When the first Rolex Sky-Dweller was introduced in 2012, it aimed to silence all the brand's haters who constantly mocked the "new models" – that there was no difference from the previous ones, that practically no technological innovations were introduced, that they use 50-year-old movements, etc., etc. The mouths of all such "commentators" and "connoisseurs" were once again silenced, because the product is truly impressive. The size is different, the functionality is truly impressive, the dial design is different from anything known before, and the movement.... In fact, that is where the big surprise lies... The main reason for pride is precisely Calibre 9001, which was developed exclusively for the Sky-Dweller; like all Rolex Perpetual calibres, it uses the common architecture for bidirectional self-winding via the perpetual rotor, Paraflex anti-shock protection, and a Parachrom hairspring. Here, however, the automatic winding system has been seriously improved, with the rotor now on a ball bearing, and its efficiency increased by 15%. As for lubrication, the reversing wheels, as one of the problematic areas in terms of friction, are Teflon-coated – as a result of all this, the power reserve has been increased to an impressive 72 hours!!! To this day, this remains the most complex calibre ever created by Rolex!

All this gave Rolex grounds to initially release the model only in precious metal cases, and it was not until 5 years later, in 2017, that the steel and bi-metal versions of the model were launched. The model presented today, however, is, let's put it this way – "a little more special"... Introduced for the first time in 2020, it is part of the new series of gold watches of the model, whose main difference is the use of the brand's strap model, the so-called Oysterflex – a rubber strap with inserts of a titanium and nickel alloy, very comfortable and incredibly beautiful in combination with the massive gold clasp.

Truly, the detail of this watch (as with all modern Rolexes I have had the opportunity to examine) is impressive. A detailed look reveals the jeweller-like craftsmanship, and the overall impression is very aristocratic. Starting with the incredible dial (in the case of the watch presented, it is the classic gold dial, which the brand calls the Champagne dial). Moving on to the incredible sapphire with a "cyclops" – in this case, the brand's highest grade of sapphire is used, which has allowed the overall height of the watch to be reduced compared to its predecessors. Of course, separate attention must be paid to the case and the bezel – in this case, it is solid 18-carat yellow gold with faceted polished edges and details in places (as you know, Rolex pays special attention to the steel used and for this purpose has its own foundries for the production of all its alloys) with a bezel in the brand's characteristic "fluted" style, which gives an incredible radiance, and the fact that the bezel is made of 18-carat gold further reinforces the overall impression! Unlike all other models of the brand that use this bezel, in this case, it is functional!

The Sky-Dweller displays two time zones simultaneously – the local time and date are in the standard Rolex format, while on a separate sub-dial there is a 24-hour disc, with the hour indicated by a fixed inverted triangle. The 24-hour scale makes it easy to distinguish between day and night, and the month is displayed through one of the 12 apertures located around the hour markers.

Adjusting so many indicators usually requires you to remember several crown settings, or several additional pushers, or those hidden small correctors for which you have to use that special tool that the dealer gave you separately with the explicit mention "under no circumstances should you lose it, because...". This is not the case here, however – yes, here too you use the crown for quick adjustment of all functions, but here it does not work in the usual way. Instead, you first select the function you want the crown to perform. The Sky-Dweller uses an intelligent bezel technology known as the "ring command" – it is similar to the one used in the Yacht-Master II. The rotation of the bezel interacts with the movement, thus selecting which function is activated by the rotation of the crown. This complex mechanical module includes over 60 components, and it can be used by turning the bezel in both directions.

Before the Sky-Dweller, Rolex only offered the so-called "complete calendar," which, although similar, does not take into account the different lengths of the months – Rolex solved this problem by introducing four additional gear wheels. Thus, the simple but ingenious annual calendar system called SAROS was created.

"Saros" is a Greek term – it means the astronomical cycle governing the recurrence of eclipses. The design is inspired by the cyclical alignment of the Sun, Earth, and Moon – hence the name.

A satellite (earth) wheel engages a fixed planetary (sun) gear wheel over the course of a month, driven by the date disc. The "Earth" in turn has its own satellite (moon) wheel, equipped with four fingers for each of the four 30-day months. At the end of these months, one of the fingers causes the date disc to "jump" two days in a few milliseconds. Therefore, the date 31 is "eclipsed". Because of this, manual intervention is only required on March 1st.