Well, the Basel Fair is officially underway and let me tell you, this is probably the shittiest Basel Fair I have ever seen. I mean the products introduced are average at best. The two brands that people wait for Rolex & Patek Phillipe have been really disappointing for this years 2009 Basel. These two brands are the barometer in good times and in bad. Every watch brand follows like sheep waiting to see what these two legendary brands will do. Both these brands have put me to sleep this year, screw the sleeping pills. Since I am not a Patek Phillipe fan my eyes always gravitate towards Rolex. Last year, if you remember Rolex delivered the Rolex Deep Sea and the Daytona in Rose Gold which were pretty well received novelties and to be honest, I wasn’t too badly offended. This year is frigging God awful.So where do I start?
The new 41 mm Datejust 11 which is available in steel and gold and stainless steel and white gold with new dial treatments and fluted bezels only. I love the size, and finally makes wearing a Datejust masculine elegant and versatile. I hope to god they introduce it in a domed bezel configuration because that would blow the roof off, because lets face it fluted bezels and oyster bracelets don’t belong together kinda like a man with a vagina, but having a 41 mm datejust with oyster bracelet with domed bezel would clean it up, modernize it and be the best looking stainless steel mens watch on a bracelet. Then, oh yeah there is the ridiculous new oh la la Daytona in white gold with a fully pave dial with white strap! Yawn. I don’t see the signs of a P Diddy white party anytime soon. In this economy to come out with something so offensive, shit, i guess Rolex doesn’t really care.
Then there is the new steel and Gold submariner with blue and black dials. Well my only issue is that they didn’t go bigger because in my opinion they still look like nicer versions of the old which isn’t bad, but if your going to make a complete change to this model the case should have been at least 43 mm. The plus points are the watches themselves have gotten the new bracelet technology which is cleaner more modern and better constructed. The dial seems to have gotten the Maxi Dot treatment for the luminescent hour markers and it’s hard to tell if the bezel went ceramic or has been screened like a fake painting.
The new Datejust 36 mm is real PIMP. Whoever came up with the new dial was definitely taking hallucinogens and it looks as though there are flowers on the dial which is just downright insulting. Of course the diamond dial diamond bezel elements certify this watch a giant turd in my opinion, but hey I guess ladies will love the new 36 mm datejust because it dresses the watch up more, and I guess if your a chick who has money and hasn’t gotten some for a while this will definitely make you feel better to compensate. i will say I am very impressed by the new Rolex Cellini Prince in 18K white gold . This historic legend with manual wind movement has gotten the attention of detail of the dial and case and screams sophistication complication and in my opinion is probably the most underrated watch that Rolex has in it’s arsenal.
I know Rolex has much more to offer with a variety of models that need the attention of modernity and upgrading and size, which I am sure will role out sometime in the future, but in such a weak time they should have unleashed one weapon to restore hope and get collectors excited to talk about the brand and make people wanna buy and not cry. What a dirty shame!
Pics courtesy of http://www.rolex.com
JOHNNY FLYBACK 