New Rolex Sky-Dweller watches

The way I see it, the Sky-Dweller is a bitter-sweet design from Rolex. On one hand, you have a complex but practical movement that integrates multiple complications into a simplified and pusher-free user interface and Rolex should be celebrated for the technical design and its implementation.

The most visible feature on the Sky-Dweller is certainly the 24 hour wheel prominently displayed just off-center of the handset. This wheel is meant to display the reference time (time in your home timezone) while the handset is meant to show the local time.

The hour hand is jump set so setting local time only involves moving the hour hand, not the entire hand set (this is faster and more accurate).

 Rolex had to create a new in-house movement, the Calibre 9001, for the Sky-Dweller which is both chronometer certified and sports a 72 hour power reserve.

 On the other hand, the Sky-Dweller is neither pretty or classic in terms of its visual design. It is essentially a large Datejust with a somewhat messy dial that may appeal to some well-heeled travelers.

This 2nd timezone complication seems to throw the familiar Datejust design off balance, making for a rather awkward dial design. While the Sky-Dweller’s dual timezone feature may be quite practical, it certainly isn’t pretty.

The Sky-Dweller has one more trick up its sleeve as Rolex has designed a simple and ingenious method of choosing which feature the crown will control when turned. The feature select is done via a four position setting in the bezel, which Rolex calls “Ring Command”. 

By rotating the bezel counter clockwise, the user can select month/day control, local time, and reference time (fourth setting is idle). The level of understanding that goes into a technical design such as this should not be overlooked and you can even try a simulation of it here.