Description
Rolex has chosen the Oyster Perpetual's centenary year to do something it has not done in a quarter of a century: put solid gold back on the 34mm Oyster Perpetual. The new references 124205 (18k Everose gold, black or blue lacquered dial) and 124208 (18k yellow gold, black or white lacquered dial) transform the brand's least complicated, formerly entry-level watch into a compact, unisex luxury piece — priced from EUR 36,400, roughly six times the steel model. The move lands exactly 100 years after the 1926 Oyster case, the waterproof breakthrough Mercedes Gleitze famously wore across the English Channel in 1927.
The headline is not the gold itself but how it is treated, and what sits on the dial. These are the first Rolex watches ever to carry hand-applied natural stone hour markers — set at 3, 6 and 9 o'clock — and the first Rolex precious-metal watches with a dominant satin-brushed finish. Alongside the 34mm pair, Rolex simultaneously released 28mm gold Oyster Perpetual models (e.g. 276208).
Design
The 34mm Oyster case keeps its familiar silhouette — monobloc middle case, screw-down fluted caseback, Twinlock crown — but swaps the expected mirror polish for broad satin-brushed surfaces that mute the metal's flash; only the smooth domed bezel and the case flanks are polished. The glossy dials are built from six layers of lacquer, varnished and polished, with mottled blue dumortierite indices on the blue Everose model and jet-black stone on the black-dial versions. The remaining eight indices and the hands — the central seconds hand excepted — are 18k gold filled with Chromalight luminescent material. The gold Oyster three-link bracelet is satin-brushed with polished edges and — a quiet practical upgrade — friction-reducing ceramic inserts inside the links, closed by a folding Oysterclasp with the 5mm Easylink extension.
Specifications
- Reference: 124205 (18k Everose gold, black or blue lacquered dial) / 124208 (18k yellow gold, black or white lacquered dial)
- Case diameter: 34mm
- Case thickness: 10.6mm
- Case material: 18k Everose or yellow gold, satin-brushed with polished domed bezel and flanks
- Crystal: sapphire with anti-reflective coating
- Caseback: screw-down, finely fluted
- Water resistance: 100m
- Dial: 6-layer lacquer with natural stone indices at 3, 6 and 9 o'clock (dumortierite on the blue model); remaining indices and hands (except the central seconds hand) in 18k gold with Chromalight
- Movement: in-house calibre 2232, automatic (bidirectional Perpetual rotor)
- Escapement: Syloxi silicon hairspring, Paraflex shock absorbers, paramagnetic escape wheel
- Frequency: 28,800vph (4Hz)
- Power reserve: 55 hours
- Certification: Superlative Chronometer, −2/+2 seconds per day (aBlogtoWatch reports +2/−1)
- Bracelet: Oyster 3-link in matching gold, ceramic inserts inside links, Oysterclasp with 5mm Easylink
- Price: EUR 36,400 (yellow gold) / EUR 39,200 (Everose); USD 38,100 for the Everose 124205 in the US; diamond-set versions above EUR 40,000
- Availability: current collection, at Rolex retailers
What's Exciting
Two authentic brand firsts on the simplest watch Rolex makes — that is the story. Natural stone on a Rolex dial has always meant full stone discs on Day-Dates; hand-applied stone indices against layered lacquer is a new decorative language, and dumortierite at 3-6-9 is a far subtler flex than a diamond bezel. The brushed-dominant gold case is arguably braver: Rolex is betting that buyers at EUR 39,200 want gold that whispers. Underneath, the calibre 2232 with Syloxi hairspring quietly marks the spread of silicon regulation from the 1908 and Land-Dweller into the core Oyster line. As a centenary statement it is more interesting than a commemorative dial: Rolex repositioned an entire size class in one move.
History
The Oyster Perpetual is the direct descendant of the two inventions that built Rolex: the waterproof Oyster case of 1926 and the Perpetual self-winding rotor of 1931. The 34mm OP existed in gold in early and mid-century references, but the Crown phased precious metal out of the line in 2001, leaving the OP as the steel gateway to the catalogue. The modern reference family dates to the 2020 refresh (ref. 124200), which brought the calibre 2232, slimmer case and refined Oyster bracelet. The 2026 gold revival — landing alongside the OP 41 "100 Years" edition — closes a 25-year gap and returns the collection to where it began: a gold Oyster on a swimmer's wrist in 1927.
