Dressy offering: The New Rolex Perpetual 1908

With the Cellini gone for good, there’s a replacement that might just hit the mark with Rolex fans when it comes to dressy watches.

Rolex Perpetual 1908 takes inspiration from the first wristwatches made by the brand and tries to capture that heritage style in contemporary offerings.

Inspired by a 1931 Oyster Perpetual, this new watch offers a slimmer profile and inaugurates the Perpetual collection. Over the years there have been a fair few dress watches but the 1908 is almost slightly sporty with a real focus on legibility.

The new offerings are available in both yellow and white gold cases, available to buy from October.

Let’s check out the details here…

The aesthetics

Reference 52508 comes in yellow gold and the 52509 in white gold and with either black or brown alligator hand-stitched strap. Rolex’ in house development, ‘Dual clasp’ has a locking internal segment in addition to the main lock.

It’s a split camp here over the dials, which come in what is described as ‘intense white’ and just ‘black’ which we say is matte but almost on the grey side in some light. There is no luminance on them and so a better contrast between the dials with the polished metal hands. At 6 o’clock we find the small seconds counter, with “Superlative Chronometer” displayed. 

The case is not dissimilar to the old Cellini case but updated. It is 39mm and waterproof to 50 metres with no screw-down crown. The bezel is half domed and half fluted and the case is polished, while the dial features a delicate “chemin de fer” minute track along the edge.

A new movement

But whether or not you like the aesthetic, the watch itself boasts an excellent movement.

The new automatic caliber 7140 can be admired through a transparent sapphire crystal caseback, revealing the quality of the movement’s finishes, particularly the exclusive Côtes de Genève decoration and the openwork oscillating weight in 18 carat yellow.

It uses Rolex’s Syloxi silicon hairspring which has only been used in smaller models before now. something that, until now, had been reserved for smaller models. It even offers Chronergy escapement and Paraflex shock-absorbing device and provides a power reserve of around 66 hours.

It features the time with subsidiary seconds, is highly accurate and certified as a Rolex Superlative Chronometer.

After a new Rolex?

We offer a part-exchange on your new or unloved Rolex if you do fancy a change (subject to an inspection for authenticity and condition). If you have the original box and documentation, even better. Give our sales team a call today on 020 3820 7522.