What Has Rolex Discontinued in 2024? A Watches and Wonders Tradition.
While the watch industry is all abuzz with the news of all the novelties coming out of Watches and Wonders, there’s also some anticipation in what Rolex is discontinuing. Why is that important? Because a lot of the first and secondary markets will often see price changes when Rolex decides to discontinue a beloved model for various reasons. The first, obviously, is the watch becomes very hard to get. And because it’s so hard to get, it’s value typically increases - We’ve seen very few times that a Rolex discontinuation actually diminishes the value of the watch. So I thought I would take a quick minute and go over the major models that Rolex has discontinued.
The Rolex Yachtmaster II COllection
This isn’t so surprising when you get to really thinking about it. The Rolex Yachtmaster II has gone through a number of iterations and revamps with Rolex trying to keep the model alive. It’s seen everything from precious metals to incremental dial changes, but nothing really stuck with collectors. Further, the watch simply is an outlier for the brand overall.
It uses a super niche complication call a “Regatta Chronograph” that can time up to ten minutes in 1 minute intervals. Technically, the watch is pretty spectacular being the first watch to include a mechanical “Memory bank” to keep the laps or intervals displayed while still maintaining the time. It’s a much more complicated chronograph, and one pretty specific to Regatta Racing, so unlike say, the Rolex Daytona, it’s not exactly a practical day-to-day complication.
Additionally, the watch is just really big by Rolex standards. Measuring in at 44mm, it’s the largest of the Rolex cases (Which is what I was drawn to when I purchased mine in 2022). I’d argue it doesn’t necessarily wear that big, but it’s definitely on the heftier side. And with so many enthusiasts wanting smaller, more fitted watches, it makes total sense for Rolex to put this collection to bed.
The Rolex Daytona ‘Le Mans’
Rolex released the Daytona ‘Le Mans’ to honor the 100th year anniversary of the Le Mans Race in summer of 2023. The white Gold Daytona was a bit of a shock to the industry, as a lot of enthusiasts thought it would have made more sense to release then at Watches and Wonder 2023 when the brand initially released its completely revamped Daytona Collection. The watch was dropped in the summer, long after Rolex announced the changes to the Daytona, and not really around any common release dates.
Never the less, the watch was enormously popular be not only was it a special edition, something that Rolex isn’t exactly known for. It came in a white gold case and bracelet with red accents - A staple for anyone familiar with the Daytona and it’s most popular colorways. Further, it was a reverse-panda dial - A coveted configuration for Rolex Daytona’s.
But, nevertheless, the brand announced it’s discontinuation of the model this week. Which I suppose makes sense considering it was created to honor the Anniversary of the Race, and it’s no longer the 100th year.
Rolex Fluted Dial and Rolex Palm Dial Datejusts
Once again, and a little unsurprisingly, Rolex discontinued some of the more niche models in the Datejust Collection. The Datejust Collection in general isn’t quite as popular as the brand’s sport watch catalog, so getting into the reeds of some of the more textured and niche dials that had a lot of enthusiasts saying “Okay, who asked for this? Who are these for?” is par-for-the-course for getting axed.
I remember when the fluted dial came out, a lot of enthusiasts (including myself) felt the dial and the texture felt really dated. And with the palm dial, a lot of the younger crowd getting into watches aren’t looking for a “Retire in Florida” kind of watch. So I can see how both of these are getting put into the bin to make way for some of the more unique and funky dials the brand has been coming up with. Rolex has really put a lot of stock into creating fun dials that don’t take themselves too seriously, so it makes a little less room for these more traditional versions.
EDITORS NOTE: This is just the list of discontinuations SO FAR. Rolex may continue to discontinue models as the week goes on, or silently nix watches. We’ll update as it occurs.