The word and brand Rolex invoke different things for different people. Most commonly when people think of Rolex they think of wealth, money, excess, rich movie stars and performers. For me Rolex is all about the great solid watch they make. A watch I can buy and wear for 20-30 years and then pass on to my son and hopefully he to his son / daughter. Their watches are bulletproof IMHO. I buy it, I wear it, everywhere. Sky-Dweller, it conjures up visions of a watch with a serious complication from the big Swiss Crown and in this case, the Rolex Sky-Dweller 326934 does NOT disappoint.

The Sky-Dweller was released in Gold in 2012 and in Stainless Steel/Gold variations in 2017. It is Rolex’s most complicated watch featuring a GMT and Annual Calendar complication. Its dimensions are 42mm case Diameter, 14mm thick and lug width of 21mm. It weighs 175 grams . It has an in-house movement (Cal. 9001) with a power reserve of 72 hrs and is 100m water resistant.

Last week, I got the call from my Rolex AD contact who I have known for over twenty years, “I have bad news, I haven’t been able to get a white Sky-Dweller for you. However, I have a blue one!!” After checking with the family treasurer and wife and confirming that a second mortgage on our only son is viable, I confirm with my AD that, “Yes please, I’ll be down to pick it up in the morning!”

The first thing I noticed with the Rolex Sky-Dweller 326934 is the blue sunburst dial, the colour combinations it reflects back to you depending on the lighting are just spectacular. Dazzling light and dark blues all the way to almost black in certain lighting. Once on the wrist it felt comfortable but a touch heavy. The fit is perfect on my wrist out of the box with the Easylink closed. We were meant for each other! It’s a thicker watch but easily fits under a shirt or jacket cuff. This watch has wrist presence, the combination of the fluted bezel, blue dial and cyclops date tells anyone that glances at it that it’s a Rolex.

Wearing the Rolex Sky-Dweller 326934 makes me feel good, not just because it’s a Rolex and all that entails but because I am wearing a little machine that is powered by my wrist movement that not only tells the time in two locations but also tells me the date and month and knows the difference between a month with 30 and 31 days. All this yet this watch is not fragile. Like all Rolex Oysters, it’s water resistant and built like a tank (The Tiger / Leopard kind not the Cartier). I am not afraid to wear this watch while washing the car, going to the beach or enjoying a fine cigar.

The bracelet is comfortable, like all oyster bracelets, and the polished centre links (PCL) complement the rest of the watch nicely. The downside to PCL of course, is that first scratch, it’s always going to hurt but once you push past that, all is good. If you are afraid of or are OCD about scratches, then this watch is NOT for you. It will get scratched and it will show on the highly polished surfaces. This is not really a problem for me.

When I am not traveling or regularly doing business with a different time zone, I set my second (GMT) time zone to GMT+2 because I like to know the time in the place I was born. The two times zones and date are really easy to set once you read the instructions and use the nifty bezel / crown combination. The dial is well laid out and uses space intelligently to display the second time zone, date and month.

My problem is that as I get older my eyes are not what they used to be so at a glance, without reading glasses, it can sometimes take a second or two to tell the time. Same goes at night, whilst the blue lume on the Rolex Sky-Dweller 326934 is good, I still need reading glasses to properly tell the time at night. If your eyes are getting old and you want to be able to read the time at night using just the lume, get a Panerai or maybe a Tudor Pelagos or even the new 007 Seamaster. I buy and wear my watches for myself.