdown, and the minute hand returns to the nearest minute mark.
Bezel Ring Command
The Sky-Dweller Ring Command bezel is connected to the watch movement and, depending on its position, allows the crown to control different watch settings.
Although the Sky-Dweller mechanism is quite complex (more than sixty additional parts) and requires careful study of the instructions, it is easy to use in practice. The function of indication of the current month is very conveniently implemented. Since there are 12 months in a year and 12 o'clock on the dial, you can easily determine which month it is by the position of the red marker on the corresponding hour mark. January at 1, February at 2, etc.
Sky-Dweller is available in steel, yellow and rose gold, and in combination with steel and yellow gold (Rolesor).
