Rolex and Tudor 2019 Baselworld Predictions (and We're Usually Right)

This Baselworld will be incredibly different than years past due to the dropout of a lot of large brands like Omega, Blancpain and Maurice Lacrois (Swatch Group is the big ship jumper). But, that has not stopped the stir on the forums and Instagram of what will be releasing this spring from Rolex and Tudor. Here are what Everest thinks will be coming in 2019 from these two incredible Swiss brands. Just for clarification we are in no way affiliated with Rolex or Tudor. These views are our own on what could happen at Baselworld 2019.

First, we feel that Rolex will drop a new Submariner with Date. Most likely, they will shock us all with first coming out in an all gold model or some sort of precious metal, which is pretty Rolex. Don’t forget they first released a Pepsi GMT-Master in white gold and then released the steel version in 2018. The biggest change is most likely going to be the movement - switching it to the new 3235 caliber. This caliber showed up a few years ago in the Datejust model range (again, first in an all gold version.) The 3235 caliber is larger, boasts a higher power reserve and better time accuracy through these technologies:

• A new type of escapement, the Chronergy escapement – an optimized version of the Swiss lever escapement, the standard escapement used in mechanical watches. The thickness of the pallet stones has been reduced by half while the contact surfaces of the escape wheel teeth have been doubled. The escapement system is no longer in alignment but slightly offset, thus multiplying the lever effect. The escape wheel has a cut-out design to make it lighter and reduce its inertia. Together, these modifications to the geometry have increased the efficiency of the escapement by 15%, contributing to almost half of the gain in the power reserve.
• An efficient gear train (the series of wheels transmitting the energy from the barrel to the escapement) – The efficiency of the gear train has been optimized. Rolex has also developed, and synthesizes in-house, exclusive new high-performance lubricants with a longer useful life and greater stability over time – As a result, less frictions (which could potentially slow the movement) and a greater reliability over the years.
• A high-capacity barrel – Without increasing the size of barrel, Rolex achieved to insert a longer mainspring (for 10h more power reserve). This was obtained by making the walls of the barrels thinner – possible with modern production processes.
• A new self-winding module, for a for more rapid winding of the new high-capacity mainspring. The rotor is now rotating on ball-bearings and its new monobloc shape enhanced its speed and thus the energy transmitted to the barrel.

*these points above were taken from an article on https://www.montres-de-luxe.com/ - click here for the link….https://www.montres-de-luxe.com/Rolex-a-la-decouverte-du-calibre-3235_a11504.html

Since the Submariner is 40mm and has been for forty plus years, we suspect there won’t be a size change to this new model. We could however see a reduction in the crown guards and lugs. Here is a picture from.. of what others are predicting. Rolex has been reducing the size of the “Maxi Case” as it is known on other models such as the Sea-Dweller that was released a few years ago.

The other big predictions are a new Milgauss and an update to the Explorer I with a white dial. These two models could really benefit from some slight modifications. The Explorer I is an easy move for Rolex, as this change of color ads a whole new style for this watch, and at 39mm, it is a perfect compliment to the Oyster Perpetual variation that was released last year in white. On the side of the Milgauss, we have not seen any real modifications to the design in quite a few years. Here is a rendering from other websites:

As for Tudor, we believe that the GMT movement will make its way into the Pelagos case, and a date version of the Black Bay 58 will arise. The GMT movement that showed up in the Black Bay 41 case last Baselworld made quite a splash and could rejuvenate the Pelagos model. If you remember, a few years ago, Tudor released the Pelagos with the new MT5401 movement, and the watch got a lot of criticism due to the text on the dial. It went from two lines of text to four, causing quite a stir. Frankly, the model has been somewhat shunned since this change and has lost the spotlight to its brother the Black Bay.

With the Pelagos taking a step back these past few years, one model from last year shot to everyone’s grail watch list - the Black Bay 58. The watch is based on the original Tudor Submariner from 1958, and frankly, it is gorgeous and proportioned perfectly at 39mm wide. We think Tudor is going to come out with a date version of this watch in as suggested in their Instagram posts. It is likely the Tudor Submariner Date will come back as it was a staple in the Tudor line up for almost a generation.

It is exciting to be heading back as we are presenting this year! We are really looking forward to covering what is happening and showing off what we have coming here at Basel for all Tudor and Rolex fans out there!