Are you kidding me Rolex did what?

This year Rolex did some really crazy things. I am not talking about coming out with a left handed Rolex GMT Master, that has a green and black bezel, but something we heard of early in 2021. Rolex got rid of maybe their most popular watch ever. 

A few of the watchfam started to hear rumblings that Rolex would be cutting out some if not all of the candy colored Oyster Perpetual dials. Guess what? The rumors were true!! We will go over what was cut and what was not. Starting with the most popular watch on the second hand market today. The Turquoise Oyster Perpetual 41mm reference: 124300. I have seen on Chrono24 for these ranging from $40,000 to over $100,000 depending on wear. That seems frankly insane for a watch that was $5,900.00 in stores.

Just a quick review of this model. It was first displayed at the 2020 Watches & Wonders show, to incredible rave reviews. The whole collection created a landslide of other brands coming out with pastel and candy colored dials within their lines a year later. Every brand from Patek to Sinn has had some sort of release that contained either a similar color to the Turquoise reference or a whole collection devoted to these popular colored dials. 

The watch itself was a completely new design for Rolex. The 41mm version replaced the 39mm Oyster Perpetual which to a few critics was bad taste. Noting the watch was too large and the 39mm case was perfect, however this writer does not agree with the critics whatsoever. The watch is straight perfection. A few other items to note was the new 3230 caliber was used in this model that also is in the Rolex Submariner and the Explorer I that was released in 2021. Overall, two huge thumbs up on this watch and the collection it is in, however Rolex decided that it was done in 2022!

Image from a watch sold by watchclub.com

Additionally, the yellow and red colored dials were both removed in 2022. Frankly, I was not in love with either of these models. I am not saying that they weren’t a breath of fresh air when it comes to Rolex’s color palette, but for me I did not gravitate towards either one. The Turquoise one had me at hello though.

There are two shining lights in the loss of the Oyster Perpetual Turquoise 41, it still comes in a very vibrant green color and if you're ok with a 36mm watch, you could still put your name down for the Turquoise at your local AD. 

Also, we just re-released an amazing pouch for your watches. At $30.00 you won't be disappointed. If you happen to have all three discontinued watches and are planning a little trip this summer check out the 3-slot watch roll.

Hero image from watchclub.com