Rolex Teased a New Watch in Its Oyster Anniversary Video

Four days before Watches and Wonders opens in Geneva, Rolex posted a short video celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Oyster case. The clip moves fast with archival footage, a slideshow of Rolex's Oyster watches, and a century of history compressed into 15 seconds. Most people watched it and moved on. But the real watch nerds hit pause on a dial they didn't recognize — an Oyster Perpetual with dial text that reads "100 YEARS" at 6 o'clock.

What We're Looking At

The watch appears to be a two-tone Oyster Perpetual, a configuration that doesn't yet exist in the current lineup. The double-baton index at 6 o'clock and "Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified" dial text puts it squarely in OP territory, but the yellow gold bezel paired with what appears to be a steel bracelet would make it two-tone — a first for the model.

The green painted indices, visible in the corners of a few frames, are an interesting detail. They're reminiscent of the Oyster Perpetual 39, which featured bold, colorful painted indices across a range of fun dial combinations — bright green against blue, blue against grey, red against purple. Whether the green connects to Rolex's history of using the color for milestone moments — the Kermit Submariner in 2003, the GMT-Master II's 50th anniversary in 2005 — or is simply a design choice for this specific piece, we don't know yet. For that matter, we don’t know if this will be the only Oyster-cased watch to feature ‘100 YEARS’ dial text in 2026.

We've Been Watching This Anniversary

Earlier this year, we published a piece exploring what Rolex might do to mark the Oyster's centenary. Based on reporting from Coronet Magazine — which noted that based on interviews with Rolex, the brand "appears to resist using anniversaries as a reason to introduce new watches" — and a track record that included the GMT-Master's 70th and the Datejust's 80th both passing without dedicated models, the most likely scenario seemed to be an exhibition or storytelling campaign rather than a new watch. In that article, I actually said "If they do anything, expect an exhibition." Instead, Rolex chose both.

Never-before-uploaded photos from Rolex's GMT-Master exhibition at Watches and Wonders Geneva 2024: the steps of manufacturing a ceramic 'Pepsi' bezel (left) and mint GMT-Master 6542 with bakelite bezel (right).

The video's caption reads: "From a single idea to a century of innovation. Discover Oyster Story on 14 April 2026." That points to a dedicated Oyster history exhibition at Watches and Wonders, similar to the GMT exhibition that debuted in Geneva in 2024. If this comes true, stay tuned for on-site coverage.

What Comes Next

That raises a few questions worth sitting with: is this two-tone OP the only "100 Years" anniversary piece, or is it one of several? Will more of the OP collection be available in two-tone? The Oyster case is the foundation of every modern Rolex. It’s exciting to see Rolex embrace this milestone after skipping a few in recent years. Whatever Rolex has planned — one watch, a small collection, an exhibition, or all three — we'll have the full story live from Geneva on Tuesday morning.