Everything Rolex showed at Watches & Wonders 2026 connects to a single milestone: the centenary of the Oyster case. In 1926, Rolex introduced a case in which the bezel, caseback, and crown screwed down against the middle case, creating a fully sealed environment.
That breakthrough, followed five years later by the Perpetual rotor, a self-winding system with a free rotor that was patented in 1931, changed the trajectory of watchmaking and established the blueprint every modern Rolex still follows today.
One hundred years on, Rolex marked the occasion not with a nostalgic re-release but with a wide-ranging collection of new models that push materials, dials, and finishing into genuinely new territory.
Running across every release is an upgraded Superlative Chronometer certification: in 2026, the certification has been strengthened with the addition of three new testing criteria—resistance to magnetism, reliability and sustainability— supplementing the precision, waterproofness, self-winding and autonomy reserve standards already in place since 2015.
The most technically ambitious release of the year is the new Cosmograph Daytona in a Rolesium version, and arguably the most surprising. Oystersteel and platinum have never been combined in a Cosmograph Daytona before, and that alone would have made headlines.
But the real story is what Rolex has done with the dial and the bezel. The anthracite Cerachrom bezel is made from an entirely new ceramic composite of zirconia enriched with tungsten carbide, the subject of a patent application filed in 2024. Its tachymetric scale numerals sit horizontal, as they did on the original 1963 references, and are coated with platinum via PVD. In the metal, the effect reads genuinely metallic—a marked departure from the flat black ceramic of every other current Cosmograph Daytona. The white enamel dial is a marvel in itself. Rather than applying enamel to a metal base, Rolex fires it onto ceramic plates—one for the dial itself and three for the counters—before mounting all four to a brass base.
The result is exceptionally rich and luminous, impervious to UV and oxidation, and unlike anything currently in production at this scale. A transparent case back, platinum case back ring, yellow gold oscillating weight, and the calibre 4131 complete the picture.
The second major headline is the introduction of an entirely new precious metal. Jubilee gold is a brand-new 18-karat gold alloy conceived, developed and produced in Rolex’s own foundry, marking the first new gold alloy from the brand in more than two decades, since the Everose gold debuted in 2005.
The new alloy blends tones of tender yellow, warm grey and soft pink. In person, the effect is intentionally restrained—less declarative than yellow gold or Everose, shifting between warm and cool depending on the light, lending the watch a quality of quiet confidence rather than outright flash. The alloy makes its debut on the Day-Date 40, paired with a light green aventurine dial set with a circle of ten baguette-cut diamonds and a fluted bezel, and powered by calibre 3255.
To celebrate both the Datejust’s role as the archetypal timepiece in the Rolex catalogue and the 100th anniversary of the Oyster case, Rolex introduced a Datejust 41 in white Rolesor featuring a green lacquer ombré dial—the first ombré dial coloured entirely by lacquering since the technique was reintroduced in 2019.
Green lacquer is applied to the base plate, then the colour gradient is created by spraying black lacquer in concentric motions, shifting from a light green at the centre to an inky dark hue at the outer edges. The watch pairs this dramatic dial with a white gold fluted bezel and an Oyster bracelet.
The most visually arresting Oyster Perpetual is the steel 36 mm with what Rolex calls the Jubilee motif. Recalling the Jubilee motif dials that appeared on Datejusts and Day-Dates from the late 1970s onwards, the new version puts a colorful spin on the format with a repeating high-contrast pattern based on the letters R-O-L-E-X, rendered in ten distinct colours applied individually in sequence.
For the first time in roughly two decades, the Oyster Perpetual is also available in solid gold. The 34 mm comes in Everose gold with a blue stone lacquer dial and dumortierite markers at 3, 6, and 9; the 28 mm in yellow gold with a green lacquer dial and heliotrope. Both are satin-finished—another first for a precious metal Oyster Perpetual—which strips the usual ceremony from the material and makes each watch feel modern, tactile, and surprisingly understated.
Rolex has also reintroduced the Yacht-Master II in an entirely new generation available in Oystersteel or 18-karat yellow gold. The rotatable bezel and Ring Command system is gone, replaced by a clean blue Cerachrom bezel and a pusher-driven interface: one press adds a minute to the countdown, up to ten in total. The upper pusher starts the count, and the seconds hand runs counterclockwise during the final 30 seconds—a detail that manages to be both practical and delightful. The new calibre 4162 offers 72 hours of power reserve.
Taken together, this is the most materially ambitious Rolex collection in years. Jubilee gold opens a new chapter in the brand’s precious metal story. The Oyster Perpetual range, from the maximalist Jubilee motif to the satinfinished gold miniatures, shows a brand willing to experiment freely across its most foundational line. And across all of it runs something quieter but perhaps more significant: the sense that Rolex, at 100 years, is still pushing itself.
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