By Matt Himmelstein
Please don’t tar and feather me, but I am going to start this off with a confession. I am not really a fan of Rolex watches. Yes, I appreciate that they are well made and have pushed several technologies and have become such an icon, their designs are now generic watch making terms, but they are not the ‘affordable’ luxury brand that attracts me. Perhaps this is why I like this watch, because it seems different that what I usually associate with Rolex.
The Cellini is a new watch line announced just before Baselworld 2014, a collection of three watch models, the Cellini Time, Date, and Dual time. The Time is the one that I am most attracted to, a very elegant 3 hander powered by a Rolex Automatic movement. The Date adds a date dial at 3:00 and the Dual Time has an independent time display at 6:00. The whole line comes in 39mm, which is almost petite by today’s standards, and could certainly be worn by ladies looking for something with a simpler elegance. I really like the scalloped bezel and crown, the two patterns meeting almost as clockwork gears would meet. The watch is available in 4 variations, a white or black lacquer dial with either a white gold or Everose gold case.
The legibility and clean lines of the watch really make this a beautiful and well crafted piece. The watch utilizes Roman Numerals at 3, 6, 9, and 12, and the remaining hour indices are split with a chapter ring of minute markings. On a lot of watches, I don’t like the effect of the two rings of index markers because it looks like they are merely duplicates, but here they match the height of the numerals.
If I had a quibble, it would be that the Rolex name is too prominent, though the crown logo is fine. The watch line, spelled out in script at the bottom of the hour makes for another elegant refinement. As you would expect on a watch like this, the strap is quite nice, black or brown alligator leather with an 18k gold buckle matching the watch case. You can download a copy of the brochure, or just wait for it to hit your local Rolex dealer late this year. For more info, please visit rolex.com
Matt Himmelstein – Contributing Writer
Engineer, weekend warrior and mechanical watch enthusiast. He prefers value oriented brands because, well, those are the ones he can afford while still paying for all his weekend warrior hobbies. New watch makers are also an interest because you can get often get a unique look, and the watch now comes with a story. His favorites in his small collection are a Christopher Ward altimeter style and an Anstead dive watch from a Kickstarter campaign.
