Rolex Yacht-Master II

Rolex Yacht-Master. Unlike the Rolex Cosmograph, Datejust, Explorer, GMT-Master, Milgauss and Submariner which can trace their roots back to the 1940's to 1960's, the Rolex Yacht-Master is the baby of the Rolex professional line of watches. The Rolex Yacht-Master, which was first released in 1993, was derived from the Submariner with a modified bezel which came Platinum of gold bezel. Offered in 40 mm, 35 mm and 29 mm, the regular sized Yacht-Master was the same size as the Submariner. The bezels on both watches are useful as a 60-minute timers.

Rolex Yacht-Master Ref. 16622

Other the differences in physical appearance what differentiated the Submariner and the Yacht-Master was that was that the latter only has a water resistance rating of 100 m as opposed to the 300 m of the Submariner. The other difference was the price. The entry level Yacht-Master (Platinum and stainless steel) steel costs more than 50% more than the entry level (All stainless steel) submariner.

While the watch was designed "to meet the demands of professional sailors", a professional sailor would be better served, by the less expensive submariner.

Rolex Yacht-Master II. In 2007 Rolex released the Yacht-Master II. The Rolex Yatchmaster II is clearly designed for regatta (boat racing) events with the integration of a programmable 10 minute countdown timer which is useful in keeping track of the time that skippers have to get their boats into position before the start of the race.

Rolex Yacht-Master II Ref. 116688

Countdown timer. Instead of the 60 minute timer bezel of the Yatch-Master, the Yatch-Master II now has a "Command Bezel". Rotating the bezel 90 degrees counter clockwise and pulling out the crown to the first position will allow you to use the crown to set the countdown time. The watch can be set to countdown from 1 minutes to 10 minutes. When set on zero, the watch does not countdown.

Once the countdown timer is set, the bezel is rotated back to its original position and the button at 2 o'clock can be used to start and stop the countdown timer which uses the main second hand and the short hand with a red and while triangle at the head. The button at 4 o'clock is used to reset the main second hand.

While the original Yacht-Master was derived from the Submariner, the Yacht-Master II shares more with the Rolex Cosmograph. All this innovation does not come cheap, and the Yacht-Master II entry level price is in excess of US$33,000 for the yellow gold model, and a bit more for the white gold model. No lower cost stainless steel options here.

Other specifications. The Yacht-Master II uses a COSC certified self-winding Rolex Caliber 4160 movement, capable of generating the expected 28,800 vibrations per hour. Seconds are counted by the small seconds sub-dial at the 6 o'clock position. The case has a diameter of 43mm is water resistant to 100 meters.

In the end, the Yacht-Master has gone from a Submariner type watch marketed for yachting to a useful, albeit expensive, tool for yacht racing.

About Rolex. Rolex SA is a Swiss manufacturer of wristwatches and accessories founded in 1905 by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis. Rolex is the largest single luxury watch brand by far, producing over 2000 watches per day. Rolex is the best known and most sought after watch brand in the world.