Two Broke Watch Snobs
Is Saving For A Rolex Submariner Worth It In 2026?
Does saving for a Rolex Submariner still make sense in 2026? See what our real-world testing revealed about the watch's value and where your money may be better spent.
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Two Broke Watch Snobs
Does saving for a Rolex Submariner still make sense in 2026? See what our real-world testing revealed about the watch's value and where your money may be better spent.
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As we have seen recently, when we analysed the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry’s report and its export data, the watch industry isn’t at its best; exports are down, sales are declining for large conglomerates, and there are challenging times ahead for 2026. Outlooks remain cautious, as the industry is likely to continue facing […]
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It seems like a trend that endurance races are won with only seconds between the podium finishers. We’ve seen it in this year’s Dakar, where Luciano Benavides won the Bikes class with just two seconds difference over second-place man Ricky Brabec. We’ve seen it in last year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, where the entire podium […]
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A watch packed with history and pivotal in Oris’ destiny, the Big Crown Pointer Date saw the light in 1938. As the brand’s first dedicated pilot’s watch, the oversized crown was designed so pilots could operate the watch while wearing gloves in their unheated cockpits. With its legible Arabic numerals, graphic railway track, cathedral hands […]
SJX Watches
The marketing history of Rolex shows a brand building its public face step by step through symbols, carefully chosen moments, and tightly controlled messages. From its beginnings in 1905, Rolex shaped a clear, recognisable image, with a strong emphasis on visibility, control and consistency. The company spent real effort defining what the name Rolex should evoke and how that image would appear in print, in shop windows and on people’s wrists. Where many watchmakers leaned on language around heritage and handcraft, Rolex developed a communication style rooted in achievement, trust and broad recognition. The brand favoured association: with pilots, swimmers, climbers, tennis players, orchestras, laboratories and prize-giving institutions. Sponsorships, endorsements and even model names formed a linked pattern, presenting the Rolex watch as the natural companion of records, frontiers and public success. Hans Wilsdorf, the founder, treated promotion and product as parts of the same task. He saw that a claim about performance gained weight when tied to a visible test or public event, and that reputation could grow through displays of endurance, accuracy and elegance under pressure. The waterproof Oyster case, observatory trials, Channel swims, aviation flights and Himalayan expeditions all served as stages on which the watch and the story moved together. Across the decades this approach produced one of the most coherent brand stories in modern watchmaking. Through long-standi...
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Oris is undergoing a complete overhaul of its collection, simplifying and modernising its icons. See what the brand has recently done with the Big Crown Pointer Date, the Divers Date or the Aquis Date. The new ProPilot Date is not a radical reinvention but a careful, disciplined evolution of a practical design the brand first introduced […]
SJX Watches
Rolex has just unveiled a fully branded line of accessories for office dwellers, featuring both cufflinks and a genuine Submariner desk clock. The move not only extends the brand’s product range, but reinforces its lifestyle dominance beyond its traditional domain. With its decades-long reputation for precision, quality and retail discipline, Rolex has planted a new flag: high-end accessories built with the same seriousness and iconic design language as its wristwatches. Initial thoughts Rolex has earned its dominant position in the Swiss watch industry in large part by taking everything it does very seriously. So it’s not surprising to see that the formal launch of a full line-up of accessories is treated with due seriousness. This is not the first time that Rolex has offered cufflinks; some references were exhibited at Watches & Wonders this year and have been quietly available for purchase at brand boutiques for some time. But the formal roll-out on the website is a decisive step, and reveals that Rolex wants to give its legions of fans another touchpoint with their favourite brand. On the other hand, the official desk clock is new and quite surprising in its execution, though perhaps it shouldn’t be. Rendered in a heavy 80 mm stainless steel body with a real Cerachrom ceramic bezel and sapphire crystal, it feels like a true Submariner (albeit one that is not water resistant). In terms of value, the accessories are expensive in an absolute sense but are priced rea...
Two Broke Watch Snobs
The Seiko Prospex Speedtimer “Motoring” channels vintage Rolex Daytona vibes with a cream dial, steel bezel, and affordable sub-$1K price.
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The Oris Aquis Date is the brand’s best-selling dive watch. Launched in 2011, revised last year, the Aquis Date was designed as a muscular, water-resistant tool watch with contemporary looks. In line with the brand’s conservation projects, a second Aquis Oris has been selected for the second chapter of the Billion Oyster Project. Issued as […]
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Glashütte Original’s Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date, introduced in 2014, captured the design groove of 1970s watches with TV-shaped profiles. However, instead of settling for an accomplished vintage-inspired watch, GO went that extra mile and equipped it with its signature Panorama date display and a sophisticated flyback chronograph movement. Unafraid of colour, the Seventies strides in […]
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Welcome to the watch releases update for the second week of May 2026. We have some great watch models to cover such as the new Audemars Piguet x Swatch ‘Royal Pop’. As well as new releases from Seiko, Orient Star,...
Deployant
Glashütte Original ventures into chromatic futurism with two daring new takes on its Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date. “Plasma” and “Fusion” fuse retro form with shifting, high-impact color-where digital inspiration meets mechanical precision.
Quill & Pad
Nigel Band is a professional diver with over 30 years’ worth of commercial and teaching experience. He also owns two rather unusual Rolex watches: a 1986 “triple-six” Rolex Sea-Dweller Reference 16660 and a Himalayan mountain climbing 1952 Rolex Oyster Perpetual. Put on your breathing apparatus as the fascinating stories of these two watches are told by Colin Alexander Smith here.
Quill & Pad
The Rolex Milgauss, despite being one of the longest-standing offerings by Rolex, remains one of Rolex's more under-appreciated models. Having owned a black dial 116400GV since 2016, Raman Kalra shares his thoughts on why it's worth your consideration.
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The latest Oris Aquis Date Relief is a reintroduction of the model with new dial and strap colours and the always cool steel bezel in relief. The Aquis Date Cherry (and others) in 43.5mm from a few years ago is very similar, but this follows the recent Aquis redesign and brings a new strap and […]
Fratello
Today, we’ll briefly examine two new Certina DS-1 Big Date Collection variants. While we’ve typically covered some of Certina’s sportier watches here on Fratello, it’s important to remember that models like the DS-1 form the foundation for a brand. Watch nerds aside, pieces like this sell in large numbers. The DS-1 Big Date was introduced […] Visit Hot Take: Two New Certina DS-1 Big Date Watches With Matte Cases to read the full article.
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Some watches are more special than others, and when you combine terms like "tourbillon", "platinum" and "grand feu enamel", you know you're in for a treat! If the watch also happens to be made by A. Lange & Söhne, th...
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Traditionally, Rolex sports (a.k.a. professional) watches are very often paired with black dials. As for the GMT-Master II, of all references available in the collection – and there are quite a lot of them, in all possible materials except platinum – only the white gold editions have had the privilege of colours: Pepsi with a […]
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Rolex has changed… Not marginally, but significantly. We knew the brand was capable of being rather unpredictable and capable of bold creative moves, such as bubble-decorated dials and watches with a guilloché pattern. The days when Rolex simply revamped a collection every 10 years by implementing incremental upgrades and releasing new dial colours every two […]
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At the opening of the Watches and Wonders 2025 salon, Rolex presented quite a lot of new models, starting with the all-important Land-Dweller collection, as well as a new white gold and ceramic dial GMT-Master II Sprite and a fantastic new metal bracelet (named Settimo) for the 1908 collection. There was also a new, bold […]
SJX Watches
Rolex has launched its first-ever ceramic dial with the GMT-Master II ref. 126729 VTNR. Left-handed like the “Sprite” of 2022, the new GMT-Master II is available only in 18k white gold – unsurprising since Rolex typically rolls out new innovations or features in precious metals. Dial aside, the rest is classic GMT-Master II. The movement is the latest-generation cal. 3285, while the bezel insert is in the same material as the dial, Cerachrom, Rolex speak for ceramic. Initial thoughts Unlike the game-changing Land Dweller, the new GMT-Master II is typical Rolex in being an incremental improvement over past models. Ceramic dials have been present in watchmaking for several years now, though this is a first for Rolex. Over time, ceramic dials will probably filter downwards into more affordable models as is the norm at the brand. Besides being a perfect match for the green half of the bezel, the ceramic dial is presumably more robustness than conventional lacquered dial, particularly in terms of scratch resistance and colour fastness (over decades or even centuries). Even though it’s not majorly novel, the ref. 126729 VTNR is a good looking watch and, in the usual Rolex fashion, is priced reasonably for what it is (though not cheaply). But it will also be a major hit, which makes availability scarce for some time to come. Two time zones One of the iconic travel watches, the GMT-Master II does a simple job very well. It can indicate up to three time zones with its combi...
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Alongside the green and terracotta Big Crown Pointer Date Calibre 403 housed in a 40mm case with a sleek, polished bezel instead of the classic coin-edge design, Oris also introduces a trio of new, simpler versions of its emblematic watch. And while these lack the high-performance Calibre 403 movement and replace it with a Sellita […]
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In 1964, Seiko entered Switzerland's most prestigious watchmaking competition and finished 144th. They came back every year. By 1967, they were 4th — second only to Omega in manufacturer rankings. In 1968, at the Ge...
Deployant
Our next stop is at Rolex. We published the releases yesterday, and here are our hands-on impressions with live photographs.
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Patek Philippe introduces a new and powerful manual-winding calibre for the equally new Calatrava 8 Day Ref. 5328G. As you have gleaned from the name, the new twin barrel movement delivers an impressive 192-hour or 8-day power reserve. While the watch is officially a Calatrava, it shares traits with the more casual aesthetic of the […]
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With the discontinuation of Cellini collection, Rolex introduced the Perpetual 1908 series in 2023, blending classic aesthetics with cutting-edge watchmaking technology. Until now, these models powered by the Rolex calibre 7140 were exclusively available on leather straps. This year, Rolex expands the collection with a yellow gold version, now paired with the newly designed Settimo […]
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Here we are. Watches and Wonders, the main event of the year for the watch industry and the watch community, has not opened its doors yet, but Rolex has already released its new models for 2025. And this is it, the big news is here… The Crown is introducing a brand-new collection – something that […]
SJX Watches
Rolex has entered uncharted territory with the Land-Dweller, arguably the most advanced and radical creation from a hitherto conservative brand. The Land-Dweller is significant, perhaps even game changing, not because of the integrated bracelet or patented solid lume, but because of the cal. 7135, a new calibre with an all-new double-wheel escapement known as Dynapulse and a ceramic balance staff. (This story details the technical advances in the movement; for a review of the watch, check out the accompanying story.) The Land-Dweller 40 mm in platinum The fundamentals Why is it significant, or even game changing? The cal. 7135 is the first in-house, serial production Rolex movement that is high frequency, beating at 5 Hz or 36,000 beats per hour. All things being equal, a higher frequency promises superior timekeeping. Despite the higher frequency, the cal. 7135 still has a 66-hour power reserve. That’s thanks in part to the Dynapulse escapement which is 30% more efficient than a conventional Swiss lever escapement, while occupying essentially the same volume of space. The balance assembly of the cal. 7135 Dynapulse is one of several innovations that make the cal. 7135 a landmark, especially since it will be produced at scale. While Rolex has traditionally been associated with incremental innovation, the cal. 7135 is a revolution. The Land-Dweller is the subject of 32 filed patents, 18 of which are unique to the watch. Moreover, 16 of the patents unique to the watch are ...
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Some watches are more special than others, and when you combine terms like "tourbillon", "platinum" and "grand feu enamel", you know you're in for a treat! If the watch also happens to be made by A. Lange & Söhne, th...
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