Rolex: It’s Not Unchanged, But Most People Can’t See It

Sometimes I see people voicing that Rolex is the same and has nothing new. One style can be sold for decades. You know, only those watches that have been recognized by consumers around the world can achieve the so-called ‘traditional’. Because if it is not approved, it can only be ‘stop production’ or constantly modify the appearance to win consumer freshness. They all say that Rolex ‘has eaten fresh all over the sky’, but Rolex is not unchanged, but most people can’t see it. When we hold the Rolex watch head and lay the metal strap horizontally, we find that the strap sags. The more frequently used Rolex straps sag, the worse! Sometimes it will become like this or even completely ‘don’t lift’. This will cause this situation, because the table sections are connected by screw bolts, and there is a certain gap between the screw bolts and the table hole positions. Although lubricating oil is added between the gaps, under long-term use, this gap will gradually increase, which will cause the strap to sag, which is very unattractive. In order to solve the problem of sagging straps, Rolex added ceramic tubes to the sections of platinum and gold oyster straps and Day-Date head straps. On the one hand, this white ceramic tube can reduce friction and wear between the bolt and the watch section, and improve the wearing comfort. On the other hand, the new watch band using ceramic tube can eliminate the need to add lubricating oil inside, completely avoiding the loss of lubricating oil and the leakage of lubricating oil during washing, which will cause the wearer’s wrist and clothing to be stained. The Oyster strap was introduced in the late 1930s. The head-type strap was specially made for the Oyster Perpetual Day of the Week calendar type introduced in 1956. The appearance of the modern strap is similar to that of decades ago. But Rolex is not unchanged, but most people can’t see the details in the watch section. At present, the ceramic tube is only used in the platinum and gold oyster straps and the Day-Date head straps. The steel and even ordinary precious metal straps are not visible. According to Rolex’s popularization strategy, it should gradually roll out in the future. Rolex released the first self-made self-winding chronograph cal. 4130 in 2000. At the beginning of the release, it adopted a vertical clutch structure, which greatly improved the hand shaking when the chronograph function was activated. However, the existence of backlash between gears will still bring a lot of disadvantages: 1. Inter-tooth impact will occur, affecting the smoothness of gear transmission. 2. Cause the seconds to be inaccurate. 3. Increase the deformation and wear caused by the force between the gears. To solve this problem, Rolex engineers applied for a patent in 2009 to develop and produce this special gear. On the left is the new Rolex Daytona gear, and on the right is the old gear. This special gear is a bit simpler. It describes that each tooth has evolved into three spring metal plates. Using its elasticity, this gear can make it better with other gears. Coupling with each other reduces gear backlash. Although this new gear looks simple, the processing technology requires a high level. Everyone can imagine how difficult it is to divide three regular slices on a tooth tip with a width of less than 0.5 mm! It is made using UV-LIGA technology. Using offset plate and ultraviolet light to make the shape of the escape wheel, and then ‘growing’ in the mold little by little, such UV-LIGA technology can ensure the high precision and surface finish of the parts while mass production. With this innovation, the transmission between Daytona’s watch gears is smoother and the timing accuracy is improved. When the second hand returns to zero, it is more aligned with the scale. In addition, the durability of the entire movement is improved. This small change of Rolex’s Daytona model has been fully rolled out, and the new Daytona has replaced the new gear. Even the old Daytona will be updated for free as long as it is taken to a Rolex Service Center for maintenance. Of course, the official Rolex will not tell you … the internal structure of the two-way rotating outer ring of the Rolex GMT model, without any support, simply rely on friction. When operating, it feels bad. The new Rolex GMT has revolutionized the internal design of the rotating outer ring without changing its appearance. The special recessed word ring and triangular spring change one original load point into three at 120 ° intervals, so that the torsion is evenly spread and the stability is improved. Classics are those enduring products that are widely recognized. Any small change may be overturned. But it does not mean that the classics cannot be changed, and those innovations hidden inside and hidden in details may be difficult to find by most people. But it is these subtle changes that make ‘the extraordinary behind simplicity.’ Answered the sentence ‘I can’t say what’s good, but I just feel hello’. —END —