DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles
Among the hard core Rolex collectors, lies a quiet discontent. One watch polarises the community like no other Rolex ever has. It is big. It is bold. It screams its model name in your face in huge text on the bezel. It carries the same reference number as the watch it replaces. And yet, like the other Rolex professional watches, it is born out of a professional need. That of the skipper of a yacht. This is the Rolex Yacht-Master II. The programmable regatta countdown flyback chronograph from Rolex. We took a close look at it, examine its raison d’être, and give you the plain verdict: Awesome or not. Read to discover!
The Rolex Yacht-Master II. Shown here in stainless steel case, with blue Cerachrom bezel. also available in yellow gold, white gold and Rolesor.
The Rolex Yacht-Master II
The Yacht-Master II occupies a place within the Rolex hierarchy of professional watches. This is a special category of watches that Rolex designs and intends for use in a specific profession. The Submariner and Sea Dweller were designed for professional diving, initially developed with diving specialists COMEX. The Explorer was developed with explorers to summit Everest, the GMT series for PanAm pilots. The Daytona Cosmograph was derived for use on the race track, though when it first appeared in 1960, it was merely labelled Chronograph, but was quickly nicknamed the Daytona, after the famous race circuit.
The Yacht-Master first introduced in 1992 as a Ref. 16628 in yellow gold is a curiosity. It is not a professional yachting watch, but a Submariner with stronger aesthetics and made with more premium case and bracelet materials. The Yacht-Master was only available in precious metals.
The Rolex Yacht-Master II. This is the earlier model, first introduced in 2007, and later revised with a new movement in 2013. The overall look remained the same till 2017. Note the differences, which will be discussed in the section Dial, Case, Hands below.
Based on the success of the Yacht-Master, Rolex unveiled the Yacht-Master II in 2007. This is a totally different kettle of fish. This is a true professional yachting watch incorporating a flyback chronograph and a programmable countdown timer. Two models made the debut lineup, a yellow gold Ref. 116688 and a white gold Ref . 116689. Both are professional regatta watches and equipped with the new manufacture caliber 4160. This new movement was derived from the then new in-house caliber 4130 used in the Daytona Cosmograph. To the 4130 base, Rolex added the additional features to make the 4160 the first watch in the world to be equipped with a programmable countdown function from 1 to 10 minutes with a mechanical memory.
For Baselworld 2013, Rolex released a stainless steel version, the Ref. 116680 which featured an upgraded movement in the form of the C.4161. It remains unclear what changes were made to the movement, but we expect this to be routine upgrades to improve chronometry and serviceability.
And for Baselworld 2017, the Yacht-Master II was revised yet again. The updates were mainly dial side aesthetic changes, but the C.4161 now gains Rolex Chronometer Certification. The […]
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Article from: DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles, by Peter Chong
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