The New Air King

On day one of Baselworld 2016 Rolex released its new models. The classics are here, Datejust, Oyster Perpetual, Yacht Master and so on. One timepiece caught our eye and the more we look at it the more we love it, The Air King.

The Air King was the timepiece of choice in the Aviation domain in the 1930’s. Today Rolex is digging into this background to bring the new Air King to life.

“The peculiar qualities of this Rolex watch render it eminently suitable for flying purposes and I propose to use it on all my long-distance flights in the future,” said English aviator Charles Douglas Barnard.

Boasting a 40mm stainless steel case as well as Rolex’s newly certified chronometer, this timepiece makes the difference with its pretty unique dial. First of all the Rolex logo is green and the brand’s crown is coloured in yellow, which is pretty rare for this type of model. Secondly the distinctive black dial with a combination of large 3, 6 and 9 numerals marking the hours is an homage to the 1950’s Air King models.

“The Air-King is equipped with calibre 3131, a self-winding mechanical movement entirely developed and manufactured by Rolex. Its architecture, manufacturing quality and innovative features make it singularly precise and reliable,” explains the brand in a statement.

During exhibitions such as Baselworld or SIHH brands tend to innovate and present cutting edge horlogerie; Rolex proved, once again, that digging into the archives can be a good way to innovate.