ROLEX YACHTMASTER WATCHES

A Review of the Rolex Yacht-Master: Info, History, and Reference Numbers

In the early 1990s, Rolex released a completely new collection dubbed the Yacht-Master. Positioned as a luxury sports watch inspired by a nautical lifestyle, Rolex has manufactured an incredible assortment of Yacht-Master watches over just 25 years.

In 1992, Rolex presented the men’s Yacht-Master ref. 16628 in full 18k yellow gold with a 40mm Oyster case, a bidirectional gold bezel with raised numerals, and a matching gold Oyster bracelet. Two years later, the yellow gold midsize 35mm Yacht-Master ref. 68628 and the yellow gold ladies’ 29mm Yacht-Master ref. 69628joined the lineup.

Following that, Rolex then unveiled a pair of Rolesor (Rolex-speak for two-tone watches) steel and yellow gold models in 1995 with the midsize 35mm Yacht-Master ref. 68623 and the ladies’ 29mm Yacht-Master 69623. These were later updated in 1999 with the midsize 35mm Yacht-Master ref. 168623 and the ladies’ 29mm Yacht-Master 169623. The men’s 40mm Rolesor two-tone steel and yellow gold Yacht-Master ref. 16623 only came onboard in 2005.

In 1999, a trio of Rolesium—the official Rolex name for combining stainless steel and platinum—Yacht-Master watches made their debut with the men’s 40mm Yacht-Master ref. 16622, the midsize 35mm Yacht-Master ref. 168622, and the ladies’ 29mm Yacht-Master ref. 169622. The men’s Rolesium version was eventually replaced with the current Yacht-Master 40 ref. 116622 in 2012 and the new 37mm Rolesium Yacht-Master 37 ref. 268622 was introduced in 2016.

Rolex further enhanced the variety of the Yacht-Master in 2015 with the launch of the current Yacht-Master 40 ref. 116655 and the Yacht-Master 37 ref. 268655, both in 18k Everose rose gold with the innovative Oysterflex that is essentially a metal bracelet coated in black rubber.

Finally, in 2016, the latest version of the two-tone Rolesor Yacht-Master 40 ref. 116621 comes out but this time in stainless steel and Everose rose gold and a year later the smaller Yacht-Master 37 ref. 268621 sporting the same metal combo is released.