The biggest news for Rolex this year comes from the Submariner, with new sizes and the long-awaited update to the automatic movement with the Chronergy escapement and 70-hour power reserve, but there are plenty of updates to the Oyster Perpetual as well. There’s a new 41mm size. But that’s not all. We’ve also updated five new 36mm Oyster Perpetuals with a colored lacquered dial. And underneath that dial is the new in-house caliber 3230, the same one we saw earlier this evening on the new 41mm Dateless Sub. The five new colored dials are candy pink, and you can see yellow, green, coral red, and turquoise on top. The Rolex replica website shows that all but the candy pink version are 41mm versions in the works as well.
The colors look great. They’re bright and fun, and because of their modest size, these new Oyster Perpetuals are sized perfectly for those with smaller and medium-sized wrists. With the introduction of the 41mm model, the Oyster Perpetual 36 replaces the 39mm model as a bigger option for those who prefer a sub-40mm model. This is a watch that can be easily worn by many people, and it may just be the most understated Rolex one can own and wear. These bright colors are also immediately reminiscent of Rolex’s early Stella dials. More recently, we’ve seen bright dials in this style appear on certain aftermarket watches.
It’s difficult to understand exactly what these colors do in metal. It would be really interesting if the pink ended up with a salmon-like color, but given the “candy” pink name, that seems unlikely. Similarly, I’m interested in turquoise and coral reds. I’d love to see these replica watches in person. The green dial variation feels like a safe bet, and I could see it becoming a huge sale.
But I think the most important thing about the 36mm Oyster Perpetual is a new movement. The 3230 caliber is the same brand new automatic movement just seen in the 41mm variant of the OP as well as the new 41mm dateless Sub. It’s a great movement that has come a long way in many models, but having that Chronergy escapement with the paramagnetic pallet fork and escapement wheel makes a big difference for consumers. The extra-long 70-hour power reserve will make these new models much easier to own, and the fact that the movement is less affected by magnetic fields is a big difference to most of our lives that are almost always heavily electronic! Wrapping up is very important to people.
