ROLEX MARKED 100 YEARS OF THE OYSTER CASE WITH 58 NEW REFERENCES

One hundred years after Hans Wilsdorf patented the waterproof Oyster case - the innovation that fundamentally changed what a wristwatch could reliably do.

Rolex marked the centennial at Watches and Wonders Geneva 2026 with a collection scaled to match the anniversary's weight: 58 new references spanning the brand's full catalogue.

The range stretched from a $6,750 Oyster Perpetual 36 at the accessible end to a $98,100 diamond-paved Day-Date 36 at the top, alongside a Rolesium Cosmograph Daytona - built from Rolex's proprietary steel-and-platinum combination - and a Day-Date 40 rendered in a new 18-carat Jubilee gold. Notably absent from this year's cycle: the Land-Dweller, introduced the previous year and now in its first full production year without any 2026 variants, alongside the Daytona's standard line, which received refreshes but no expansion, and several core collections - Sea-Dweller, Submariner, Explorer, Sky-Dweller, Air-King and the 1908 - sitting out the cycle entirely in the standard catalogue.

The centennial release arrived alongside a notable discontinuation: the 126710BLRO, widely known by collectors as the "Pepsi" GMT for its distinctive red-and-blue bezel, was retired without a direct successor. Unlike previous Rolex discontinuations that typically signal an imminent replacement, industry watchers note Rolex gave no indication of a red-and-black bezel variant waiting in the wings - a genuinely closed chapter for a reference that had become one of the brand's most recognisable and sought-after modern GMT models.

For a brand whose annual Watches and Wonders presentation typically anchors the entire fair's news cycle, a centennial-scaled 58-reference release, paired with a beloved model's quiet retirement, gave collectors plenty to parse well beyond the headline anniversary pieces themselves.