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What exactly is a "Rolex Oyster Professional" watch? Most Rolex watches produced today use the brand's Oyster case which embodies years of development that started with the original Rolex Oyster watch from 1926.
At the time Rolex pioneered the first ever watch case with screw down crown, bezel, and caseback that offered water resistance and dust protection, though it was not until 1953 that the Professional Collection was born.
The idea of the Rolex Oyster Professional today is the perpetuation of timepiece models that were originally intended for professional use. That included watches for people engaged in diving, flying, automotive and sport racing, science and industrial work, as well as general planetary exploration.
Rolex Oyster Professional watches by nature are more durable and utilitarian in design, and they also have in many instances additional production or testing steps added to their manufacture before they leave Rolex and go out to the consumer.
So in short, a Rolex Oyster Professional watch today is one that is based on a historic model meant for actual professional use and is produced with some extra safety and reliability features compared to Rolex's more casual or dress models.
Two of Rolex's foundational Oyster Professional watches were born in 1953; they were the Explorer and Submariner. 1953 was also a moment when Rolex experienced one of their most important social achievements that would mark how the brand would be perceived thenceforth. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were part of the British expedition to climb mount Everest, and succeeded in being the first people in the world to do so. It was an amazing feat of human endurance and today watch fans recall the fact that Hillary (and Norgay) wore a Rolex Oyster Perpetual timepiece. The model would quickly evolve into being the now iconic Rolex Explorer, which was also released that year. The message to the public was that the Explorer was the timepiece of people who went to extreme lengths to get to where they wanted to be– an allegory that would transcend scientific exploration into the lives and struggles of normal people.
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1953 was also the year that Rolex released the very first Submariner– a timepiece they claim as the world's first timepiece water resistant to 100 meters. In many ways the Submariner was the ultimate evolution of the Rolex Oyster case, as it was further refined for additional water resistance. While the "Oyster Professional" term did not exist yet in 1953, the Submariner and Explorer were two timepieces designed for, and often used by, professionals versus merely the general public. This was a golden age of modern exploration in the world as the pre-space race era was about exploring great depths and great heights.
After releasing models for scientific exploration and deep diving, Rolex decided to expand its focus on timepieces for pilots as well as physicists. Aviation professionals have been lucky enough to enjoy the attention of watchmakers since almost the beginning of flight in the early 20th century. Rolex was comparatively late to the game with their first aviation-themed watches coming in 1955 with the original GMT-Master. Watch lovers know the story of the GMT-Master well as Rolex worked closely with the commercial airline Pan Am (Pan American World Airways) to create what their pilots needed. In many ways Rolex worked off of a successful formula. In fact, if you've ever wondered why so many Rolex Oyster Professional watches look similar, it is because Rolex did not try to reinvent the wheel with each new timepiece, but rather add additional or different features to their previous generation wheel.
For that reason, the GMT-Master from 1955 was very similar to the Submariner, which itself quickly adopted the hands from the Explorer. What made the GMT-Master different was the 24 hour GMT hand, and 24 hour scale bezel. The GMT master was also unique (and later iconic) because of its two-tone blue and red bezel that was meant to be a sort of AM/PM indicator. This would later be known as the "Pepsi bezel" due to its similarity with the color tones of the soft drink. In many ways it was similar to the Submariner, but with some important but visually minor changes.![Rolex GMT Pepsi]()
The situation was similar with the 1956 Rolex Milgauss– a timepiece they produced in collaboration with the CERN laboratory in Switzerland. The physicists there wanted a magnetically shielded watch that was not susceptible to the magnetic fields created around their particle accelerators. So Rolex created a timepiece for scientists with the Milgauss that was resistant to 1,000 Gauss because of a soft iron core that shielded the movement. For this watch, Rolex wanted something a bit more genteel, yet still a professional watch. The Milgauss more or less had the existing Oyster case, but the dial was inspired by the original Rolex Oyster Perpetual models with a lightning bolt seconds hand.
It was in 1963 that Rolex launched the Oyster Cosmograph that would soon become the Rolex Oyster Cosmograph Daytona. Rolex had been producing chronograph models for at least 30 years at that point but this was their first real racing world-inspired chronograph watch. No one really knows where the term "Cosmograph" came from, though it is Rolex-speak for chronograph. I've actually asked Rolex this question myself and they more or less said that a Rolex chronograph watch should measure more than just the time so they needed a cool name to indicate such. I do admit that Cosmograph does have a pleasant sense of mystery to it.
Daytona was added as Rolex began to have a more serious involvement with the world of racing and named the watch family after the now famous race track in Florida. Unlike the other models in the now Rolex Oyster Professional collection, the Daytona would eventually adopt a slightly different case design due to the existence of the chronograph pushers. The original Daytona models did not include screw-down pushers, but the collection would later be known for this feature as Rolex added them to increase durability and water and dust resistance.
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Stepping back a few years for a moment to 1960, Rolex released the Deep Sea Special that was a non-commercial concept watch meant for extreme diving. It featured an extremely thick steel case and almost comical bulbous crystal given that it was going down near the bottom of the Mariana trench strapped to the Trieste bathyscaphe submersible. The production of the Deep Sea Special gave Rolex valuable knowledge about extreme water resistance and the watch successfully descended to 37,800 feet.
The development of the Deep Sea Special allowed Rolex to produce an even more durable version of the Submariner that they called the Sea-Dweller, which was originally released in 1967. It was water resistant to 630 meters, though later that number increased. In many ways the Sea-Dweller helped Rolex lead up to the modern Submariner and DeepSea timepieces of today.
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By the 1960s, Rolex had released most of the major models that would fall under the modern Rolex Oyster Professional umbrella. Additional models would come later of course, but each of them existed to build on concepts and timepieces that Rolex released from between 1953 and 1967. The most recent Rolex Oyster Professional models families are the Yacht-Master originally 1992, and the Sky-Dweller from 2012. Pretty much everything else such as the Explorer II and GMT-Master II was an evolution or update on an existing collection.
In 1971 Rolex released the Explorer II which combined the allure of the original Explorer with the GMT-Master. Rather than a rotating 24 hour bezel it has a fixed one, but offered the benefit of a second time zone. It was meant to be not just an explorer's watch, but a more durable explorer's watch meant for harsh conditions such as polar or underground exploration. One purpose of having a 24 hour hand on a timepiece such as this was giving explorers the ability to know whether it was day or night rather than use the GMT hand to indicate a second timezone. This was an important feature when exploring in a place where the sun didn't go down, or deep in a cave without any sunlight.
The Yacht-Master is perhaps the odd man out because it was never developed for strictly professional use. The Yacht-Master is more a child of the times, as in the 1990s the mechanical watch industry was fully invested in moving upmarket. With sport watches being ever popular, Rolex was intent on producing a high-end, yet durable sport watch that people could use while sailing for sport or pleasure. Today, all Yacht-Master watches have either a platinum or gold bezel rather than a steel one. The Yacht-Master II was released in 2007 and was not only perhaps the largest Rolex watch produced, but also signaled an intent to delve into more complicated movements by Rolex. The Yacht-Master II contains a programmable countdown timer chronograph which is partially adjusted by turning the bezel.
I asked Rolex what year the term "Oyster Professional" began to be used in their marketing and sales materials, but they did not offer a specific response except to indicate the 1953 birth year of the pieces that began the collection. My instinct is that Rolex began to make a semantic distinction in the 1990s, or perhaps 1980s. Today Rolex Oyster Professional watches are more or less defined as their sport watches. While both men and women wear most models, only the Yacht-Master has specific versions for ladies with smaller-sized cases.
Even though Oyster Professional watches are sporty and durable by nature, I was curious as to what else, if anything separated them from Rolex's other Oyster collection timepieces today. Specifically, I was curious about whether there were distinct production processes or tests that only Oyster Professional watches were subject to.
According to Rolex there is no specific list of features, production techniques, or tests that apply to all of the Rolex Oyster Professional watches, but overall the cases they use and the way they test the final watches are more rigorous than other watches they produce. Furthermore, the production of Oyster Professional timepieces can be more complicated than that of a Rolex Oyster Datejust or Day/Date. The Milgauss, for example, has a case that is surrounded by a magnetic shield, and the Deep Sea has extra features such as the Ringlock system, which is involved in its massive level of water resistance.
In the design phase Rolex Oyster Professional sport watches are given beefier cases and features such as crown guards to protect the crown. Even though not all professionals use mechanical timepieces today, Rolex is still invested in producing the highest-quality professional-use timepiece possible. Further, I would say that Rolex Oyster Professional watches are designed for greater longevity, but I don't think that is true. From what I have experienced pretty much all Rolex timepieces are designed to last as long as possible given their intended use.
One area that Rolex Oyster Professional watches receive more intense durability testing is in regard to water resistance. All Rolex dive watches are tested first in an air chamber (along with other Oyster case models), and again in actual compression chambers filled with water. Rolex indicates that all of their dive watches are tested to be capable of withstanding 25% more than their posted water resistance level– an interesting bit of information for sure. The DeepSea models actually have their own special water testing chamber that Rolex developed with Comex. Because it tests so much more water pressure, the system that tests the water resistance of each DeepSea watch takes over an hour.
While Rolex offered some useful information in our discussion of the history and development of the Rolex Oyster Professional watch, aBlogtoWatch did visit Rolex's manufacture to observe and better understand how Rolex makes its watches. Today Rolex Oyster Professional watches are luxury items that haven't forgotten what made them popular and desirable items in the first place. Models such as the Submariner to the GMT-Master II are still so popular because they have never forgotten their tool watch origins. It is possible for novices to be confused as to why many of them share design features, but understanding their history and how Rolex built off previous models to develop new ones allows for a greater understanding of how the Rolex Oyster Professional family of watches evolved very organically.
It has been a while since Rolex has developed a new collection of watches with the professionals of today in mind. In 2012 Rolex surprised everyone by releasing the DeepSea Challenge concept watch that went down with James Cameron back to the Mariana Trench. That was very cool, more so knowing that Rolex literally had just weeks to produce it. Though it would also be interesting to see Rolex see to the needs of other modern active professionals in the creation of new members of the Rolex Oyster Professional family in the near future. So what is an Rolex Oyster Professional watch? In addition to being among the world's most successful sport watches, they are also a signal of class and ideals that recalls Rolex's achievements with professional wearers in the mid 20th century until today.
SEE ALSO: 10 things every Rolex owner should know
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“You should not spend more than you can afford on a watch. If you can afford a lot for a new watch that is all the better, but if you are pushing yourself only to think you can later resell your watch and recoup your investment, it might be worth managing your exceptions a bit. They don’t call them luxury watches for nothing.
“You must trust the person you are buying your watch from. That is crucial. No matter if it is from a large department store, small dealer, or individual person selling a pre-owned watch, you need to trust them. We are talking not only about high-value goods, but also about items that can be very costly to repair. Getting a broken watch is a hassle you don’t want to deal with. So in the event you get a damaged or defective timepiece you need to trust that the retailer or seller will fix the problem either by repairing the watch or by returning your money… Trust means that the seller will do the right thing if there is a problem, and that you are getting a real watch.
“When people ask me about getting new mechanical watches for under $500, the first thing out of my mouth is always “get something from a Japanese watch maker like Seiko, Orient, or Citizen.” I say this because for the most part, these companies produce the best quality “cheap” mechanical watches. I suppose that also goes for quartz watches, if you are into that. When I talk of quality, I don’t just mean the movements, but also the cases, dials, straps, etc… Japanese watches are often the first “real” watches most watch lovers end up getting, and many people (even though seriously into luxury Swiss watches) find themselves buying Japanese watches for years.”
“The pleasure of owning a fine watch (or many watches) is immeasurable for those who love history, design, engineering, mechanics, and art. Though like many “toys for big boys” watches aren’t always cheap so carefully consider each purpose. The best advice I can say is to buy watches that you yourself want and like. At the end of the day you need to wear it. Make sure the dial is easy to read and that it wears comfortably on your wrist. Don’t buy a watch just because you see it on other people’s wrists or because someone tells you it is popular. It’s a very personal decision so consider it an extension of your good taste, lifestyle, and maybe a sign of your success.”
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