How a 2020 Rolex Collection Changed the Face of Watch Design

As nan company that either invented aliases popularized nan dive watch, nan GMT watch, nan first water-resistant watch, nan first automatic watches, and overmuch much besides, you could hardly downplay Rolex’s power connected watchmaking history. But while its iconic sports watches, for illustration nan Submariner, Daytona and GMT-Master are endlessly imitated, Rolex is not seen arsenic a trendsetter, preferring to disregard passing horological fashions. It does its ain thing, iterating cautiously and minimally connected its age-old templates.

Five years ago, however, Rolex introduced a postulation truthful avant-garde that is still influencing imaginative decisions crossed nan full watch industry, and it did truthful successful 1 of its least-heralded models: nan Oyster Perpetual. The thought was truthful elemental that we’ve hardly noticed it go nan manufacture norm: Instead of slow rolling retired caller dial colours 1 astatine a clip complete a play of years—which was modular watch world behaviour until that point—Rolex launched a full group of colored dials successful a complementary palette each astatine once.

They were bright, bold and almost childlike successful their purity: coral red, green, turquoise, pinkish and yellow. Rolex-watchers instantly hailed them arsenic a tribute to nan alleged Stella dial Day-Date watches of nan precocious 1970s and 1980s—equally agleam and unexpected, and evocative of a louche, sybaritic age. But location was thing much basic, much basal and, astatine slightest theoretically, much attainable astir nan Oyster Perpetual collection.

It sparked imitators left, correct and center—and still does. At past week's Geneva Watch Days 2025, Zenith’s collaboration pinch Swiss furniture-maker USM would suffice arsenic a textbook example: a afloat group of bold, block-colour dials successful different accepted stainless alloy sports watches.

Earlier this year, Oris’s Big Crown Pointer Date deed a akin note. In 2023, arch-rival Omega debuted a postulation of Seamaster Aqua Terra models pinch akin hues to Rolex's opening salvo; different mid-level brands including Breitling and TAG Heuer person each created multi-colored families of stainless steel, time-only information watches successful a akin mold.