Fresh from the showcase here at SwissWatchExpo.com.
We’re going to be talking about Pearlmasters today from Rolex.
Yeah. Pearlmaster is an interesting watch. It was released in 1992, the same year the
Yachtmaster came out. And if you think about the Yachtmaster, it's kind of a Submariner
that's dressed up. In the same way, lurking underneath these Pearlmasters is the classic
Datejust. But this one really raises the bar and takes it to a whole new level.
Gosh, you know, so two things. One, I felt like the Yachtmaster had been around a lot
longer than 1992. And two, I thought the Pearlmaster had been around longer than that too.
Before that they made some really decorated Lady Presidents that were called Masterpiece
collection. But this kind of took over that, this raised the bar. Rolex called this watch
“the jewel and the crown of Rolex.” It's the Pearl of the Oyster Collection. So they've
used some different marketing terms for it, but basically this is the level where every
single watch is made out of a precious metal. They only do 18 karat gold in this one, and
every single watch has some sort of diamonds. There's no such thing as a non-diamond version
of a Pearlmaster.
These are absolutely gorgeous. No matter which one we look at - from the very simple, now
even though it does have diamonds in it, it's very, very simplistic looking. They don't
put a whole bunch of diamonds on the bezel. It's very, it's very modern, clean. It's got
this solid white dial. It's not a pearl dial. Most of them have the pearl dial. One of the
things that's notable about this bracelet is that multi-link connection here. Obviously
Rolex makes their own gold. They are patented. The gold process is patented. In fact, a lot
of this watch is patented, is my understanding of the way that they actually build the watch
and assemble it and put it together.
This watch is absolutely gorgeous. It's solid gold on the bracelet. Of course, solid gold
case. This is obviously the white gold. Because of the way that they patent the gold, it’s
very well put together. It doesn't scratch that easily. This is a very high polished
piece, and each one of these bracelets on its own holds up very well to no dings, no
scratches, that type of thing. And all of the ones that we have, exhibit no signs of
wear in that regard.
Yeah. So they never used the hollow link bracelets in this one. They are really beautiful. They're
five links wide, but each link is rounded. It's more like a jewelry bracelet than a watch
bracelet. And then they all have the hidden crown clasp. They had that from the very beginning,
so it really raised the level of everything.
Also, talking about the mechanics of the watch, when this first came out, um, there were two
sizes in 1992. There was the 29 millimeter that we have here. It's a little bigger than
the 26 millimeter Lady Datejust. Not quite as big as a 31 millimeter mid-size, but it's
a little bit more of a presence. They also made a 34 millimeter at that time. We don't
have any of those out here, but beating in their heart, the movements on these watches
are, interesting enough to mention because for ladies' watches for a long time, their
movements have been kind of ignored. They've been put on the second shelf. They’re not
really focused on by a lot of watch companies. Mostly because I've heard it said that men
care how things work and women care that they work. So there's not a lot of thought from
a lot of companies in their women's watch movements.
But this one, when it came out, it was the tone 2135 caliber from Rolex, which was derived
from the men's 3135. That kind of bulletproof watch we've seen in most of the men's three
hand watches since 1988. When this watch movement came out, the 2135, it's set new records at
COSC, which is the division of the Swiss government that tests chronometers, for the highest first
time pass rate of any watch movement ever tested. They really went all out on this movement.
They upgraded it in 1999, it became the 2235, which then set even more new records, and
is still the most consistent accurate movement that the COSC tests.
One of the most durable watches, obviously. It's got a nice weight to it. You can feel
the quality. So it translates into the movement too.
Yeah. So then when it first came out, just to be clear on what we talked about here,
it was initially only in yellow gold and white gold.
Okay.
So the 2005 launch of the Everose was the first time you saw rose gold in this model,
but of course it's still made. There was a big re-introduction in 2015 where they launched
a 39 millimeter.
Right. And that's a large heavy watch, which we've not seen here in our store. But it's
rumored to exist.
I mean, it's almost as big as a, if you think about it, it's almost the size of say, a gold
Daytona or Submariner.
They must be extraordinarily rare because folks ask about them. And I've not even seen
them in dealers before.
But the other thing that's interesting about these, Rolex kind of, they hired a whole army
of gemologists when they started the Pearlmaster.
I did not know that.
And these watches, the gems are perfectly matched. They do things at a level that other
companies don't do as far as attention to detail goes. For example, in this yellow Sapphire
bezel model, you can see that the sapphires are actually cut in a trapezoid to go around
the edge of the bezel rather than being straight cuts. They're just amazing the way they put
them together, and the way they're cut specifically for the lodge.
And that Mother of Pearl dial is very subtle. It's not, it doesn't have a lot of what I
call “clouds” in it. It doesn't have that floating fluffy cloud look. It’s very, it's
very serious looking. It’s a very clean mother of Pearl.
They probably get through a lot of Mother of Pearl just to find the right ones for the
watches. I would imagine so. Now several of them obviously
have multi diamond faceted rows in their bracelet. Then we have one - so this one has three,
and then this one has two per. This one also has that trapezoidal diamond bezel.
One of the things that we do get asked about a lot of is what is the carat weight of these
things? It's not documented. I know that it seems counterintuitive that it would be documented,
but we don’t, they don't go out of their way to document them because every single
watch is different or take an enormous amount of time to be able to document the carat weight.
And then there's some other things that go along with that too.
So it's kinda like you don't buy a Bentley based on the weight of the steel. I mean,
this is worth a lot more than the materials that it's made out of. You don't buy watches
by gold weight or by diamond weight, but you can rest assured that they have a very high
standard. From what I've heard from other geologists,
they typically are using E F color diamonds, which are colorless. They're using VVS2-VS1
diamonds. They're better than what most people get in their engagement rings.
They're absolutely gorgeous. And one of the things that we should note, and I think it's
very important, the price at which you can obtain these on a pre-owned market versus
what they would cost you new is absolutely amazing.
Yeah, it's true. Women's watches typically don't hold their value quite as well on the
secondary market as men. So it makes them an even better value when you're a buyer from
SwissWatchExpo. These are watches that would have been, I mean, some of them are very,
very expensive when they're new. Yet we have them at a price that is within the same range
as a President, if you are looking over at the local authorized dealer.
Right. One of the things that we should know when you buy these, although they are so much
less priced than the brand new ones, the price at which you're purchasing them for is literally
the rock bottom price. So you're not going to buy this and then lose a whole other ton
of money. You know, it doesn't keep going down in value. It'll eventually continue to
keep going up in value because Rolex rates their prices every year, and the pre-owned
prices follow the new prices.
So you're buying it at the lowest price already right now, without having to worry about discount
sales and all the other things that other places made. So even if you're a watch guy,
a gearhead, and you're reeling into the movements and everything, this is a watch you could
feel great about buying your lady.
Absolutely.
I don't think I've ever met a woman that would've said no to one of these watches.
Absolutely. So this is the Rolex Pearlmasters here at SwissWatchExpo.com. We've got a lot
of them. This is just a very small amount of what we actually have in our inventory.
Give us a call here at the store. We'll talk to you about the Pearlmaster, find you just
the perfect one. Otherwise, also look at them 24 hours a day at SwissWatchExpo.com.